As the Phillies wait to begin what they hope will be a deep playoff run, one of the players most responsible for their reaching the post-season has been recognized for an unexpectedly great season: 

Cliff Lee, who won the American League leader in wins and ERA, and Philadelphia closer Brad Lidge, who converted 41 of 41 save opportunities to help the Phillies win a second consecutive National League East crown, are MLB.com's Comeback Player of the Year Award winners for their respective leagues.

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Lidge finished with 53 points and was followed by Kerry Wood of the Cubs (34), Ryan Ludwick of the Cardinals (27) and Jorge Cantu of the Marlins (23).

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Lidge was traded by Houston to the Phillies last November after going 5-3 with 19 saves and a 3.36 ERA for the Astros in 2007.

The right-hander quickly showed he still had dominating stuff. Lidge had a 0.82 ERA in his first 12 save opportunities and retired 21 of 24 batters at one stretch. As the months went by, Lidge kept converting every opportunity. His reliability, especially after the Mets lost closer Billy Wagner to injury, was a key factor in the outcome of the division race.

Lidge finished the regular season 2-0 with a 1.95 ERA and was 41-for-41 in save opportunities. His place as the most reliable closer in Phillies history became all but official. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, no Phillies closer with 20 or more saves in a season had lasted an entire year without a blown save since saves became an official statistic in 1969.

 

"That's kind of tough to beat," Phillies assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "It is what it is. It's pretty amazing that he went out there for 41 chances and did it 41 times. Hopefully he can do it another 10 or so."

I'm barely old enough to remember some of Tug McGraw's hair-raising escapes in 1980, and Al Holland's strong bullpen work in 1983. Steve Bedrosian obviously was effective in 1988, when he won the Cy Young Award, but that was for an awful team and I don't recall his work very clearly. Lidge has set the standard for Phillies closers.