PHILADELPHIA — The stadium is trembling. The sellout crowd is in full throat, waving white towels so frantically it could be mistaken for a Colorado blizzard.
And down on the mound, Brad Lidge rocks back and fires a slider with mean intentions. Miss the target by no more than a Tic Tac box and the National League Championship Series becomes a source of concern for an angry, title-starved region.
Nomar Garciaparra, once one of the game’s most feared hitters, doesn’t have a chance, waving weakly at a ball in the dirt. The Phillies win. They always do when Lidge retires the final hitters, a testament to a ruthless slider that is part changeup, part breaking ball, part obit.
Three years after Albert Pujols whiplashed the pitcher’s neck with a mammoth home run, one season after losing his manager’s confidence in Houston and 11 months after being traded to Philadelphia, Lidge converting a save has become a cliche, as predictable as a Scooby-Doo ending.
Forty-five times he’s been given the opportunity to shut the door. Forty-five times he’s turned the deadbolt.
“He’s the best closer in the National League as far as I am concerned,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “I mean, who is better than he is? He’s perfect.”
Nobody is better at creating teammate handshakes than Lidge. The shirts sold in the stadium bear his likeness and nickname “Lights Out.” Philadelphia owns a 2-0 lead in the NLCS entering tonight’s Game 3 at Dodger Stadium. Lidge has saved both wins, turning the exit into an art form.
Not bad for a kid who came to pitching late at Cherry Creek High School, long figuring his only path might be as a junior college outfielder before he found a home on the mound. Now, he’s a source of inspiration for young relievers, hitting his prime at the best possible time.
“Obviously, he has great confidence and that’s pretty easy when you are (45-for-45). But he’s had some hiccups at times and always keeps the same routine,” setup man Ryan Madson said. “From working out to getting ready, there’s no change in his habits. It’s pretty amazing.”
It’s been a remarkable transformation for Lidge, whom many figured would be defined by the 2005 playoffs. That’s when the Cardinals’ Pujols hit a two-out, two-strike home run to send the NLCS to a sixth game. When Pujols made contact, the Astros crowd gasped as if it had witnessed a death. The Astros eventually eliminated the Cardinals, but Lidge was victimized again in the World Series by Scott Podsednik.
Everything Lidge then did in 2006 was viewed through the prism of 2005. He lost his closer’s job, but not his confidence. The idea that he was haunted by one pitch was simply wrong.
“It was a difficult year because I wasn’t pitching up to my capabilities,” said Lidge, who lives year-round in Colorado. “I was trying to do a bunch of different things mechanically, and then everybody wanted to relate it back to ’05. But I think it’s made me better now. In a way, it hasn’t been a bad thing.”
Lidge rebounded in 2007, though he never clicked again with manager Phil Garner. Going to Philadelphia presented a great challenge — if you can survive here, you can survive anywhere — and a perfect landing spot.
“It was beneficial to have a manager in (Manuel) who didn’t have a trigger finger in that role, so to speak,” Lidge said.
So comfortable in Philadelphia, Lidge signed a three-year, $37.5 million extension before the all-star break. He wanted to be with a contender in the prime of his career.
“And when I look around, I can’t imagine a better situation than this,” Lidge said.
The same thing goes through Manuel’s mind when he hands Lidge the ball in the ninth. Last one out, turn out the lights.
“The Phillies are tough, especially Lidge. He really is lights out,” Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez said. “Sometimes all you can do is tip your hat.”
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
