If Brad Lidge Is Going to Blow One Save Game All Year, I'm Glad It Was This One

I still Blame Billy Wagner and Dan Uggla for sucking.

Lidge just gave up the game winning run in the bottom of the 15th at 1:37 a.m. I'm going to bed now.

Just think, if Billy Wanger could have found a way to avoid sucking for an inning, you would have had a good two hours more sleep tonight.

Chase Utley had a quiet night but found a way to contribute by moving along Hanley Ramirez who later scored to get one of the NL's 4 runs on the board.

After a rather boring first seven or so innings, this game turned into an exciting marathon with guys bunting and stealing and all sorts of National League style tomfoolery.

But in the end, Brad Lidge lost it. Bullocks.

Comments

[dan]

and you can blame tim lincecum for no showing. get well soon i guess.

[dScan]

The only reason uggla was in this game was for his hitting skills. Can you imagine how much smoother this game would have gone if they didn't take Utley out?

[burkhardt]

Lidge is clearly the fall guy for an elaborately orchestrated, frantic, eleventh-hour MLB cover-up to avoid a tie. Plus, any Phillies outfielder would have probably thrown out Morneau.

[doubleh]

But it wasn't a save situation; it was a tie. Either way, he had been warming up for 3 hours for a save that never came and it was 1:42 in the morning. Tough situation.

Not too many closers getting it done in this one...

[Mike L.]

Yep. Corey Hart totally deserved that all-star nod. Fucker couldnt even throw out Morneau.

[Dave]

i really hope this loss on Lidge's account...even though Wagner's time in was fucking bullshit...doesn't end up making him like an Eric Gagne...someone who is pretty good in save attempts up to the all-star game...blows the all-star game...then sucks the rest of his career

[MSM]

Yet another reason the All Star game is nonsense. I'm sure ESPN will hail this as an all time record, 15 innnings, historic, blah blah blah at Yankee Stadium blah blah blah game. In fact it was shoddily played and the management of it was deplorable, even for an All Star game, and it sucks that it counts for home field advantage.

I think Clint Hurdle may be a worse late innings manager than Charlie judging by what I saw. He left in Aaron Cook for 3 innings? Jesus. Nothing like letting Lidge warm up 6 times. That'll keep him fresh like 3 week old milk. And as for Utley being pulled early, and Pat Burrell not being selected, I think points proven there. The throw from McClouth in the 11th was excellent but aside from that the OF was substandard. Corey Hart couldn't throw out Chooch Ruiz let alone Morneau, not to mention being 0-3 with 2Ks. David Wright was a waste of space as usual with 1-3 and 2Ks. But oh, the prize of the night goes to Florida Marlin poster boy Dan Uggla, with 3Es and 0-4 with 3Ks. I hope he has more of those games in the future.

[johndewar]

How about an over/under on how many saves Lidge will have to blow before losing the All-star game (and a subsequent loss of confidence) gets mentioned as a reason for Lidge's demise?

[Pete D]

that over under would be 1.

[themajor]

I think year after year they keep re-enforcing why I don't watch all star games. The homerun derby and other skills competions are fun but really all star games are a waste of time. they should just give everybody in the league a long weekend off. I mean half the stadium was empty last night by midnight. If anyone should get the loss they should just give it to Uggla.

[maria]

He warmed up about 4 times. He throw like 100 warm-up pitches. Blame Wagner and Uggla!

[Loqiel]

Nice article by Jayson Stark on ESPN, in which he mentions Lidge was told to warm up -six- times.

When he couldn't get the slider he buries in the dirt to the plate, I knew he was gassed. Screw the JUGS gun; he was thoroughly abused last night by Clint Hurdle. Relievers will tell you that when they get told to warm up, it's like throwing an inning in a game already, so by that account, Lidge threw nearly seven innings last night.

Screw Wagner too. And every time a ball got hit at Uggla I pulled a Schilling (where you put a towel over your head and refuse to watch). I remember saying out loud to no one in particular "this never would have happened if Chase was in the game".

At least last night put to rest all of the Uggla vs Utley comparisons.

[Jonn]

All of my feelings from last night were just confirmed:

Wagner blew it. Uggla sucks. Hart was selected over Burrell and couldn't make an easy throw. Lidge was abused.

Haha... and the AL wins again...

[BadMotherFutley]

I was actually rooting for Lidge to give up the run, if that makes sense. I don't think the NL had any other pitchers available, and I don't think Hurdle would have hesitated to leave Lidge out there until his arm fell off.

[jd]

I think the consensus among most is that Lidge did NOT lose this game. Still, the stat line will never show what really happenned to poor lidge (100 pitches in the bullpen, wagner, uggla, etc.).

F it, dude. let's go bowling.

[Zack]

This game shouldn't count if this shit is gonna happen

[Kulp]

@ MSM

Hurdle left Cook in for 3 innings because it was his own player. As you know, there are always concerns in these games about using other teams' pitchers. Several were on two days rest, and others would be in danger of missing their next scheduled start.

To be perfectly honest, I never understood why fans cared the '02 game ended in a tie. It's an exhibition game! I've always enjoyed the All Star game since I was a kid, but the outcome has always been the least important thing. The game is about seeing all the (supposedly) best players on the field at the same time, that's it.

If they really want to play to game for something- home field advantage or whatever- they need to get rid of the fan voting, get rid of carrying one player from every team, and let the managers make real teams. Why should a player from the Nationals have an impact on the World Series? If it's one game only, wouldn't you rather find a spot for J-Roll on your bench instead of Cristian Guzman? And if half the starters can't pitch anyway, why not only take two or three and load up with relievers?

But that's not the point. The game isn't supposed to count. I don't care who wins. I want to see the Phils represent, even years when we only have one guy, I want to watch that guy play with and go up against the best.

Enough using this game to arbitrarily award home field advantage, if a tie really pisses fans off that much, just wait until it's their guy getting used up simply because he was the last guy on the bench.

[DSD]

I totally agree with Kulp. The All-Star game is an exhibition game, and should be treated as such. The fan voting has always been a joke. They vote for names and not necessarily the best players. I'm not saying to disallow fan voting, but they should just be 1/3 of the vote, as it is shared by managers/GM, and an actual player vote. I wanted this game to end in a tie so Selig could crawl into a hole and come up with some lame-ass method to decide homefield advantage. Yo, Bud, why don't you just award homefield advantage to the league that wins the most interleague games? I ddidn't really mind that the 2001 game ended in a tie...it's an exhibition game. Now, in order to fix a problem that never really existed, Selig has created a bigger problem in the event another All-Star game is tied. I can't really blame the managers in the All-Star game...I'm sure they are told by nearly every team not to use their pitchers too long and all that. Hurdle actually did the right thing by keeping his own pitcher in the game for three innings, as to not wear out other teams pitchers. And of course, the managers are trying to get all the players into the game. How can you expect a manager to manage for a win when they have all of this in the back of their minds? The All-Star game in baseball needs to be reverted back to a simple exhibition game, played just for the entertainment of the fans, and it needs to remove the spectre of the reward of home-field advantage. It's stupid.

[kevin]

i think its dumb that the allstar game counts for home field advantage

-the all star game should be in philly next year its a great homerun park and a great new stadium

[Katachino]

Uggla is a disgrace to All Stars everywhere - back-to-back errors is not characteristic of an allstar - I'd send him back to the minors for piss-poor showing last night, regardless of his hitting skills.

[Zack]

All Star game will not be in Philly for awhile...it was here in like 96.

Also, just give the team with the best record home field advantage in the world series. Just like you did in the playoffs leading up to that point.

[Sanganoski]

Talk about letting your guests start with an appitizer of fillet mignon then feeding them hot dogs and beans as an entre', the showcasing of the "real ball players" and hall of famers before this mockery just shows that in no way it's the best that MLB has to offer on the menu. Bet some of the old guys could of done better and would of been more entertaining than the group that played. Just think, having "lefty" uncork that wicked slider he possessed to the "new hopes" of the league.

[jim]

I personally think fan voting should be eliminated from all sports all star games. Why do you think deserving players like Burrell get rejected? Why would 14 god damn Cowboys make it to the pro bowl last year? Let the professional writers and players/coaches decide.

[Kulp]

I definitely don't think the writers should have more say than the fans. They have their biases too, and in some cases don't know any more than you and I.

I hate to be a Cowboys apologist, but it's hard to argue against their 13 players in the Pro Bowl. The NFL already splits voting so that fans, players, and coaches each share 1/3 of the weight. Obviously the rest of the league felt they deserved it, and if you look at what the team accomplished during the regular season, it was a no-brainer.

DeMarcus Ware, Jason Witten, and T.O. were all 1st team All Pro selections. O-linemen Flozell Adams and Leonard Davis were 2nd team All Pro. Those are the writers' selections. Tony Romo and Nick Folk had the best stats for QB's and kickers in the NFC. Greg Ellis had 12.5 sacks and Ken Hamlin had 5 picks. Really, the only guy that probably did not deserve it was Roy Williams, and he's on so many overrated lists these days that you could make the argument he's actually underrated.

They don't need to take the fan voting away, but if it exists, you cannot make the game anything more than exhibition.

[hitnrun]

I absolutely don't blame Lidge one iota for that "loss". Whathisname, the fat Colorado moron, left him standing on the warmup mound with his dick in his hands for like 2 and a half hours while the entire National League warmed up on the other mound and went around him.

Then he had to come in basically playing starting pitcher, i.e. he was going to have to pitch until his arm fell off, being the last man standing. Even so, he still came within 6 inches of getting 3 Out.

The blame for this loss goes to the Mets homers, all 8 million or so of them, who voted Billy Wagner in for absolutely no imaginable reason, considering he's been there long enough for them to hate him as much as Philly fans do and tied for the league in blown saves.

[Kulp]

Fans don't get to vote for pitchers... Hurdle chose Wagner for the game.

[MSM]

@ Kulp
I know it was his own player-but if you're in extra innings, is Aaron Cook the guy you want in to keep the other team off the board? He was in trouble each inning (notably, Uggla didn't help him one bit), but he walked a few and was not even close to sterling. My general point is Clint Hurdle could give a sh** about winning for the NL team, because Colorado has about zero chance of the playoffs this year. I thus agree with your assertion (as I stated as well) that the home field advantage idea is bupkus. I really was hoping for a tie so Selig would be embarrassed beyond all belief (again).

[Benjamin]

The NL loss was 99.9% Wagner's fault. He wasn't even asked to pitch an inning, he was asked to pitch for ONE OUT, and he managed to give up a single, let the runner take 2nd without being held on, and gave up a double before recording that measly out!!

Had he simply gotten a single out, Lidge would have been pitching the 9th to close out the game.

And as though Billy Wagner needed to piss me off anymore, did anyone read his quote about Utley getting booed? The freaking retard had the nerve to say that when he gets booed, it only makes him feel more amazing. Are you kidding me?!! They booed Utley because he is a thorn in the Mets shoe, and they envy his talent. They boo Wagner because he runs his mouth like an ignorant f*ck, and sucks. As far as I'm concerned, he blew a 1-out save in the all-star game to reflect his amazing 6 blown saves before the all-star game.

[Jimm]

Hart also popped up on like the first pitch he took in the bottom of the 9th...had Patrick been in the game, it's more than likely a different story. The bat takes the lead, and put in Lidge with barely any warmup pitches...lights out