Tuesday night, the Phillies and Cubs were tied at 1 in the top of the 9th, when Lidge took the mound. Things started out great, with Brad forcing Derrek Lee into a 1-3 groundout.

Then things started to take a Lidge-like turn when he plunked the very next batter he faced, putting Aramis Ramirez on first with Fukudome coming up to bat.

What happened next has to be seen to be believed. Fukudome smacked a hard grounder right back at the mound and Lidge brought his front foot up for a kick save, redirecting it to Young James, standing on second with an open glove, who fired it to Howard for an inning-ending double play in a startling display of right-place-right-time luck.

Ramirez was running on the pitch and yet both runners were still beaten by at least 3 steps each.

Anyway, here’s the enhanced and annotated .GIF:

The other angle after the jump:

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Jog Your Memory

I don’t normally approve of flagrant showboating because it strikes me as a display of poor sportsmanship.

But that’s mostly because it usually isn’t done with such style. Sarge took dude’s heart right here. This is just vulgar in all the right ways.

To put it simply, it’s a lack of concentration.

While he’s slogging away in the NL East, swinging at baseballs, catching baseballs, throwing baseballs, other people are out there actually enjoying their summers. Oh sure, he has a good time yukking it up on the bench with Charlie, talking about anything but his most recent pop-out, but there is obviously something else he’d rather be doing – so many of his talents are going to waste as he toils endlessly at this hobby that he has somehow managed to turn into a career.

I’ve figured out, of course, what he’d rather be doing:

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It’s the last Friday in June and the Phils are trying their hardest to squander their lead on the NL East. They have an offense that’s supposed to be potent enough to cover for any flaws in their defense or pitching staff. It sucks when these fools stumble on every other facet of play, but it’s that much more frustrating to watch when they can’t even put men on base.

They used to be able to survive when an opposing starter was dealing, and then pounce on the bullpen in the final innings. All of that moxie, along with anything resembling skill, vanished like a fart in the wind during the last homestand, and they have yet to reclaim any of the previous dominance.

So before they begin the “Scenario in Ontario” tonight, I figured now is the time for a magical, slump-breaking rally .gif (Enhanced ATJ):

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• grouchy old man on The Hall of Very Feared and Intangibled