This might make sense if: 1. Teams didn't have scouts. 2. Players didn't move around from team-to-team. 3. Teams didn't play about half their games every year outside of their division. Since none of those are true, this makes no sense. When Lidge was going well, he was going well against everyone. When he struggled, he struggled against everyone. It has nothing to do with how often he faced certain players.
Very debatable. Fernando Valenzuela was unhittable, until about his third time through "the league". Sophomore slump also comes to mind.
Fernando (remember that mythical "arrow" under the bill of his hat? was that true or urban legend??) is an interesting example. But Lidge was hardly a sophomore.
Is there any evidence that Lidge struggled more against teams he faced more? The White Sox, for example, destroyed him despite having basically never seen him before. This year, all the runs he's given up are against NL West or East teams - none against the Central, who's seen him the most. In 2006, when he struggled the most, he blew 5 saves - 3 against the central, 2 against the west. I'm not saying it never happens - I'm saying that Lidge's struggles and newfound success can't be attributed to moving from the NL Central to the NL East.
Albert Pujols hits Lidge like a screen door in a hurricane. It would be interesting to see if Pujols success against Lidge improved with time. Or how Pujols has fared against Lidge this year (though the sample size might be too small)?
actually i think pujols' career numbers vs. lidge are well below his average, all the way around. he did knock the crap out of that ball in the NLCS, though.
My gut feeling is that the major reason for Lidge's success is that the trade woke him up. I strongly suspect if Lidge had stayed with the Astros he would not be sporting a 0.95 ERA but would be struggling as he had done the past seasons. Back to the original argument ... The 0.95 ERA won't last forever; the league will catch up to him; the league has done it before.
nothing lasts forever. particularly in sports. guys get older. the other side makes adjustments...you make adjustments right back.
Actually SportsCenter showed Pujols' at bat against Lidge last night and mentioned how people attributed all his prior struggles to the 2005 NLCS matchup. Yeah he got Pujols to fly out to center then gave Rick Ankiel 3 straight nasty sliders and struck him out to get the save.
Yeah um mariano rivera has one pitch the cutter, that the batter knows he's throwing, every manager knows he's throwing yet it's still been unhittable for all these years..
The slider that Lidge struck Ankiel out was devestating.... it was the one that simply hovers right over the plate, in the zone, and out of nowhere dissapears. I know a lot of people were clamoring that he needed to throw that pitch for a strike when he was struggling... but you couldn't be more wrong. Because, when he's throwing that pitch right... the batter has NO WAY of knowing whether or not its a strike or its going to dissapear. And as soon as you have the batter guessing.... and you have that 97mph fastball ready to go... they're helpless. Sure, every now and then, a batter will simply close his eyes and swing at the dirt.... and he may make contact and send one out (see Braun, last year).... but it's going to be quite rare if Lidge has grasped that pitch again. The only thing that will stop him are injuries and his mechanics. If those are right, he's every much the pitcher who has the highest K/9innings in MLB history.
Seems like the Cards are just as annoying to get out as ever even after they rehauled their lineup from the Eckstein/Rolen/Edmonds era. They really made Lidge work (especially Schumaker and Glaus). And what a surprise, the Cards are 2nd in the NL in walks; the Astros are dead last.
The OP wanted the Lidge trade just as bad as EVERYONE when it happened. The guy was broke. Phillies found a way to fix him. Great way to turn a vendetta on Wade.
Then, explain the sliders being called for strikes (when he has his good stuff)? Look, when he doesn't have his command, the slider never "looked like a strike" to begin with, whether it would have ended up at the knees or 3 inches below the knees. It's not like I throw them every night, but I'm pretty sure a wicked slider that breaks at the last second (whether to the knees or just below) looks a hell of a lot different than a poorly thrown slider that bounces in front of the plate or hits you in the cleats.
I think we're saying the same thing... I'm saying that Lidge's "good" slider is a late breaking slider that stays in the strike zone just long enough, before leaving it. Yes, he can throw it for strikes... but he doesn't have to. Additionally, in many ways the Lidge slider is more like a split-finger fastball, in that it simply drops out of mid-air with a sharp trajectory. The bad slider is just as you said... the one that starts out of the zone, and ends up being a wild pitch. Or one that simply has a big hump in it and gets tattoooed on to the railroad tracks. But, the answer to solving LIdge's problems wasn't simply "he needs to throw the slider for a strike." Its that he had to get back to throwing the late breaking slider again.
Just to stir the pot.... who just blew the save for the NL? I kid...I kid.... (puts on flame r****dant suit)
Well yes...that was just a bonus mistake knock on Wagner... Oops... I was actually talking about Lidge since he did give up the run in the 15th Did anyone see that pitch? Was it a good one or did he leave it up for Young to get a good piece of wood on it?
