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Lidge will put last season's struggles in the past

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Tracy Ringolsby

Tracy Ringolsby is a Hall of Fame baseball writer. He is in his 36th year covering Major League Baseball, is a co-founder of Baseball America, and is in his third year as pregame and postgame analyst for Colorado Rockies games on Root Sports.

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Updated Nov 10, 2009 2:07 PM ET
     
 
Without having even made a move, the Philadelphia Phillies can rest assured they will be better next year. Brad Lidge is ready for a revival, which means the Phillies will be prime to repeat as NL champions. They got to the World Series this year with Lidge struggling. And there is every reason to believe that Lidge can rebound. He has done it before. Struggling in Houston, where the inconsistency of manager Phil Garner's use of Lidge was as big a factor as Lidge's own inconsistency, Lidge was given a fresh start with the Phillies a year ago and responded with a summer of perfection. He converted all 48 save opportunities in 2008 — including seven in the postseason. This year, he stumbled again. He had a 7.21 ERA. He blew 11 of 42 regular-season save opportunities, and although he was 3-for-3 in the postseason and unscored upon in his first five postseason appearances (when he gave up three runs and suffered the loss in his first World Series appearance), Lidge slipped into the background. Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel was careful in how he handled Lidge's situation, resisting the temptation to trash Lidge and instead voicing support and talking straightforward to Lidge. More importantly, a winter to rehab will allow Lidge to be healthy in 2010. Lidge is scheduled to undergo surgery on Wednesday to remove loose bodies from his right elbow and also have his right flexor tendon evaluated. More than the elbow ailment, however, scouts are convinced Lidge's season-long struggles dealt more with a right knee problem. Lidge did acknowledge the problem in June and spent a stretch on the disabled list with a sprained right knee, but in compensating for the knee, Lidge's mechanics got out of whack. And in the midst of a battle for the NL East, Lidge was intent on providing help for Phladelphia's bid for a third consecutive division titlte. As a result, he tried to pitch through the problems, making adjustments. Now, he has an offseason to get his mechanics back in order.

Work loads

With the Yankees using a three-man rotation in the World Series, there was plenty of talk about the "old days" and the iron-man pitchers. Tim McCarver spoke at length about Bob Gibson and working on three days of rest. Truth is, in the 1960s, teams often used a rotation in which pitchers worked every fourth "game," and because there was always at least one open date a week, that meant the starters were working primarily on four days' rest. Gibson, for example, made only 20 percent of his career starts (98 of 482) on three or fewer days of rest. In his final nine years, only 30 of his 234 starts came on three days or fewer of rest. In fact, in 1968, when he was 22-9 and had a 1.12 ERA, which led to the mound's being lowered, Gibson made 29 of his 34 starts on four days' rest or more.

Mr. October

Much is made about Reggie Jackson and the nickname Mr. October. Jackson, however, is Mr. October II. Before Jackson was even born, Yankees outfielder Charlie "King Kong" Keller was labeled Mr. October by the team's fans and media. Keller, a five-time All-Star outfielder whose career was cut short by back problems, played in an outfield with Joe DiMaggio and Tommy Heinrich. In 1939, his rookie season, he became a postseason legend when he hit .438 with three home runs during the Yankees' sweep of Cincinnati. He became the first rookie to hit two home runs in a game when he connected twice in Game 3. Tony Kubek of the Yankees against the Milwaukee Braves in 1957 and Willie McGee of St. Louis against the Milwaukee Brewers in 1982 later matched the rookie record and also did it in Game 3 of the World Series in which they participated.

Be serious

No argument the Yankees were the best team in baseball this year. Where, however, did the discussions of whether this is the best Yankees team ever begin? Just start with the fact that it's a team that only had three dependable starting pitchers, an age-weary catcher and uncertainty in center field, and it's hard to take anyone seriously in saying it's the best Yankees team ever. The Yankees have won 27 world championships and have had cores that were dominant. Not only did the Yankees win four out of five World Series from 1996 to 2000, but they also won back-to-back titles in 1977-1978, 1961-62 and 1927-28, rattled off five in a row from 1949 to 1953 and won four in a row from 1936 to 1939. That 1949-53 version of the Yankees underwent only minimal lineup changes — including Mickey Mantle replacing Joe DiMaggio and Billy Martin taking over for Jerry Coleman — and had a dominant rotation around the threesome of Vic Raschi, Eddie Lopat and Allie Reynolds, which was a combined 255-117 in that five-year stretch.

Overheard

Free-agent outfielder Matt Holliday would like to wind up with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, but with agent Scott Boras having said he expects a Mark Teixeira-type contract for Holliday, the Mets seem the most likely. ... Indians president Paul Dolan and general manager Mark Shaprio argued on behalf of keeping Eric Wedge as manager. Marketing folks, however, said they would have trouble selling 1,000 season tickets if Wedge was retained and finally swayed team owner Larry Dolan, who is Paul's father, to send Wedge packing and eventually hire Manny Acta. ... Don't be surprised if Kevin Towers winds up as an adviser to Mets GM Omar Minaya, who was able to persuade top aide Sandy Johnson to stay on the job instead of retiring. As a rookie scouting director in San Diego in 1982, Johnson's first first-round draft choice was a pitcher out of Brigham Young University named Kevin Towers. Towers roomed with Jim McMahon at BYU.
Tagged: Matt Holliday, Mark Teixeira, Angels, Indians, Braves, Brewers, Yankees, Mets, Phillies, Cardinals

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