Congratulations to the 2008 World Series Champs -- The Philadelphia Phillies!

Yes. The only redeeming thing about the Phillies is that they aren't the Mets.

(or the AL)

 

I've also heard from a few reporters, I think it was Justice and Ortiz......

but they were saying that Lidge is a real prick when the cameras aren't around.......who knows? he always SEEMED like a stand up guy, but like a few others have stated........once he left Houston, I could care less about him.

 

**** philly.

 

i know it wasn't justice...he's said over and over again how stand-up lidge was

i had the opportunity to meet him and spoke with him for a while. my first impression was that he was a great guy. antecdotal, but that was my impression.

 

It sounds like Lidge has some real animosity to Houston bottled up...and only part of it has come out. I'm sure we will be hearing more on this in the future. The reporters just need to keep asking him about Houston. Then, eventually the truth will come out. I guess Lidge wants us all to believe that his sh_t doesn't stink or something. I personally question whether Lidge gave us his all while he was in Houston. It comes out like he switched off at some point in Houston...and just went through the motions while not caring. It is very strange to see how much better he did in another uniform. I don't think a change of scenery alone can explain such a turnaround. Maybe Lidge feels he was treated poorly in Houston by the fans and/or Astros...some of that coinciding with his spotty performances? The fact is he would have met the same treatment and probably worse anywhere else with his up-and-down pitching he gave us. Instead of saying he doesn't give a crap about Houston...maybe he should be saying he doesn't give a crap about how he performed in Houston. It's probably closer to the truth.

 

maybe granato, I know I heard it on 1560.....but they weren't bashing him, just saying that he was pretty rude and cocky to some of the other players and really for no reason.

 

that's the first i've heard that.

 

I didn't know it was possible for payrolls to be tied up in baseball considering there's no payroll restrictions. It's pretty much a buyers market with only a handful of teams actually capable of "buying". If you're willing to spend like a drunken sailor it really doesn't apply.

As a Pirates fan of course i'm bitter! Sure, they've done plenty enough to screw themselves over the years but it all starts with the "curse of Barry Bonds". His last year in Pittsburgh was our last winning season. Time has changed but the rationale behind letting him walk hasn't -- the Pirates simply couldn't afford to keep him. Since then we've dealt with an onslaught of cases like the Bonds example. It doesn't help we've drafted so horribly and had such bad luck with player development. Hopefully, with the arrival of Alvarez and others that luck is about to change.

P.S. Care to take a guess who Alvarez's agent is? Yeah, i'm sure Scott Boras will be working hard to keep him in Pittsburgh once that inevitable moment comes.

 

I can tell you first-hand that that's absolute BS. I've been around Lidge hundreds of hours when the cameras weren't around, and he's as nice of a human being as I've ever come across. Every other reporter has had the same observation, as well as his teammates. Brad's funny, and of course sarcastic on occasion, and if you had an agenda, I'm sure you could pull a sarcastic quote out of context and make anyone look bad.

But I've been around Lidge hundreds of hours personally, as well as on good terms with numerous reporters and other players that have done the same. "Rude" and "cocky" are two of the last words in the English language I would use to describe him, and the same goes for everyone else I know within and around the organization.

Hell, I had a story I wanted background for earlier this year, and I called him on Super Bowl Sunday. Voicemail, of course. I doubted he would call me back... I wasn't sure how well he'd even remember me, and it's not like I had the astros.com/MLB.com tag on me anymore, so it's not like he stood to gain from it. 99.99999 percent of players, no chance in hell I'd get a call back, especially in the offseason and me not working in their market or having a national name. Not only did Brad call back, he called me back on the same day (Super Bowl Sunday), remembered everything about me and was willing to talk for however long I wanted about pretty much anything.

Players like that don't exist in the world of professional sports, and it's what makes him so special. If you heard someone saying otherwise, I can guarantee you, they're either taking a very isolated event out of context or they have an agenda. It definitely doesn't speak at all to Brad.