What the Eck do Phillies do about bullpen?

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Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley was discussing the bullpens of teams in the National and American League Division Series. Eckersley, the closer for the 1989 champion Oakland Athletics, mentioned Boston, the New York Yankees, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels. When he finally talked about the Phillies' bullpen, his first comment was "up in the air."

That's putting it mildly. While Phillies fans are delighted the World Series champions are in the postseason for the third consecutive season, they are nervous about the bullpen. Does manager Charlie Manuel stay with closer Brad Lidge, or does Manuel use Ryan Madson or someone else as the closer?

Speaking on a conference call, Eckersley, a TBS studio analyst, said, "I don't know the temperature there in Philadelphia. [But] Charlie is the type of guy that's going to stay with Lidge. I can't imagine starting the playoffs with guys not knowing exactly what's going to happen when they get late into a ballgame.

"It's a confidence thing. The only way you can be confident is knowing you went out there and got guys out. [With Lidge] you see the stuff is there, the velocity is there. But when you've gotten beat around a little, you can't tell me his confidence is there. To be honest, [with Lidge] it's game to game."

Referring to Lidge's form reversal from last season, Eckersley said, "It's amazing that the Phillies have won in spite of him with all those blown saves. To me, it's the wildness of it all, throwing pitches outside the strike zone so much. It's almost like he's snakebit. What has been good for him is killing him right now.

"I've never really seen one year to the next like this. It's been incredible. Is he capable of getting it back all of a sudden? Yeah, probably, but if I had been watching it all year long I'd be scared to death."

Asked if the Phillies could be successful with a closer-by-committee approach, Eckersley said, "The only way is if you have that kind of depth that you could go back and forth with. I don't think the Phillies have that depth."

Eck-isms

Asked how he'll explain some of his Eck-isms during the playoffs, Dennis Eckersley said, "We'll figure it out." When a reporter said he hoped to hear "cheese, with a lot of hair on it," Eckersley replied, "I wish I had cheese with a lot of hair: I'd still be making iron." *

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