NOW IN his 13th major league season, catcher Mike Lieberthal is
the longest-tenured Phillie on the roster. Sometime in August, he is due to
break Red Dooin's club record of 1,124 games caught.
It is one of several franchise records for a catcher that the
two-time All-Star holds or soon will. He has been the Phillies' Opening Day
starter at his position for 10 straight seasons, a benchmark of longevity of
which he is justifiably proud.
But Lieby, 34, is not the same guy who clubbed 31 home runs and
drove in 96 runs, both career highs, in 1999. He has two more stints on the disabled
list this season, the result of a bruised left knee and a strained left hip,
and the toll on his body from all those days and nights behind home plate is
beginning to mount. Not that he is one to complain, but he never really has
been the same physically since he tore the lateral meniscus and anterior
cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee while diving back to
first base on a pickoff attempt at
"The only thing that really bothers me is my [right] knee.
That's been the same the last couple of years," Lieberthal said after his
first home run of the season helped the Phillies to a 5-2 victory over the
Arizona Diamondbacks yesterday afternoon at
"I wish I had a healthy knee, but it's never been the same
since the injury in 2001. It makes a difference in every aspect of the game for
me."
Don't think the paying customers at the Bank - the announced
attendance was 31,752 - aren't aware of Lieberthal's precipitous statistical
decline. It's there every time he comes to bat, the dreadful numbers flashed on
the big stadium scoreboard in left-centerfield for all to read.
When Lieberthal dug in with a runner on in the fourth inning and
Arizona up, 2-0, on solo homers by Luis Gonzalez and Conor Jackson, those
numbers read: a .223 batting average, only 11 runs batted in and zero dingers.
"Lieberthal, you stink!" yelled a disgruntled patron,
probably too high up in the stands for the words to be distinguished down on
the field, but another voice in a chorus of boos that established both that the
game was being played in Philadelphia, America's most demanding sports town,
and that baseball is a game of what-have-you-done-for-me-lately.
Lieberthal's blast on the first pitch from Claudio Vargas (8-7)
drew the Phils even and momentarily deodorized his and his team's disappointing
season. But it probably is much too little and too late to guarantee an 11th
straight Opening Day assignment for the team's No. 1 pick in the June 1990
draft, who is in the final season of a contract and making $7.5 million this
year.
With Monday's trade deadline approaching and rumors of a roster
shake-up flying, Lieberthal is one of the few Phillies whose name has not come
up as a possible candidate for sale or barter. It's not that general manager
Pat Gillick views him as untouchable, it's probably more that there is little
market for an oft-dinged catcher having his worst offensive season.
But regardless of the iffiness of his situation, or maybe
because of it, Lieberthal understands that the makeup of a baseball team is
forever changing.
"It's always the same every year," he said of the
nearing of another trade deadline and all that it implies. "We haven't
been in too many playoff hunts over the last 10 years.
"It always comes down to the last few days, who's getting
traded. And usually, guys don't get traded. I think our guys expect to be here.
If anything happens, it happens. We'll just have to see."
The turnout at the Bank no doubt was swelled by numerous scouts
for other teams checking out possibly available Phillies as they might examine
produce at the Italian Market. One pitcher said to be red-tagged for quick sale
is righthander Cory Lidle (8-7), whose eight-inning, four-hit, eight-strikeout
gem could be construed as an audition for contenders hoping to bolster their
staffs for the stretch run.
After being touched for those two early homers, Lidle settled
down and, in one stretch, retired 18 of 19 batters. He said he felt fresh
enough to go out for the ninth inning and a bid for his first complete game of
the season, but it was a hot day and manager Charlie Manuel brought in closer
Tom Gordon, who retired the D-backs in order for his 25th save.
"[The Diamondbacks] like to swing early and they like to
get themselves into fastball counts," Lidle said in explaining the latest
in a string of strong starts. "I threw a lot of offspeed stuff. My plan
was to go slow and slower. It seemed to work."
Lieberthal knows the
"We had them early in the count with soft stuff,"
Lieberthal said. "A lot of fly balls. That's the way [Lidle]
pitches."
Ryan Howard's RBI double in the fifth - driving in Chase Utley,
who went 2-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to 27 games - put the Phillies
up, 3-2.
Aaron Rowand's two-run single in the seventh provided a bit more
cushion.