Brad Lidge

The mark is third all-time for relievers, behind Dick Radatz's 181 in 1964, and Mark Eichhorn's 166 in 1986.

Bradley Thomas Lidge (born December 23, 1976), nicknamed "Lights Out", is an American former professional baseball pitcher.

Lidge was born in Sacramento, California on December 23, 1976.

His family moved to Englewood, Colorado when Lidge was very young.

Growing up, Lidge played football, basketball and baseball among other sports.

He attended Cherry Creek High School.

Lidge initially played outfield but became a pitcher because Cherry Creek's outfield was populated by such draft prospects as Donzell McDonald.

He set a new National League record for strikeouts by a reliever with 157, passing Goose Gossage's total of 151 set in 1977.

Lidge became the first pitcher to strike out the side in his first All-Star appearance since Bill Caudill and Dwight Gooden in 1984.

He was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 42nd round of the 1995 draft but did not sign.

Lidge attended the University of Notre Dame, where he played college baseball for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball team.

He won the Big East Conference player of the year award during his junior season under coach Paul Mainieri, leading the conference with an 8–2 record and 93 strikeouts in 80 1⁄3 innings.

Lidge was a first round draft pick by the Houston Astros in the 1998 MLB draft, chosen 17th overall as a compensatory pick from the Colorado Rockies, who had signed Darryl Kile in the offseason.

Lidge missed parts of his first four professional seasons (at Quad Cities, Kissimmee, Round Rock, and New Orleans) with injuries, including a torn rotator cuff and a broken forearm that threatened his career.

Lidge played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 2002–2012.

He played for the Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, and Washington Nationals.

As a relief pitcher Lidge saved 225 games during his career.

He would overcome these injuries, making his MLB debut on April 26, 2002, against the Atlanta Braves, serving as a middle relief pitcher in the Astros' bullpen.

He started the only game of his career in September of that year against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Lidge went 2-for-2 with a double and 2 RBIs at the plate, but was pulled when he strained an intercostal muscle in his ribcage after pitching three scoreless innings with four strikeouts, two walks and a hit batsman.

In 2003, Lidge was the winning pitcher in the Astros' historic six-pitcher tandem which no-hit the New York Yankees on June 11.

That year, Lidge was voted Astros Rookie of the Year by the Houston Chapter of the BBWAA.

Following the trades of Billy Wagner in the 2003 off-season and Octavio Dotel in the summer of 2004, the Astros moved Lidge from setup man to closer.

In the 2004 season, hitters swung and missed at Lidge's strikes almost 42% of the time; for balls out of the strike zone, batters missed more than 70% of the time.

Baseball writer Joe Posnanski noted, "I have no doubt that Brad Lidge, that one year, was one of the most unhittable pitchers in the history of baseball."

In his first All-Star Game appearance in 2005, Lidge pitched the bottom of the seventh, striking out all three batters he faced.

He threw 11 pitches (two balls) to Melvin Mora, Mike Sweeney, and Garret Anderson, who did not make contact with any of Lidge's pitches.

Later in 2005, Lidge finished the season with a 2.29 ERA and a career-high 42 saves.

That year, Lidge ranked third in the National League in saves and became the second Houston Astros pitcher ever to record at least 40 saves in one season alongside Billy Wagner.

During the 2005 NLCS, Lidge gave up a three-run home run to Albert Pujols in Game 5 in Houston which forced a Game 6 back in St. Louis, which the Astros would win to clinch their first World Series berth in franchise history.

In his very next appearance, Lidge gave up a walk off home run to Scott Podsednik in Game 2 of the 2005 World Series and the series winning run and hit in Game 4 to go 0–2 in the series and complete the White Sox sweep of the Astros.

Lidge pitched for the United States national baseball team in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, throwing two scoreless innings.

Later that year, Lidge became the third pitcher in Astros history to record 100 saves with the club, after Wagner and Dave Smith, and this led the Astros to sign Lidge to a one-year, $5.35 million contract that would keep him in Houston through the 2007 season.

The Astros avoided contract arbitration with Lidge on January 17, 2007, by signing him to a one-year contract worth $5.35 million.

After seeing Lidge struggle in spring training and blow his first save of the season, manager Phil Garner chose to make Dan Wheeler the new Astros closer, while offering Lidge opportunities to relieve in the sixth or seventh innings of games.

He regained the closer role at the start of June, but was placed on the disabled list that same month after suffering a strained left oblique muscle.

He was a two-time All-Star, and in 2008 won the Delivery Man of the Year Award and the National League (NL) Rolaids Relief Man Award.

Lidge is currently a host on SiriusXM's MLB Network Radio.

Lidge threw a four-seam fastball that consistently reached 95–97 miles per hour, as well as a hard, sharp breaking slider that ranged from 85 to 87 mph. He also had a cutter of the variation.

He sealed the Phillies' 2008 World Series championship with the final out, a strikeout of Eric Hinske in Game 5.