Closer Brad Lidge retiring
Closer Brad Lidge, who recorded a perfect season for the 2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies, is quietly retiring, according to multiple reports.
Lidge told his agents, Rex Gary and Jim Turner that he wants to spend more time with his family after he missed a significant part of last season rehabbing from an injury.
Lidge, 35, leaves with 225 career saves, 37th on baseball's all-time list. He went 26-32 with a 3.54 ERA and 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings in 603 career appearances.
A two-time All-Star, Lidge is also known for one the extreme lows of the postseason. In Game 5 of the 2005 NL Championship Series, with the Houston Astros, he surrendered a three-run homer to the Cardinals' Albert Pujols to send the series back to St. Louis.
The Astros rebounded to win Game 6 and head to their only World Series.
Three years later, Lidge struck out Tampa Bay's Eric Hinske to end the World Series and give the Phillies their second championship. He went 48-for-48 in save opportunities that season, including 7-for-7 in the postseason.
After a poor season in 2009, Lidge had elbow surgery in January, 2010. He joined the Washington Nationals in 2012, but missed six weeks with an abdominal injury, leading to his release in June.
