"With the calendar turned to 2012, the resignation has set in: Brad Lidge will not be a Phillie next season in all likelihood.

From the club's perspective, there are a fair number of reasons why they would be set to move in a different direction. Lidge has been injury-prone in recent seasons and his decline is evident both statistically and visually. His fastball is only occasionally effective, which renders him a 1-pitch pitcher on most nights.

That's not the point here. Nothing in that previous paragraph is a revelation. Unlike Roy Halladay, we come here, not to bury, but to praise Lidge."