BROXTON CANT WAIT TO FACE THE PHILS AGAIN! By Joseph Santoliquito
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Jonathan Broxton sat there stoically on his clubhouse chair, pondering the question like a great mountainous thinking man. The Dodgers’ closer still flashes back to the stubby, pinch-hitter and part-time high school ice hockey coach he faced last October 13 at Dodger Stadium. He thinks back to the 40-year-old Matt Stairs who took Broxton’s best stuff and smashed a two-run homer in the eighth inning of the fourth game of the 2008 National League Championship that gave the Phillies a 7-5 victory and 3-1 series lead.
Broxton sat there and told me in May, when the Dodgers visited Citizens Bank Park, that he wants to face Stairs—and the Phillies again.
“Who wouldn’t,” Broxton said at the time. “The Phillies are the World Champions, the best. As a competitor and professional athlete, you always want to face the best. They’re the best until someone beats them.
“That home run was something you have to get out of your system, and I think it’s what helped me this year. I threw my best pitch and he got me. But anyone who's a fighter wants to see the same guy who beat them once before. Besides, if they call me in to face Stairs, it’s a good situation, because that means we're winning.”
Broxton tried playing down the revenge factor, but sensing him, that surging closer’s cutthroat mentality, you couldn’t help but sense he wants to be placed in the same situation, the same stadium, same scenario all again. You couldn’t help but sense the big righty, who looks more like an offensive tackle in football, dreams of it right now with the Phillies visiting again for the NLCS.
But things this year are different about Broxton. He says he has a shorter memory than he did this time last year. He says he’s not solely reliable on his only his fastball. Yet he can’t erase the Stairs’ homer from his thoughts. He pitched in the World Baseball Classic to prepare for this season, posted a career-best 36 saves, and a career-best 114 strike outs, and saved one game in the NL divisional series against the Cardinals.
“Trusting your stuff is important,” Broxton said. “The other thing that’s important is having a short memory. I’m going straight after guys and getting ahead of them. I want the ball again. I want to be placed in the same position to help us win. I kind of felt like I let these guys [his teammates] down last year, and I let myself down. I have another chance.”
Broxton will look to make amends for that long drive that silenced the 58,000-plus that filled Dodger Stadium that October 13th. Shutting down the Phillies and reaching the World Series could be the remedy for that one hit that plagues him.
Sure, it could be assumed by some in these parts that the Phillies are in Broxton’s head. But as Phillies’ fans ask yourself one question, who would you rather have closing for your team right now Jonathon Broxton or Brad Lidge?
Joseph Santoliquito is an Emmy Award-nominated writer based in the Philadelphia area who can be contacted at Jsantoliquito@yahoo.com.
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