Posts tagged BradLidge at FanHouse

From the Windup is FanHouse's extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.

Season's Greetings. Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

As baseball fans across the country gather to celebrate the holiday season with their loved ones, we here at MLB FanHouse have come up with a present we'd like to give to fans of every team -- even the ones who root for the Yankees, it turns out you folks don't have quite everything just yet.

On a day like Christmas, baseball season can seem an awfully long way off, especially here in the Northeast, where the snow banks are piled four and five feet high. In reality, pitchers and catchers can report to Spring Training in a mere 52 days.

Enjoy the hypothetical gifts for now; it won't be very long before we can all unwrap a very tangible one -- a brand spanking new baseball season.

From the Windup is FanHouse's extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I get pretty aggravated when America doesn't win things we should. For example, I don't even watch the NBA, yet I was one of the biggest Team USA fans for the Olympic men's basketball team in August. America should win the gold in basketball. We invented the game and house the best players. I also believe America should win the World Baseball Classic for the same reasons. (Plus, I'm an ugly American and think we should win everything anyway.)

With this in mind, I'm putting together the perfect team for manager Davey Johnson, in hopes that he takes note.

In my view, there are some things that doomed USA's last WBC team, specifically in the Dontrelle Willis disasters. If you are playing what essentially amount to a bunch of one-game series, you cannot possibly survive with shoddy defense, pitching that gives out free passes, or constantly falling behind in the count. Also, too much reliance on power can hurt you in these games. You need guys who can get on base and "keep the line moving."

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2009.

As you could probably tell from the parade down Broad Street, everything came together for the Phillies in 2008. Cole Hamels made the leap from No. 1 starter to shutdown ace, Brad Lidge didn't blow a save from April to October and the big three in the lineup kept on churning until the Rays were dispatched and Philadelphia rejoiced for the first time in 25 years.

Hamels, Lidge, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley will all be in their familiar roles when next season opens. No matter what the Mets do, that nucleus should make the Phillies the favorites in the NL East, not to mention the two steps beyond that, before next season. That doesn't mean there isn't work to do.

You don't need to look any further than Pat Gillick's retirement and Ruben Amaro's ascension to general manager to see how little time there is to celebrate a title before thinking about next year. The Phillies don't need any wholesale changes, but they can't stand pat either. Like sharks, baseball teams need to keep moving or they'll die where they sit.

Last year, the Red Sox celebrated their championship by re-signing World Series MVP Mike Lowell and bringing back several other role players. Their only major addition from outside the organization was bench bat Sean Casey. Needless to say, that kind of stability in the era of free agency has become increasingly rare, and the Phillies won't be an exception.

Of course, the Phillies aren't exactly the 1997 Marlins either. They have a strong young core intact. Cole Hamels, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard and Brad Lidge are all under contract or the club's control for the near future. That five-player spine should be enough to make Philadelphia one of the favorites in the National League next season.

But the status of some of the second-tier players who were integral in the championship run is up in the air heading into the winter. Pat Burrell is at the top of that list. The left fielder is a woeful defender and will never hit for average, but his patience and power will be sorely missed if he signs somewhere else.

Jamie Moyer is also a free agent. He could pitch until he's 50. He could walk off into the sunset. Either way, he made 33 starts for the Phillies during the regular season and three more in the postseason. That too will not be easy to replace.

Brad Lidge struck out Eric Hinske to record the final out in the World Series last night. Maybe he wasn't concentrating enough at the plate because he was worrying whether or not to start Ryan Grant this week. Grant did just finally have a productive fantasy game and is coming off a bye week, but they are facing the vaunted Tennessee run defense. Man, what should I - STRIKE THREE!

No, seriously -- CBS Sports is running a fantasy football league with with 13 major league players. B.J. Ryan is apparently dominating right now, running his record to a spotless 8-0 thus far. Hinske, who is said to be a "fantasy football addict", is facing off against Lidge this weekend, coincidentally. Both sport 3-5 records and need the win badly to stay relevant.

Just for what it's worth, the other league members are Jarrod Washburn, Mark Buehrle, Michael Cuddyer, Travis Hafner, Matt Clement, David Wright, Greg Maddux, Aaron Rowand, Ben Sheets, and Doug Mientkiewicz.

No word on if Maddux plays mind games with opponents, or if Hafner drafted a bunch of guys who ended up injured. I am sure Wright's 5-3 record is bound to get worse as the playoffs approach, though (zing!).

Brad Lidge struck out Eric Hinske to record the final out in the World Series last night. Maybe he wasn't concentrating enough at the plate because he was worrying whether or not to start Ryan Grant this week. Grant did just finally have a productive fantasy game and is coming off a bye week, but they are facing the vaunted Tennessee run defense. Man, what should I - STRIKE THREE!

No, seriously -- CBS Sports is running a fantasy football league with with 13 major league players. B.J. Ryan is apparently dominating right now, running his record to a spotless 8-0 thus far. Hinske, who is said to be a "fantasy football addict", is facing off against Lidge this weekend, coincidentally. Both sport 3-5 records and need the win badly to stay relevant.

Just for what it's worth, the other league members are Jarrod Washburn, Mark Buehrle, Michael Cuddyer, Travis Hafner, Matt Clement, David Wright, Greg Maddux, Aaron Rowand, Ben Sheets, and Doug Mientkiewicz.

No word on if Maddux plays mind games with opponents, or if Hafner drafted a bunch of guys who ended up injured. I am sure Wright's 5-3 record is bound to get worse as the playoffs approach, though (zing!).

In the Playoff Pulse series, our MLB editor takes on a hot October topic.

Things move fast in the Internet Age. That's the nature of a 24-hour news cycle or maybe just the short attention span of Americans. Either way, before you know it we're going to be talking about CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira (And Jake Peavy and Manny Ramirez and maybe even Prince Fielder).

So let's take the chance, while we still can, to pay tribute to the 2008 champions. With a cheesesteak in one hand and a Yuengling in the other, here's to you Philadelphia.

- Here's to the Phillies fans, first and foremost. You're not always the easiest folks to understand. You've booed just about everyone including many of your own players. Even among East Coast baseball fans you can seem like a cynical, sour bunch. But your passion and loyalty is undeniable.

In frigid temperatures and pouring rain on Monday night, Citizens Bank Park was packed to the hilt. In more than 100 years of existence, you've been rewarded for your devotion with a title only twice. It hardly seems like enough.

- Here's to Cole Hamels, who at just 24 has established himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball, and just maybe its greatest changeup artist.

Until his magical October run, Hamels wasn't widely recognized by casual fans for his dominance. He wasn't even an All-Star this year. Hope you enjoyed the relative anonymity while it lasted, Cole.

In the Playoff Pulse series, our MLB editor takes on a hot October topic.

Over the next few hours and days, sports fans are going to be inundated with every possible take on the way Bud Selig handled the events of Game 5. Some of it will be fair and some of it will not be.

My quick take: Selig was dealt a tough hand and played things very poorly. He made a bad situation worse by not invoking his powers as commissioner and suspending the game immediately when it began to rain heavily in the fifth inning. It was not an easy situation, and because Selig is uncharismatic -- because he and the sport he presides over make for an easy target (just ask Congress!) -- he'll take more of a beating than he deserves. Be wary of who you listen to and read on the topic. Many of the columnists and pundits who rip baseball for every single flaw it has, will overlook the very same flaws in other sports, particularly in the NFL.

All that aside, let's not forget that there's still a series to be finished, a championship to be won, anywhere from three innings to two games (and change) left to be played in the 2008 season.

So how are the actual parties involved in this series going to be affected by the weird, wild suspension of Game 5? The answer to that question seems pretty obvious: Everybody except the Phillies and their die-hard fans is a big winner.

In the Playoff Pulse series, our MLB editor takes on a hot October topic.

On the precipice of their first World Series title in 28 years, the Phillies deserve a world of credit for the way they have executed in October. They have played to their strengths all month long, and as it turns out, those strengths are enough to win a title.

They have a dominant ace in Cole Hamels who may very well close the Fall Classic out Monday night. He's 4-0 in October and he gives the opposing pitcher very little room for error. The rest of their rotation has flown under the radar in part because of Hamels' excellence and in part because of a ballpark that inflates ERAs, but it's proven to be very capable, too, behind the southpaw ace.

They have a lights-out bullpen that finishes with Brad Lidge, but also features top-notch flame-thrower Ryan Madson as the bridge to Lidge and a number of useful situational guys like Scott Eyre and Chad Durbin.

And they have a power-laden offense that has much more balance than the Rays -- one that is capable of putting crooked numbers up on the board as it did in Game 4, but also capable of staying in the game even when it struggles with runners in scoring position because of the home run ball.

If Monday is a coronation, it will have been well earned indeed.

In the Playoff Pulse series, our MLB editor takes on a hot October topic.

The Rays pulled out all the stops in Game 2 of the World Series to get even with the Phillies. They scratched out a victory on the offensive side, scoring three of their four runs on a pair of ground ball outs and a safety squeeze.

Much will probably be made of manager Joe Maddon's willingness to play small ball in a critical postseason game because, hey, let's face it, the mainstream media and baseball old-timers love it when the little things play a big factor in crucial postseason games.

But that might be missing the forest for the trees. The Rays are headed to Philadelphia knotted at 1-all in the World Series and ready to go on a roll similar to the one they went on in the ALCS. And the reason they look poised to reel off a few wins, and maybe just run off with the World Series trophy in the process, is because of their almost surreal pitching depth.

Look, Evan Longoria and B.J. Upton are terrific young players. Whatever is brewing in Tampa Bay -- whether it's a dynasty or an annual contender in the AL East -- both are going to be a big part of something special. But neither has done much so far in this series. Longoria is hitless, Upton grounded into two key double plays in Game 1 and their partner in the middle of the order, Carlos Pena, is also 0-for-the-Fall-Classic.