Charlie Klein
Lord only knows that I have been spoiling to write one of these for the entirety of this blog's existence, but it was not until Saturday that I was offered a legitimate reason for doing so. Anyone who knows me at all understands that I have a boundless and irrational hatred for the Phightin Phills of Philadelphia, PA.
Bradley Thomas Lidge, who was a perfect 41/41 in the Phillies 2008 World Series winning season, has since blown seven saves this season. A friend of mine Mark Stangler (I am not going to let myself take credit for the nickname) texted me a few months ago that Lidge had been leaving the light on more than Motel 6 lately.
Lidge's struggles with confidence are nothing new. In the 2005 NLCS he gave up a late homerun to Albert Pujols which sent the series back to St. Louis for Game 6. The worst moment of Lidge's career came in the 2005 World Series when he gave up a walkoff homerun to Scott Podsednik of the Chicago White Sox in Game 2, a World Series that the White Sox would win in four games.
However, the events that gave rise to this article occurred in Saturday's game versus the Atlanta Braves. Lidge (0-5) managed to commit two errors in one play to set up the Braves rally, including a wild throw to first base that ended up in the outfield. One run scored on that play and Matt Diaz went to third. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel brilliantly elects to intentionally walk the next two batters to load the bases. Lidge strikes out Ryan Church (who apparently is still anticlutch from his time in Flushing) but then gives up a bases loaded single to Omar Infante to lose the game.
Oh how the mighty have fallen. "Hi, I'm Brad Lidge, and NL East, I'll leave the light on for ya. Motel 6."
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