'Disappointed' Lidge says goodbye to Philly
The lasting image will always be of a man on his knees, reaching up toward the glowing sky, teammates swarming and fans cheering as entire city spun on his axis. Brad Lidge says he will always have that moment: will always remember the sound of the crowd, the feel of the grass bleeding through his pants, the incomparable high that comes with being a world champion.
'Disappointed' Lidge says goodbye to Philly
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
The lasting image will always be of a man on his knees, reaching up toward the glowing sky, teammates swarming and fans cheering as entire city spun on his axis. Brad Lidge says he will always have that moment: will always remember the sound of the crowd, the feel of the grass bleeding through his pants, the incomparable high that comes with being a world champion.
"I enjoyed the hell out of my time there," Lidge said yesterday from New Orleans, where he was scheduled to take part in a Triple-A Hall of Fame banquet. "I'd thank every fan personally if I could."
He was professional to the end, saying only that he was "disappointed" that the Phillies decided not to offer him a contract to remain with the club for a fourth season. Lidge said that at the end of the season, he talked with general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. and left the meeting with the impression that if he could not find an opportunity to close, the Phillies would be ready to offer him a modest contract to help set-up for newly-signed Jonathan Papelbon.
"We thought it was probably going to happen," Lidge said. "Basically when the season ended, I talked to Ruben, and he said, 'We understand you'd prefer something else, an opportunity to close,' but he said 'we'll be here if you don't have the opportunity to close."
A couple of weeks ago, Lidge said he returned to Amaro but was informed they no longer could offer him a deal.
"It was fairly surprising and disappointing," he said. "We were upset about it for a little bit. It's frustrating but its part of the business. They used their judgment and wanted to move on and I respect that, but obvious I thought we'd be able to come back."
Which brings a close to the most memorable part of his career. Lidge signed a one-year deal with the Nationals, which means the Phillies could be seeing plenty of him in 2012.
"It's going to be more emotional when we do actually pack everything up and leave town," said Lidge, who has seen two children born while living with his wife in Haddonfield. "We've spent a lot of our lives here. There's a ton of memories. It will be emotional. I'm real attached to the city. I've grown to love it, so yeah, it will be tough, but it's part of the business."
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Hey Brad. Thank you and Good luck. What you did here in 08 was special.— Lil Ratman- dbyoudope --you know who i would have signed instead of Nix -- a quality utility player who doent strike out all the time, has a decent on base pctge, perhaps some speed and is not an awful defensive player.. instead of spending $850,000 on Willis, i would have spent $2-3 milion on a quality lefty with an era under 4.0 (there are many stil out there).. instead of signing Papelbon for $50 mill, I'd have signed a superior Madson for $44 mil and with the extra $6 mil gotten better players for the bench and bullpen; instead of signing Rolins (whom I like but wasn't worth $36 mil), I'd have signed Aramis and looked for a cheaper alternative at ss --there are numerous alternatives that an intelligent g.m. can take as Dave Murphy has discussed and intelligent analysts on Crashburn Alley discuss - but what Amaro has done past 3 1/2 yrs is overspend for a few overpaid players and then fill his roster with bargain basement garbage -- though it's enough to make post-season, that formula doesn't work in post-season and hasnt worked and will continue not to work— warbiscuit
- Even though he struggled the past few years, 2008 was enough to love Lidge for life. Seeing Chooch and him after the final pitch still puts a smile on my face! Thanks Brad! You were amazing that year!— whitepippen
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- ...phillies clinch n.l. east
- Lidge was the man in 2008. No one can take that away from him (or the fans). Sorry the next 3 years didn't come close to 2008 but that's what happens in sports sometimes. Success can be fleeting and fortunately he got to the top of the mountain.— AvoidSundanceVacations
- and dpyoudope --for the record (1)I dissed the Polanco signing fronm day one , (2) no half-intelligent person thought Ben franciso could be a starting outfielder other than Amaro and apparently you, (3) amaro never really did give Mayberry the job, istead treating him like a yo-yo and continually burying him though he consistently outperformed Brown and Francisco; Mayberry ended up proving imself only after he got the opportunity by default because of injuries to Brown and Howard --so that is not to rube's credit but just further evidence of his poor judgement and inability to judge talent— warbiscuit
- This comment has been deleted. — DogBiscuitthedope
- Stay on him you old JUNK YARD DOG !
— DUDESKINS - Comment removed.
- Thanks Brad for all you did here- most appreciated, your 2008 run in 2008 was legendary.— Northcountry
- Brad Lidge; one helluva classy guy! Our loss; DC's gain!— JBinPA
- Hope he returns as art of the Phillies' organization. Good guy. Smart guy. Need more of that around here.— mmds
- Nice usage of the word "hell" there Brad "I'm a Christian" Lidge.— Sackbutt
