I'm rooting for the Rays. But I do like Lidge and want to see him do well. But a meltdown would be kind of funny.
man, this third base ump has a quick arm. anyhow, for the sake of lidge's psyche, i hope he doesn't blow this save. although, i'd like to see the Rays win it all.
If I heard correctly this will be Lidge's 50th save in a row including his last 3 saves with the Stros.
this is the first time i've turned on baseball in a month or so, but seeing Lidge out there, man, just makes me upset. if this was the stros, he'd be blowing this save right now. i guess i hope he does well. i always liked him, i like the phillies, but i'm going to feel cheated if Lidge continues to come up big for another team when he crashed and burned for us...
It's amazing how people forget how incredibly dominant Lidge was in the 2004 playoffs... he was as good as anyone I've ever seen. For his career, he's even been better in the playoffs than in the regular season... playoff ERA slightly over 2 with 12 saves to one blown save. Albert Pujols is one of the greatest hitters ever to play, and he hit a home run. He tends to do that a lot, and it's not that big of a deal. People need to get over it. P.S. If he still had a torn up knee (as he did in the second half of 2007), he might have blown that save. He doesn't, and he's as good as ever. What a concept.
Unbelievable revisionist history. He was great in 2004, but he was an epic meltdown waiting to happen in 2005. He couldn't control his fastball, threw sliders almost exclusively (possibly tipping his pitches), and couldn't locate (he walked batters ahead of Pujols - that should tell you something about how bad it was). It seemed like every save was getting harder and harder for him starting from his struggles late in the 05 regular season. His final save was when Everett and Bruntlett completely bailed him out with an absurd double play. That was his last playoff save with us.
OH NOES, he walked a batter and Eckstein had a seeing-eye single, what a bum! As for Game 4, the only reason the DP was necessary was because of that absolutely bizarre play where Walker took third after the Astros all assumed the play was dead. Now, onto "that was his last playoff save with us," what does that really mean? He only had one other save opportunity after that in the playoffs -- the Pujols' homer. That's exactly my point -- he blew one playoff save. Pujols is a great hitter, and he knocked one out of the park. He tends to do that to a lot of pitchers. Lidge was an amazing, out of this world pitcher in the 2004 postseason, and that spoiled Astros fans. He wasn't even human -- thacabbage has touched on this in the past. No, he wasn't the same in 2005 (and it was almost impossible to be), but that doesn't mean he was an epic meltdown waiting to happen. He was a good pitcher, but Albert Pujols does what he does. It's simple as that.
Phillies fans are making the Astros fans who threw Lidge under the bus look like idiots. And its really hard to make a philly fan seem smart... but in this case, I have to agree with them. Of course, this is coming from a fan base that last saw Mitch Williams (a true gas can) attempt to save world series games for them. They'll take Lidge, I think.
Anybody who was watching Lidge towards the end of 2005 would tell you he was struggling. And no, it wasn't just "struggling compared to 2004", he was legitimately in trouble. When you walk Edmonds WITH A TWO RUN LEAD, KNOWING Albert Pujols is looming, you know you have a problem with location. Jesus, how is this even being debated? At best, he was shaky. And the Pujols pitch was obviously a hanging slider. You really think it was all on Pujols? It was a terrible pitch. Wasn't there already 2 strikes in the count also? It was terrible location that many hitters would've blasted out of MMP. You didn't need to be Albert Pujols to hit that one out. All you had to do was guess he was going to pitch a slider (which was very predictable given he was throwing sliders almost exclusively) and then swing away.
The only people who look like idiots are Tim Purpura and Ed Wade. Purpura for not trading him at the trade deadline when his value was at its highest and all of baseball was interested and then Ed Wade for trading Lidge for a bunch of crap from his old team. If we'd gotten any quality from the Lidge trade we may very well have made the playoff ourselves this year. Lidge deserved to get thrown under the bus. He sucked ass for two solid years and cost us a playoff spot in 2006. A change of scenery works sometimes. Good for him.
although it wasnt a save opportunity, he did take the loss in games 1 & 4 in the world series. gave up the game winning hr to posednik in game one and gave up the winning run in game 4 after backe threw a gem.
I didn't say it wasn't a bad pitch, but being Albert Pujols certainly helps in terms of the likelihood of hitting it out. I've never seen people so up in arms about "bad pitches" and "bad location" like they are with Lidge in that game. Guess what? Pitchers miss lots of spots, and hang lots of breaking balls, in every game they play. It's part of baseball and part of being a pitcher. There's no one with a 0.00 ERA, and there's a reason for that. As far as Lidge being "legitimately in trouble," I'd like to challenge you to provide data. From Sept. 1-Oct. 2, the final month of the season, Lidge allowed three walks in 17 1/3 innings. He allowed 11 hits in that same time frame. That's a 0.81 WHIP. Want to go back further than that? Let's use the entire second half of the season in 2005 -- from July onward. 36 hits+walks in 37 2/3 innings. That's a 0.95 WHIP, with an ERA under 2. Want to go to the playoffs, from 2005? That's fine, we can do that. He allowed nine baserunners in eight innings before Game 5, for a 1.12 WHIP and a 1.13 ERA -- both significantly better than even his amazing numbers this season. How is this even being debated? Umm, because some people like to deal with actual data and results and not the "feel" they got from watching. Tell me, given the above numbers, how Lidge fit the criteria of "shaky" or "struggling." Whatever your definition -- from July onward, September, or the playoffs -- I've given you the data. Let me know.
Right, but those weren't save situations, which was the criteria someone else set forward. Also, those two games were perfect examples of the problems so many Astros fans have -- the ability to distinguish "headcase" from random luck. The Game 4 was a couple of seeing-eye singles. If either the Harris or Dye ground balls are about a foot to the left or right, it's a routine inning. They weren't hit hard, and they weren't bad pitches. Game 2 (not Game 1) was something any other pitcher on the planet would have done. Podsednik was up with fewer than two outs, and with his speed, a walk essentially turns into a double. He hadn't hit a home run in 650 at-bats all season. Pods was up in the count, 2-1. What does that mean? Pump in a fastball that you know you'll throw for a strike. Worst-case scenario, he'll rip a single or even shoot the gap for a double, which is probably the same result as a walk. Best-case scenario, he'll get himself out. Somehow, the most improbable result you could possibly find happened. It sucks for the Astros, but there were no problems with the pitch or the mental approach to the AB on Lidge's part. It's random luck and that's part of baseball. The problem is that some fans are overreactionary and desperate for a scapegoat, and that ultimately contributed to dealing Lidge and not getting adequate return. Of course, that's just the 2005 postseason. As a closer, he wasn't particularly effective in 2006 and 2007. But it's extremely shallow analysis to kick a guy to the curb simply based on numbers in one particular season. Baseball is a sport where flukes routinely happen, whether it be due to mechanics, injury, or whatever. In the case of an immense talent such as Brad, you have to look beyond the numbers to see what caused them, and see if there's something correctable (such as a torn-up knee). Unfortunately, Ed Wade didn't use that level of analysis, and this is what we're left with.
It's funny how the rest of the games of this series is all about the pitching matchups instead of where they are playing the games. I pretty much knew that the Phillies would win Game 1 because Hamels is arguably the best left-handed starter in the game. Kazmir is solid as is Lester but neither are a Santana or a Hamels. Game 2, the matchup is a little bit closer as Myers isn't as bad as I thought he was but Shields does pitch a helluva lot better at home than he does on the road so I am going with Tampa in Game 2 to tie the series. Game 3 with Garza against Moyer is a very, very, very lopsided matchup that favors Tampa. I think it will be one of the greatest upsets in WS history if the Phillies win Game 3. So, I'll say Tampa wins and leads the series 2-1. Game 4 has Blanton against Sonnastine in Philly, I think that matchup favors Philly more than Tampa, so I'll say that the series is tied. If Games 5, 6, and 7 are the same matchups as Games 1, 2, and 3, then I see the Phillies winning Game 5 but Tampa taking Games 6 and 7 with the possibility that Moyer is pitching Game 7 for Philly (Yikes!). Charlie Manuel would be smart to start Cole Hamels on 3 or even 2 days rest to start Game 7 and avoid running Moyer out there again.
