Top 5 Notre Dame Baseball Players of All Time
By Bobby Norell
No.1 RHP Brad Lidge
Lidge pitched for the Irish from 1996 to 1998. During his three seasons at ND he split time as a reliever and a starter. His best season came in 1998 when he became a full time starter. That seasons he led the Big East with an 8-2 record and 93 strikeouts over 80.1 innings. In that same season he was named Big East Pitcher of the Year. After his junior season Lidge was drafted in the 1st round by the Houston Astros.
Outside of Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman, Lidge was probably one of the best closers of the 2000s. Over his 11 big league seasons Lidge amassed 225 saves, 799 strikeouts over 603.1 innings and an ERA of 3.54. His best season was in 2008 while serving as the closer for the Philadelphia Phillies. That year Lidge coverted on 41 of 41 save opportunities and was named an All-Star. He also converted on every save opportunity in the postseason as well as the Phillies went on to win the World Series. Lidge finished the World Series by striking out Eric Hinske swinging on a devastating split finger.
Lidge is arguably the most successful Irish baseball alum in recent history. A.J. Pollock might have something to say about that when it all said and done, but for now Lidge is the best baseball player to come out of Notre Dame in quite sometime.