Lidge just had surgery on his knee

by DjacknMacAttack on Jan 14, 2010 4:49 PM EST

Just seen this on yahoo and figured i would share it...

Lidge undergoes 2nd offseason surgery

PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Phillies closer Brad Lidge may not be ready for the start of the season after undergoing his second surgery in three months.

Team officials say Lidge had surgery Wednesday to remove loose bodies in his right knee. The right-hander also underwent elbow surgery on his throwing arm in November.

Phillies trainer Scott Sheridan on Thursday said Lidge should be able to begin throwing again in 10 days but it is not certain when he’ll be ready to pitch in a game.

Lidge spent time on the disabled list last season with a sprained right knee.

Tweet Comment 7 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

If hes able to start throwing again in 10 days, I really dont see how he wont be ready to start the season.

That said, I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, its good to know that something(s) was in fact wrong with him last year which gives me hope for this year. On the other hand, why in the hell did he try to play through these things when he knew he was sucking so badly? It just doesnt make sense…

by philiafan14364 on Jan 14, 2010 5:00 PM EST reply actions

I think he’s had quite a bit of surgery already on his knees. This kind of scraping/removal of scar tissue is fairly routing in players that have had previous knee surgery(ies). It’s his elbow that I am really worried about.

by doubleh on Jan 14, 2010 5:36 PM EST reply actions

i hope this will help Lidge out next year, we will really need him like we did in 08-09 season

eff you we winning anyway
A.I. IS BACKKKKKKK

by eagleswin on Jan 14, 2010 6:11 PM EST reply actions

Can someone help me understand something…whenever lidge struggled, writers and insiders said it was because of his balky knee and not getting enough push-off. Lidge/Manuel/ Phil’s FO said he was healthy and had no issues. Why deny it during the season, only to have Lidge go through multiple off-season knee surgeries and 1 elbow surgery. Is there something to gain by not coming out and saying he’s in pain?

There seems to be so much lying and denying in sports, only for the people denying to come out like liars.

Chase Utley is so good that on one pitch he stole second, third and the shortstop's hat.

by ajr142 on Jan 15, 2010 9:44 AM EST reply actions

My guess is that is always boils down to performance incentives and dollars invested. Athletes lie and say they aren’t hurting more than normal (because they don’t want to lose their starting jobs or money), teams willfully accept their denials because of the money they have invested in those players and in the case of Lidge, because there was no other alternative (in their minds anyway) pitching arm.

Utley played hurt most of 2008 and I think we could all agree that Utley at 75% was better than Bruntlett at 100%.

Even so, as bad as the Phillies may have been with some of their players, there are other organizations who handle these matters much worse than the Phillies. There’s a team in our division, for instance, whose name escapes me right now.

by doubleh on Jan 15, 2010 10:02 AM EST up reply actions

Right, and it still comes down to how organizations deal with this. I’m fairly ticked at Lidge because he had the organization, and especially Manuel, in a painful double-bind. You are not about to remove the guy who carried your team to a title the very next year if he’s still saying he feels fine and wants the ball. If you can’t be loyal to that guy, you risk alarming the whole damn team.

OTOH, those results were so bad that just about any other guy in MLB would have gotten the DFA treatment. My feeling is that you have to look at this as the guy completely tapping out his organizational goodwill. The knee or some physical ailment had to be the root cause of the loss of fastball velocity which in turn made guys far more likely to lay off his slider. He was hurt, needed to say something, and had he done so early enough, we might have had him back healthy in the WS. He saves game 4, then we are up 3-2 heading back to NY. Different series.

Getting this done so close to ST looks like a bs move to avoid spring training, which is either continued lack of confidence or just a veteran prima donna move imho. It’s not like there aren’t lots of good ortho guys who can do a routine procedure in November or December, particulalry if you can pay the full freight.

I’m just sayin’, but after last year it would have been better PR to look a bit more gung ho.

by Wet Luzinski on Jan 15, 2010 5:45 PM EST up reply actions

I’m sympathetic to the fact that it’s not an easy call. The desire to not be the guy in the office who takes bogus sick days is, at its root, an admirable one, and a sign of a strong conscience. Obviously, you have to show good judgment in knowing where to draw the line, but it isn’t always easy to be objective about yourself. It’s human nature to be overly self-serving. Overcompensating for that isn’t a good thing but it’s a natural risk you run when you make an honest effort not to be an ass.

by taco pal on Jan 15, 2010 7:40 PM EST up reply actions