Brad Lidge Still Not Here, in Case You Noticed

Phillies pitcher Brad Lidge developed discomfort in his throwing elbow after a bullpen session on Monday morning.

“Oh, fuck, that’s right,” Dubee stated in a post game interview.  “How’s he doing, anyway?”  When informed that Lidge had suffered yet another setback in his recovery, Dubee chuckled and shook his head while seemingly scanning the room for someone or something in particular.

“That’s classic Brad,” he said, as if he was responding to a different question entirely.

Lidge, on the other hand, seems to have nothing but enthusiasm about an “inevitable” return to the Phillies’ bullpen, in any capacity, and is eager to remind people that he is still part of the team.

“Yeah, you know, I’ve watched Stutes and Bastardo and all these younger guys come into their own, and its been great,” he said, cleaning mud out of his cleats.  “But you reach a point where experience is important.  Like, the other night, I could see on TV that Chooch–that’s Carlos Ruiz’s nickname, by the way–Chooch had set up outside, and Stutes threw a little further in.  And I was like, ‘wow, in 2008, the year I went 48-for-48 in save opportunities, that would have never happened.'”

Lidge laughed uproariously at the thought, then demanded that his well known 2008 statistic go in any articles that would result from the interview.  “Just write it down,” he muttered, holding the cleat in his right hand like a knife.  Seeing video cameras, he quickly returned to cleaning.

“I’ve been cleaning the mud out of Chase’s cleats for the past few weeks,” Lidge commented loudly, in hopes of being overheard by the second baseman.  “I… I just don’t want to be forgotten.”

Lidge ended the interview quite suddenly when Ryan Madson entered the clubhouse and was given an extravagant, clearly rehearsed high-five from Dubee.