Brad Lidge
| Brad Lidge | |
|---|---|
| Houston Astros – No. 54 | |
| Relief Pitcher | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |
| debut | |
| April 26, 2002, for the Houston Astros | |
| Career statistics (through July 24, 2007) | |
| Win-Loss | 20-18 |
| Saves | 108 |
| Earned Run Average | 3.17 |
| Strikeouts | 529 |
| Teams | |
| |
Bradley Thomas Lidge (born December 23, 1976 in Sacramento, California) is an American Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Houston Astros.
College career
Lidge attended Notre Dame. He won the Big East player of the year award during his junior season under coach Paul Maineri, leading the conference with an 8-2 record and 93 strikeouts in 80.1 innings.
Professional career
Lidge was a 1998 first-round draft pick by the Houston Astros, taken 17th overall. He missed parts of his first four professional seasons (at Quad Cities, Round Rock, and New Orleans) with injuries, including a torn rotator cuff and a broken forearm that threatened his career. Lidge would overcome these injuries, making his debut in the major-leagues on April 26, 2002 against the Atlanta Braves, serving as a middle relief pitcher in the Astros' bullpen. He started the only game of his career in September of that year against the Milwaukee Brewers. Lidge went 2-for-2 with a double and 2 RBIs at the plate, but was pulled when he strained an intercostal muscle in his ribcage after pitching three scoreless innings with four strikeouts, two walks and a hit batsman.
Following the trades of Billy Wagner in the 2003 off-season and Octavio Dotel in the summer of 2004, the Astros moved Lidge from setup man to closer. He set a new National League record for strikeouts by a reliever with 157, passing Goose Gossage's total of 151 set in 1977. (The mark is third all-time for relievers, behind Dick Radatz's 181 in 1964, and Mark Eichhorn's 166 in 1986.)
In his first All-Star Game appearance in 2005, Lidge pitched the bottom of the seventh, striking out all three batters he faced. He threw 11 pitches (2 balls) to Melvin Mora, Mike Sweeney, and Garret Anderson, who did not make contact with any of Lidge's pitches. Lidge became the first pitcher to strike out the side in his first All-Star appearance since Bill Caudill and Dwight Gooden in 1984.
Later in 2005, Lidge finished the season with a 2.29 ERA and a career-high 42 saves. That year, Lidge ranked third in the National League in saves and became the second Houston Astros pitcher ever to record at least 40 saves in one season alongside Billy Wagner.
During the 2005 NLCS, Lidge gave up a 3-run home run to Albert Pujols in Game 5 in Houston which forced a Game 6 back in St. Louis. This home run is rumored among some baseball fans to have "shaken up" Lidge to the point that he would never return to his previously dominant form.
In 2006, Lidge became the third pitcher in Astros history to record 100 saves with the club, after Wagner and Dave Smith. Lidge pitched for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic in March of 2006, throwing two scoreless innings.
On January 16, 2007, Lidge signed a one year $5.35 million contract with the Astros that would keep him in Houston through the 2007 season.
Lidge was demoted from the closer's role on April 9, 2007.[1] However, Brad would later regain his role in mid-June as the closer after going 10+ scoreless innings and posting a 2.45 era. On 17 July, 2007, Lidge pitched a scoreless ninth inning against the Washington Nationals, striking out two and walking one, to earn his first save of the 2007 season.
Personal
Lidge resides in Englewood, Colorado in the off-season. He has a wife, Lindsey, and a daughter, Avery Grace (born November 20, 2004.)
Trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (June 2007) |
- Lidge is the all-time leader in strikeouts-per-nine-innings (12.98) among pitchers with at least 200 appearances in their career.
- He was the winning pitcher in the Astros historic six-pitcher tandem which no-hit the New York Yankees on June 11, 2003. That year, Lidge was voted Astros Rookie of the Year by the Houston Chapter of the BBWAA.
- Lidge throws a four-seam fastball that consistently reaches 97-98 mph, as well as a hard, sharp breaking slider that ranges from 87-90 mph. His fastest recorded pitch was a 102 mph fastball against the Cincinnati Reds in August 2004.
- In home games at Minute Maid Park, he was introduced as Brad "Lights Out" Lidge, complete with entrance music (Drowning Pool's "The Game") and his own entrance video.
- Lidge's favorite TV shows include "Cheers," "Late Night with David Letterman," and "Anything on the history channel."
- He has a black lab named Meg [citation needed]