Future is now for the Dodgers' super saver
LOS ANGELES - Jonathan Broxton was on the mound when it became the epicenter of the Dodgers' celebration Saturday after the final Cub went down swinging. Two days later, he was getting razzed in the clubhouse.
"Hey, 'Future,' " called out Mark Sweeney, a veteran pinch-hitter who was left off the postseason roster. "You know, you've been really good since I started calling you 'Future.' "
KEVORK DJANSEZIAN / Associated Press
Postseason show stopper: 290-pound fireballer Jonathan Broxton is L.A.'s counterpoint to Phillies closer Brad Lidge.
The future, it turns out, might be now.
Broxton, a 6-foot-4, 290-pound country boy from Georgia with a 100-m.p.h. fastball, looks like the Dodgers' counterpart to Phillies closer Brad Lidge in the National League Championship Series.
Lidge, 31, is 43 for 43 in save opportunities this year. Broxton, 24, doesn't have half that many in his career and was 14 for 22 during the regular season. But he was dominating in his four-out save in the final game of the Dodgers' sweep of the Chicago Cubs.
"When he's throwing strikes, he's damn near unhittable," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.
Torre isn't naming a closer for the NLCS, but that seems telling: He named Takashi Saito before the Cubs series after the former all-star returned from a two-month elbow injury in September, but went with Broxton after Saito's shaky Game 2 outing.
"I lied to him, because we brought Broxton back in the ninth inning," Torre said, meaning he changed his mind. His decisions against the Phillies could depend on the situation, the former Yankees manager said, with lefthanders hitting .244 off Saito and .270 off Broxton. Broxton, the former setup man, was 14 for 17 in save opportunities while Saito was out and hasn't allowed a hit in 31/3 postseason innings, striking out five and walking two. Saito, in his only appearance, gave up two runs on three hits, failing to get an out.
Broxton is physically imposing, but he is not one of those wild-man closers who thrive on intimidation. He is so soft-spoken that you find yourself leaning closer to hear him. His resting heart rate, you surmise, is not high.
"Laid back," he said with a little smile.
Waynesboro, his hometown in Georgia, is about 25 miles from famed Augusta. But it is more country than country club, billing itself as the "Bird Dog Capital of the World."
"I mean, there's three red lights or so," Broxton said. "I come from a lot of Mother Nature. Huntin', raisin' dogs. Bird dogs, raccoon dogs. I've had up to 22 dogs at one time. My granddad's had up to 40-something at one time."
That is not a suitable hobby in L.A.
"Nah, you can't have any big dogs," he said. "It's, uh, different here. A lot more people and not as many trees."
There were 56,000 screaming people at Dodger Stadium on Saturday when Broxton took the mound for the ninth.
"I came in after the eighth, and they asked me how I felt, and said, 'Well, you're closing it down,' " he said. "That was the first I'd heard of it."
So it was that a nice country boy who hasn't always exuded confidence was on the mound when the Dodgers won their first postseason series since the 1988 World Series.
The Dodgers liked what they saw, especially the aggressiveness balanced by composure. Broxton recalled his one-on-one talk after last season with general manager Ned Colletti, once a sportswriter for the old Philadelphia Journal.
"He told me we were tired of getting our butts whipped," Broxton said.
Colletti laughed.
"That was my phrase," he said, adding he had much the same talk with other players in his postseason one-on-ones.
"You have to come out and compete to be great," Colletti said. "Not everybody wants to do that. A lot don't recognize what sacrifices you have to make. It's easier not to do it."
Until Saturday, the Dodgers didn't know how Broxton might react to the big moment and the pressure of trying to close out a series. Now they think they have an idea, though the mound at Citizens Bank Park is a different mountain to climb than the one in Dodger Stadium.
"He looked like he was amped, but he was looking like he wanted to be the aggressor," catcher Russell Martin said about the ninth inning of the Dodgers' 3-1 victory. "He didn't look scared at all. He looked like the energy he had, he was using it the right way. Not like he was nervous. He looked like he was excited to be out there and wanted to get the job done. That's what it looked like."
