Back in 2008 and ’09, Jonathan Broxton was one of baseball’s most fearsome closers, with an emphasis on “fear”. Like Craig Kimbrel and Aroldis Chapman now, Broxton comfortably sat in the high 90’s with his fastball, even reaching triple digits at times. For some reason, though, the Phillies were his Kryptonite. They had tagged him in the NLCS the previous season as Matt Stairs memorably hit a go-ahead two-run home run on a fastball over the middle of the plate. And, thanks to Jimmy Rollins, they got to him again in Game 4 of the 2009 NLCS to move one win away from a second consecutive World Series appearance.
The Phillies had taken an early 2-0 lead against Dodgers starter and former Phillie Randy Wolf as Ryan Howard lined a two-run home run into the seats in right field in the first inning. The Dodgers fought back to tie the game in the fourth inning on a pair of RBI singles, took a 3-2 lead following a Matt Kemp solo home run in the third, then added an insurance run in the sixth on a Casey Blake RBI single. Chase Utley answered with an RBI single of his own in the bottom half to make it 4-3.
Lefty reliever George Sherrill had helped the Dodgers out of a jam in the bottom of the eighth, navigating past a hit batter, a wild pitch, and a walk to strike out Howard for the second out of the inning. The flame-throwing Broxton came in and narrowly emerged victorious against Jayson Werth, who flied out to deep right field, to end the frame.
The Phillies went into the bottom of the ninth down one run and, to force extra innings, they would have to score a run off of Broxton. To any other team, that would have seemed a nearly impossible mountain to climb, but to Phillies fans, Broxton was no sweat.
Raul Ibanez led off with a weak ground out to second base, lowering the Phillies’ historical odds of winning to 12 percent, according to FanGraphs. Broxton’s old nemesis, Stairs, strode to the plate and drew a four-pitch walk. Was the seemingly-invincible Broxton melting down in the NLCS against the Phillies again? That question drew an immediate answer when Broxton drilled Carlos Ruiz with his first pitch of the at-bat, sending the tying run into scoring position.
Pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs nubbed a weak liner, but it quickly and easily met the leather of third baseman Casey Blake’s glove and the Phillies were down to their final out, with only 18 percent odds of winning. The situation should have felt more stressful, but it just didn’t. Even behind a run, it still felt like they were applying a stern boot to the Dodgers’ neck. Rollins, always calm, cool, and collected, appeared unfazed as he took his spot in the batter’s box. If there was anyone fans could count on in a tense situation, it was Rollins. Plus, we knew Broxton was in the midst of a mental calamity as history was on the precipice of repeating itself.
Rollins fouled off the first pitch of the at-bat, then took a ball to even out the count. Broxton then pumped a 99 MPH fastball down the heart of the plate, much as he had done to Stairs a year prior, and Rollins laced it into the gap in right-center field. Eric Bruntlett, pinch-running for Stairs, scored easily, while the slow-footed Ruiz motored 270 feet around the bases as right fielder Andre Ethier whipped the ball back into the infield. There was no relay throw. Ruiz scored the game-winning run as a sea of red and white poured out of the home dugout to meet Rollins near third base.
The Phillies took a 3-1 lead in the 2009 NLCS. Though Cole Hamels couldn’t make it out of the fifth inning in Game 5, the Phillies skated to a 10-4 victory to punch their ticket back into the World Series. Who knows how the series would have played out had Rollins not delivered in such an important moment. There’s a world of difference between the Dodgers only needing to win two out of the next three games as opposed to needing to win three in a row.
Source: FanGraphs
