A baseball god in '04, a bear in '09

I've been meaning to compare Brad Lidge's struggles to those experienced by Keith Foulke a few years ago.

In 2004, Keith Foulke had a pretty good first season for the Red Sox before taking it up a notch in the playoffs. He probably sacrificed his career with the heavy workload during the playoffs - 14 innings in 11 out of 14 games the Red Sox played. He should have been the World Series MVP - yes, I said that even when I still loved Manny Ramirez.

In 2008, Brad Lidge had an unprecedented regular season. He wasn't needed as much during the Phillies' championship run as Foulke was needed for the Red Sox, but some argued that he was the MVP for the Phillies during the regular season.

The year after was different for each pitcher. Keith Foulke's 2005 began with a loss against the Yankees and went downhill from there. He finished with a 5.91 ERA in 43 games. The next year, he was supplanted by Jonathan Papelbon and out of baseball in 2007.

Similarly, Brad Lidge has pitched poorly the year after a stellar 2008. He has pitched a bit better lately, but even though he has stopped hemorrhaging runs, his saves are still nerve-wracking. His ERA is 7.85 - the lowest mark in two weeks. Both pitchers had knee injuries, and although Lidge's numbers are uglier than Foulke's in 2005, there's a feeling that it won't be permanent.

I decided to write this today because the Globe has an update on Foulke. He's actually pitching in New Jersey. He had a nice comeback year for the A's in 2008, but couldn't get a major league job this year. I don't think Lidge will wind up on the Camden Riversharks by 2013, but it does show you how quickly someone can go from a World Series hero to a Newark Bear.

Here are the highlights of the piece:

• "Do I think I should have been MVP?" says Foulke. "Absolutely. I mean, 'cause I did everything humanly possible that I could've done."


• Interviewing Foulke is difficult. By his own description, he's "a wise-ass." He says, "I don't care," a lot. At best, he's candid. At worst, getting the truth out of him is tedious.


• Foulke says his initial reception from the fans did not go well.
  "It was pretty bad," he says. "One guy of our seven people here said, 'Red Sox suck.' I don't care."


• Foulke made more than $33 million in an 11-year career that included stops in San Francisco, Chicago, Oakland (twice), and Boston. Now he's making $3,000 a month.
  "I'm losing money here," he says.
  Asked whether he needs the money, Foulke smiles. If worse comes to worst, he says, he can sell his game-used World Series memorabilia.


• "That's one thing that wore on me really bad," he says. "You're a Red Sox 24-7. I'm in a restaurant and everybody comes up and says, 'I hate to bother you, but ...' Being classic me, I'd say, 'I hate that you're bothering me, too.' I'm like, 'You hate it and I hate it, so why are we doing it?' "


• Foulke says he doesn't want to compare himself with Curt Schilling, who accepted $8 million from the Sox last year and never pitched an inning because of shoulder problems.
  "He's got to wake up and look himself in the mirror every day," says Foulke.

Last night's games: Good job by Tim Wakefield in the 2-1 win. Cole Hamels started out like gangbusters before struggling a bit as the Phillies held on to the 4-3 win.

Tonight's games: The Red Sox lead the Blue Jays 3-0 in the 5th on two home runs by Jason Varitek and a double by Dustin Pedroia. The Phillies and the struggling Jamie Moyer are losing to the Reds 3-1 in the 5th.

[Photo credit: Boston Globe]