Will Byung-Hyun Kim please step to the rear of the ship. A new candidate is vying for your spot at the helm of the S.S. Postseason Choke.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet Captain Bradley Lidge, star closer of the Houston Astros.
Granted, his credentials were, until recently, not at all impressive for the job he seeks. After all, he was a cog in the Astros' amazing 2005 season, appearing in 70 games as Houston turned a 15-30 start into the National League wildcard berth. His 42 saves were third best in the National League. In fact, he only blew four save opportunities all year.
As further damning evidence, consider Lidge's 2.29 ERA and a .223 batting average against, not to mention 103 strikeouts, the highest total among relievers in the majors. Incredibly, he struck out 1.5 batters per inning over the course of the regular season.
If this weren't enough to eliminate him as Kim's successor in baseball folklore, his 2005 postseason sure set out to do the trick.
Lidge allowed only two hits over four scoreless innings in three appearances against Atlanta in the NLDS. In a rematch with St. Louis for the National League pennant, he went on to save the Astros' first three wins, limiting Cardinal hitters to one earned run over four innings.
Then, his big break came.
With 43,470 fans rocking Minute Maid Park to its foundation as a backdrop, Houston manager Phil Garner called on Lidge to close out the Astros' first-ever pennant in Game 5. After setting down the first two batters, Lidge allowed David Eckstein a seeing-eye hit into left field. No problem.
Then came a four-pitch walk to Jim Edmunds. Somewhat more problematic to be sure, what with Albert Pujols stepping to the plate as the potential go-ahead run.
After enticing Pujols with a slider out of the strike zone, the blueprint was established: don't throw anything over the plate. The slider's bite and Pujols' flailing would do all the work. Nevertheless, he offered an 0-1 hanger. The ball that Pujols crushed arrived in St. Louis well before the dejected Bradley Lidge in preparation for Game 6.
Byung-Hyun Kim, you've got a foot out the door.
Of course, Roy Oswalt and true grit ultimately advanced the Astros into their first World Series, where they promptly lost the opener to the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night.
Under the 2-3-2 series format, Sunday's Game 2 took on a must-win quality for the Astros.
The game itself witnessed three lead changes, as Chicago erased a 1-0 deficit with two runs in the bottom of the second. Houston responded with one in the third and two in the fifth to regain a 4-2 edge.
In the White Sox half of the seventh, first baseman Paul Konerko's grand slam — his fifth homer of the 2005 postseason — again put Chicago ahead, 6-4, a lead that came one out away from being finalized.
In the top of the ninth with runners on second and third, Astros pinch-hitter Jose Vizcaino slapped a two-out single to left field, scoring Jeff Bagwell from third and Chris Burke from second, the latter slapping home plate with the tying run just before Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski could apply what would have been the final out of the game.
Enter Captain Lidge.
After setting down Juan Uribe with the first out in the White Sox ninth, Lidge served up a 2-1 offering to Scott Podsednik that the leftfielder expeditiously sent over the right-center field wall.
Wait! Did I say Scott Podsednik, that pesky small-ball leadoff hitter? The same Scott Podsednik that went homerless in 507 regular season at bats?
Podsednik's second home run of the postseason ignited simultaneous riots in the right-center bleachers and at home plate as fans and teammates, respectively, grabbed for a piece of Chicago's latest hero beneath the second fireworks display in two nights at U.S. Cellular field.
So, what thinks America of Captain Lidge's credentials now?
With still two more opportunities to further bolster his resume, the good captain may have already cemented his fame. And perhaps no one is happier than a worn and tattered pitcher that currently occupies a Colorado Rockies roster spot and who saw his career flame out on back-to-back evenings under a Bronx sky four autumns ago.
Who knows what the future conceals behind its back?
In a week's time, the Chicago White Sox may be celebrating their first World Series in 88 years.
In a year's time, Bradley Lidge, new skipper of the S.S. Postseason Choke, guardian of baseball's Gates of Hell, may be following his predecessor's tracks. Perhaps he'll someday find himself flipping off fans as his name is announced amid boos from the hometown Fenway Park faithful.
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