I agree with you that he could have shaken him off. But, I think it's safe to say Ausmus should be helping him out a little bit (isn't that WHY Ausmus in on the team? i dunno, maybe we're absorbing the atrocious bat because he can still throw out baserunners...). I want Lidge to take his dominant stuff and throw the pitches Ausmus wants to the location Ausmus wants. Nothing else, no thinking. I want Brad to get a sign, and throw the best pitch he can to the mit. If we're going to let Brad be the everyday catcher, maybe he should do a better job of calling games. First pitch inside fastball to Nady is like a first pitch inside fastball to Alou. Brad didn't make a bad pitch, it was a god awful call. Hindsight it 20/20, but how bad would Nady had looked on that swing had it been an offspeed pitch. He cleared his hips so fast he would have fallen down trying to make contact with the slider. Dude was sitting dead red and got it in his wheelhouse, I don't think it was Lidge's fault because he threw a good pitch where he was told to. An inning later it was an 0-2 pitch that was hammered to win the game. I'll also add that the count was 1-2 when McLouth hit the bomb off Oswalt. Recurring theme? Or, am I just too big of a Lidge fan to admit he sucks?