2009 Philadelphia Phillies - Season's Over, Time to Move On

[Sgt PSN]

i'm actually happy with the start time for game 1.  comes on at 1130 on the left coast so i'll be on my lunch break for the next 90 minutes and i have a tv in my office.  i believe i'll be taking an extended lunch that day as well. 

[MDS]

wheres my mlb fantasy entry fee

where does the guy who beat me live

[Munson]

Haha some of the folks on EMB have been having a field day with this guy.

[MDS]

only one of those is funny

[Munson]

Who cares?

[MDS]

sunmo

[Munson]

Oh....Okay.

[QB Eagles]

which one is supposed to be funny

[Sgt PSN]

the one blocked by photobucket

[MDS]

the varsity blues one made me chuckle. but munson dying would be make cry with laughter. die. please.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Someone photochop Munson's boy's World farging Champs t-shirt on him

[QB Eagles]

Someone photochop Munson's boy's World farging Champs t-shirt on him

funny

[PhillyPhreak54]

Brad Lidge said this isn't a secret weapon.

It's another option. It's something to get hitters thinking a little bit.

He introduced a cut fastball in Saturday's 4-3 loss to the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park, a pitch he said he will throw to left-handed hitters. He threw a couple to pinch-hitter Ross Gload, who struck out swinging on a 2-2 slider.

"It's not a pitch I'm expecting to be like my regular fastball and slider," Lidge told MLB.com. "But it is a pitch I am expecting to give them something else to think about. If I can throw it for a strike, OK, now they have to respect it. If they found a good pattern on me with fastballs and sliders, which maybe they have, maybe they haven't ... if they have, that takes them completely out of their rhythm. It's something I've seen a lot of guys throw very effectively to lefties."

Why a cut fastball, and why now with the playoffs beginning Wednesday? Lidge has had trouble this season with his fastball command, particularly throwing inside to left-handed hitters. Lidge said the cut fastball can do two things. First, he said it serves the purpose of having something hard he can throw inside. Second, he said it gives hitters a third pitch to consider.

Lidge tried throwing a cut fastball with Houston a couple of years ago, but ditched it because it wasn't working.

"I've actually thrown it in the bullpen for a year or two," Lidge said. "I've just never brought it into the game. But I have thrown it in the bullpen a lot, and all the catchers have told me it is a good pitch and I should throw it in a game. It looks like it's working good. I just thought, yeah, if I ever need to, I will. In Houston, I had no idea what I was doing with it. I was just throwing it as hard as I could. It was going everywhere. Since then I've been able to work on the craft of throwing it and figure out why you throw it. Back then I didn't even know why. I just thought it would look cool."

Asked if he felt comfortable throwing a new pitch in the postseason, he said he is.

"I'm not trying to experiment a lot right now," Lidge said. "I feel good with the command of my fastball and slider, but it's something to get lefties to think about."

"It was a good pitch for him," Carlos Ruiz said. "I liked it. Sometimes we've tried to go to lefties with fastballs inside and he doesn't have the control to lefties. So I like the cutter because it will protect the slider."

Ruiz said it was a good pitch for Lidge. But is it a good idea to start throwing a third pitch now? We could find out as early as Wednesday.

*

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Why the hell not...

[Munson]

Someone photochop Munson's boy's World farging Champs t-shirt on him

[MDS]

jesus christ only in a farging trailer park