Shoptalk wasn't the only reason for the visit.
Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee usually handles those duties.
"I wanted to go out there and look at him - see him, talk to him, look him in the eye and see what he'd give me," Manuel said later.
Lidge delivered a save in the Phils' 6-5 win - his first of three saves so far in the playoffs.
In reality, Manuel has been doing that with Lidge all season, trying to figure out what his perfect 2008 closer could give him night to night - sometimes batter to batter - in this most imperfect 2009 season. Ultimately, how Lidge responds in his return to the postseason high wire may determine the Phillies' chances of defending their world championship.
This isn't some gee-whiz redemption tale, not yet anyway. Lidge also got the save in the Phillies' Game 1 victory over the Dodgers - giving up a sharply hit single and a walk, sandwiching them around a double-play ball, before he nailed it down. In the clubhouse, Lidge was asked whether this season could ultimately prove to be more special for him than even last year.
"We still have a long way to go," Lidge said.
That was the night before five eighth-inning Phillies relief pitchers - none of them Lidge - combined to lose the lead in Game 2.
Lidge was the guy still out in the bullpen in case the Phillies held onto the lead.
To put that in perspective, rewind a little bit. Just last month, Lidge was reduced to mop-up duty. Before that, season-long headlines chronicled how he kept falling off the high wire.
Bullpen bungling: Lidge loses again . . . Answers still eluding Lidge . . . Lidge sees progress despite pair of runs . . . Will Walker be the closer? Well, maybe.
