As he shook my hand you could tell he was really happy to be back. No, maybe it was more like being at peace with the whole situation. Some would say its like returning to the scene of a crime, only he commited no crime. He surrendered a huge homer to Albert Pujols in a huge game, and the fans and the media would never really let him turn the page and move on.

For any pro athlete confidence is the key to the kingdom, and Brad's was really shaken during his final weeks with the Astros.

I told him man, you look great and he said, "I feel better than I have in a long time, believe it or not I knew I was going to have a good year whether it was here (Houston) or some place else."

Lidge added, "I guess what they say is true, a change of scenery can really be a good thing."

When I asked him about adjusting to Philly he said, "it's different, the main thing for me is just to get the family settled in once they were settled then it was easy for me to concentrate on my job."

As well as things are going for Lidge in Philadelphia I could sense Houston was still a special place for him. Brad told me you can't expect to play your whole career with one team unless your Bagwell or Biggio, so getting traded is part of the business but it takes getting used to.

As he walked away I said Brad we really miss you here and he responded, "I miss being here a lot more than I don't."

Lidge was one of the good guys when he was with the Astros and it was nice to see that hasn't changed.