OPINION

By Richard Justice

updated 2:55 a.m. ET Oct. 20, 2008

Sure Brad Lidge is a great story of redemption. The surprising thing is, some of the best parts haven't been told.

To cut to the chase, all you need to know is some of the people that know him best still have trouble watching him pitch because they can't stand the thought of something bad happening to him.

He's as decent and honest and likeable as anyone you'll ever meet. Even in the worst of times, he was gracious, decent and painfully open.

If you think his problems began with Albert Pujols hitting that home run off him in Game 5 of the 2005 National League Championship Series, you haven't heard the best part.

That part was pretty good. For about 20 minutes, the Houston Astros were celebrating winning the N.L. pennant.

For a franchise with a tortured 40-year history, this moment was magical beyond words.

For those few minutes, Minute Maid Park was rocking with celebration, with one of those times when a sports team can capture a city's heart and mind. And then Pujols homered and that was that.

Television cameras caught a stunned Andy Pettitte in the dugout mouthing the words: "Oh my God."

Never mind the Astros recovered to win Game 6 two nights later in St. Louis. Astros manager Phil Garner had Dan Wheeler pitch the ninth inning. Maybe that's where Lidge's troubles started.

He was charged with two more losses in the World Series, and for the next two seasons, his baseball career spiraled downward.

Until that Pujols home run, he'd been as dominant as any reliever in the game. He had a 97-mph fastball and a slider that dived wickedly toward the dirt.

Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell said he'd sometimes get brief scouting reporters from opposing players.

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"Good Lord,"' they'd tell him.

The funny thing about the 2006 and 2007 seasons is there were stretches when he was as good as ever. There were also times when he suffered absolute meltdowns on the mound.

He allowed moonshot home runs at times. He was either unable — or unwilling — to throw strikes at other times. He was removed from the closer's role four different times and pitched well enough to win it back each time.

He won many admirers by how he handled his problems. He faced the criticism with grace. He kept working.

Astros catcher Brad Ausmus ordered him to stop reading the local newspapers. And the Astros brought all kinds of instructors and coaches in to work with him.

It's believed they had him speak to a sports psychologist. The Astros won't confirm this.

"Let's just say we left no stone unturned," a club official said.

Anyway, one of the first things new Astros GM Ed Wade did when he took over last season was trade Lidge to the Phillies in a deal in which Wade acquired three players, including young center fielder Michael Bourn.

Bourn hit just .229. Lidge went 41-for-41. So from a baseball standpoint, the Phillies got all they could have hoped for out of the deal.

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For the Astros, it wasn't about that. They'd reached the point that they were convinced Lidge could remain a big league pitcher if he went someplace else, someplace with a new manager and new fans.

As you probably know, that trade worked out. Lidge was so good that he's going to get votes for both Cy Young and Most Valuable Player.

Those are parts of the stories that have been told over and over the last year.

"You hear people talk about a change of scenery," he said the other day. "Now I know what they mean."

OK, here's the part of the story most people don't know. If he took the hard times in stride, it may be because the really hard times came while he toiled in the minor leagues.

The Astros drafted him in the first round of the 1998 draft out of Notre Dame. That's where the story almost ended.

He missed almost all of his first three professional seasons with arm and knee problems. He'd get hurt, work relentlessly to get back on the mound, then get hurt again.

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