One final bump, as Lidge closes out the Nationals to win the NL East for the Phillies. Final season stats: 41-for-41 in saves, 1.95 ERA. Throughout the season, the casual fans repeated the same refrain... wait until August. Wait until September. Wait until the games matter and are "big," and he'll fold. Well, I waited. In August, 7-for-7, 2.53 ERA. In September, 8-for-8, 0.71 ERA, and the Phillies win the East. If that's not a clutch/big game pitcher, I don't know what is. Well done, Brad. Not bad for a supposed headcase.
His season reminds me of the season he had in 2005. Oh wait he lost the WS for the Astros. Basically the same kind of season. I have watched alot of Phillies games. He will melt down in the playoffs cause he isnot lights out. In the last few SO he has had a ton of base runners. In 2005 he started having alot of base runners towards the end of the season but still didn't give up leads then he started looking dicy in the Atlanta series and finally had his meltdown starting game 5 of the NLDS. My prediction is that if the Phillies have SO he will blow them in the Playoffs.
I didn't realize people like this were still out there... wow. So, Lidge lost the WS for the Astros, huh? Had nothing to do with, oh, getting swept? Had nothing to do with Clemens' injury, the grand slam allowed by Qualls, Oswalt's mediocre performance, the inability of our team to push across a single run in Game 4, the inability of Taveras to simply touch the baseball with the winning run on third and one out in Game 3... Lidge lost the WS?!? Who the hell are you kidding? Also, how many Phillies' games have you been watching? In his last 10 appearances, he hasn't even allowed a hit in eight of them. In his last 10 appearances, he has allowed one baserunner or fewer in seven of them. Likewise, in 2005, he had a WHIP of under 1 for September and October (of the regular season). So, to claim he "started having alot of base runners towards the end of the season" is completely and factually wrong on every level. Again, here's a crazy theory man. Maybe there's no headcase. Maybe there's no mental conspiracy. Maybe there's no hangover. Maybe Albert Pujols is just one hell of a hitter, Lidge missed on the location of a pitch, and Pujols hit it. Really good hitters do that sometimes, you know -- it's why no pitcher gets through a season with an ERA of 0.00. Want to try again, now that you have the actual data both from this year and in 2005 -- or would you prefer to continue rambling without any substance or facts?
Props to Lidge. I liked the guy, he just needed a change of scenery. I, for one, hope he does well in the playoffs. Good kid who ALWAYS took the blame. He drove me nuts, and I cursed him more than eleventeen times, but the kid had one hell of a season this year!
Surprised I havent responded in this thread. Lidge, I never thought he was totally "ruined" by Pujols. But he got devastatingly owned by Pujols on a couple occassions. Which CAN and probably did have an effect on psyche but where it goes from having a 2.50 ERA to a 3.75 ERA, not making him go completely down the commode. This year if Lidge was on the Angels (I'm in Angels territory) he would have SHATTERED the saves record better than K-Rod did. Also remember that Philadelphia is a well known brutally tough city to play in. Fans there arent shy about letting a player know he stinks, so it takes the right kind of (yes) mental makeup to keep playing consistantly well after a rough period.
If you are a true fan of the game you are happy for Brad. He never once blamed anyone but himself. he went out there and gave it his all every game. I am glad he has fixed his problems and is back to being an elite closer.
I'm still stickin to my original theroy. Brad will fall apart in Philly in a few years after players, managers and scouts figure out how easy Lidge is to beat. I'm happy he turned it around, I always liked Lidge, I just wasn't that suprised to see a guy with only 2 barrels go down in flames after a few seasons.
You mean the same players, managers, and scouts who've been playing against Brad Lidge his entire career? Check.
Yes, because those scouts didn't exist the last few years, right? Philly plays in a different league with different players and scouts than he did the last few years. I guess if you keep extending the timeline from a few weeks to a few months to a few years, eventually you will be right, because Lidge won't be good forever.
The amazing thing with Lidge is, that I've been watching him in his saves during the NLDS and he's lost some velocity on his fastball. His fastball's down to 93 94 compared to 97+ in his days with us but he has much better location with it now then with us. His slider is just as nasty except he isn't hanging that pitch as much as he did in his later days with the Astros. I'm definitely happy for him and his success because he was a great guy who just needed a change of scenery.
The slider is the ultimate key. Its like Rivera's cutter... basically, if Lidge is throwing it right, it doesn't matter what other pitches he tosses up there. His fastball was pretty good (in terms of velocity), but it didn't particularly have much movement. But with hitters looking for the slider, it was good enough to paralyze them at times.
I'm happy for Lidge, he's a good guy. I don't know how he won Comeback Player of the Year though, he never went anywhere. His Ks and WHIP are right where they were last year, while his ERA improved. But regardless, it isn't like he was terrible (or even bad) last year. But props to him. And I've just gotta say this - stating Lidge lost the WS for the Astros is just... asinine.
Actually they're up 2. Key here is to go right after him -- home run is honestly no different than a walk here. No free passes.
