Not quite so much

Thankfully, the blame game has settled down somewhat. Lots of fans showed up for the rally in dowtown Houston last Friday to show support for the team for winning the pennant, which was positive.

I think that those who want to blame Brad Lidge for the losses in the Series, saying he "choked," (a word I despise) must be those fans who don't pay attention until the playoffs. They look at his numbers (42 saves in 46 opportunities) and assume he's been as dominating all this year as last. Unfortunately, not true. In fact, his control issues this year had been brought up long before we even made the playoffs. The most dominating performance (actually, the only truly dominating performance) I saw from him this year was in the All-Star game, in which he threw eleven pitches and struck out all three batters he faced. He was definitely "lights out" that night.

So, do I think he's been affected by the disappointments of the post-season? Probably not. He truly seems to have a closer's mentality, able to put things out of his mind the moment it's done. (Of course, this can be a bad thing. Can you imagine being married to him? "Brad, how many times do I have to tell you to put the seat down and flush?!?" "Oh, yeah, sorry honey. . . I forgot.")

So, do I think he should be affected by the disappointments of the post-season? Yeah, actually, if it affects him in a positive way to move forward to improve himself. I mean, you know, just because he has the memory span of a goldfish doesn't mean his fans do also. For the whole second half of the season, I personally held my breath every time he came into the game. That's really not how you want to regard your closer. But sophomore seasons are often disappointing anyway, because expectations are so high. But yeah, I think he should look at Pujols' and Podsednik's homers (and the 10 other hits and six walks) square in the face, and learn from it.

Face it, and fix it. Then forget it.