[CHRON] Lidge removed from closer's role indefinitely

Yeah... cause Baltimore is in such great shape now, and will be even better once Tejada leaves for nothing...

 

Agreed!!

Now, I've been awaiting information like this for a long time:

I don't agree with dismissing this as "overanalysis"; if a pitcher opens his body too soon in delivery everything else is off. Control just goes to hell, and the possibility of injury becomes much greater as the arm is having to overcompensate. Dude needs to spend some time with some '04 footage and some last month footage and work on these mechanics during his bullpen sessions.

 

Didn't Tejada back out on his trade demand?

 

Tejada's not a free agent for several more years. He could have forced his way out of Houston due to mid-contract trade, but he can't do that in Baltimore.

 

Great move by Garner. I love it. I was so happy to see him come into the game so early the other night.

 

Do they still play his ego-boost music?

 

Well considering that they will once again have another horrid year, and then you consider the division they play in (Yankees, Red Sox, and Blue Jays are all powerhouses)... its just a matter of time before he gets disgruntled again.

Its funny to look at all the former A's who left (predictably, and probably justifiably) to go get more money... virtually none of them garner the same "spotlight" that they did when they were playing for the team with no payroll, no significant fan base, and limited playoff success:

1.) Giambi was larger than life in Oakland, an MVP... then he went from hapless steriod user rejection, to comeback player, to really good player lost on a whole team of big-name players.

2.) Mulder/Hudson were part of a trio (along with Zito) that the league/media was simply enamored with. They loved the second coming of the Braves trio that dominated the 90's... they loved the fact that these three young guys were virtually carrying their team to post-season after post-season with zero payroll. Now, both of them are on much better teams... and they get virtually no publicitiy.

3.) Tejada... once considered the BEST of all the powerhouse AL shortstops, another MVP winner from Oakland, and now he can barely crack the media radar in Baltimore unless he's demanding trades, or winning meaningless HR competitions.

The fact that all of these guys were spotlighted in a best-selling book didn't hurt them either...

 

Spotlight or no spotlight ("east-coast bias" or no bias), I'll take Tejada on this team everyday of the week. As much as I love AE, this guy is comparable to T-Mac; you do that trade every time. I'd give them AE, Lidge, *and* a good arm from the minors for that guy, as long as he signs an extension.

 

Wasn't it John Smoltz that had a terrible stretch of games, and he finally came out of his funk? Or was that someone else, several years back?

 

the ball just came back to earth yersterday

 

You're obviously thinking of Rick Ankiel.

 

Ankiel never came out, and is now an OF in the Cardinals' system.

I don't remember a terrible funk for Smoltzy, but I remember a pretty serious injury/surgery after which he came back and the Braves made him a closer. He was, during the stretch, one of the best closers in the game. I don't remember if it was one season or two. Then he decided he wanted to start again, and returned to almost his old self.

So, Smoltzy went from Cy Young caliber lefty, to premier closer, to #2-caliber lefty, all in his amazing career.

Damn Braves.

 

Lefty?

That's a real fresh take right there.

Coupla questions on the tipping pitches hoorah:

The Mets have definitely, according to the reports, known about this for "a couple of years", right? So explain this:

Lidge vs NYM
2004: 4 G, 5 IP, 1-0, 0/0 sv/sv opp, 1 H, 0 BB, 7 Ks, ERA 0.00
2005: 4 G, 4 IP, 0-0, 4/4 sv/sv opp, 1 H, 0 BB, 8 Ks, ERA 0.00

And Lidge only does this from the stretch, right?

Lidge's batting average against: Bases Empty (Windup) / Runners On (Stretch)

2004: .197 / .141
2005: .239 / .205

I smell horsesh!t, and anyone thinking this is some sort of magic bullet cure-all is sorely mistaken. Location, location, location.

I'm sure in Lidge's mind "it's not a lie if you believe it" holds true.

 

Crap. Mixed him up with Glavine. You know those damn Braves all look alike.

 

Buck,

Location is a huge part of it, most hitters could not take advantage of knowing what pitch was coming as long as the fastball was in a good spot.

But I think once word started to spread and people stopped swinging at his slider, he started pressing even more and lost command of his fastball.

DD

 

Doesn't answer my questions:

The only team we know had his pitches (if we believe any of this) couldn't hit him at all. Totally dominated. And opposing batters fared worse when Lidge was allegedly tipping pitches. Any way to explain this?

Just went back & watched all the Lidge clips I could find on MLB. The Nomar homer, Lidge stops at his chest & throws a fastball. Same in the Colorado game...stops at his chest & throws Hawpe a fastball. This directly contradicts the reports. Go back & look at the NLCS highlights from last year: Game 4, he stops at his chest & throws Mabry a fastball for the game ending DP. Game 5, he stops at his chest & throws the meatball slider to Pujols.

Not to mention, if he truly was doing this regularly, there's absolutely no way Garner & Hickey don't see it after 5 minutes of watching video. It's *that* elementary. They looked at video 2 weeks ago, and said he's not doing it.

 

Dammit, I was starting to feel some hope. Can't you leave us in blissful ignorance?

 

Absolutely agree.

It just sounded like something to throw out to the media.

Buck - I think the mechanical explanation is more likely, with the front side problems. You buy that or not? If not, do you think it's psychological? Or are you in the camp of 'there is no problem, it's just baseball'?

 

It was pretty obvious from watching him this year.

His mechanics have always been less than solid, but the front shoulder thing was something I hadn't seen him do before, and it's the kind of thing that would directly lead to the problems he was having.

Another example, different pitcher; Ausmus, after Pettitte's 3-hit shutout:

"He told me over the course of the game that he kept his front shoulder pointed at the glove. That really made the difference, in terms of the break on his breaking balls and the location on his fastball. That's probably what made him so effective."

 

Yup.

So good news then, I hope he can work through this and get back to closing games out.