I won’t torture you with any other SAT humor besides my original idea for a title. I assume it lacks the SEO punch and generally would just turn people away.
Alex Cora : Joe Torre :: Garrett Whitlock : Jonathan
Broxton
There’s a whole meme thing about “core memories” or “marking a core memory” that apparently began in the Pixar film Inside Out and then like most things in pop culture was first run through twitter and the TikTok (not the good one).
Anyway.
One of my core baseball memories doesn’t come from childhood but from much, much later. While I do not at all disagree with what my colleague Bob Osgood wrote yesterday (in fact I muted the video and listened to WEEI about 3 innings into Game 1 and never stopped) ESPN Sunday nights generated a number of these baseball memories. And one June Sunday back in 2010 (the first time we could say twenty-ten instead of two thousand and YEAR) I saw a man hung out to dry in front of millions of fans on live TV.
This was a game between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers. They didn’t have Shohei Ohtani yet but they were playing in Dodger Stadium. Joe Torre, formerly of the Yankees, was now manger of the Dodgers. He did not have Mariano Rivera anymore but he did have Jonathan Broxton, an excellent closer in his own right. In the bottom of the ninth, up 6-2, Torre summoned Broxto to pitch in a non-save situation. Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, and Robinson Cano were due up, but this was still 2010 and this was a bit of a bold experiment.
Teixeira strikes out looking on four pitches. Then A-Rod reaches on one. Then Cano doubles on five pitches to bring home Rodriguez. Then it’s 10 more pitches for Jorge Posada to single. Then 10 more pitches for Curtis Granderson to draw a walk. Three pitches to Chad Huffman and 10 to Colin Curtis follow that — each driving in a run with Curtis also grounding out. Derek Jeter is intentionally walked on four pitches before the automatic walk became a thing. Mercifully the inning ends with 4 more pitches to Francisco Cervelli.
48 pitches.
Four runs, four hits, 48 pitches, three outs. Broxton would throw 44 a month later but otherwise his max was 35. And any total greater than 23 pitches in an outing he only did once.
Because Brayan Bello was unable to go very deep in this game, Alex Cora simply ran out of his best relievers a little early. Garrett Whitlock was summoned in the 7th inning while Aroldis Chapman warmed up with his towel for the 9th. The game was tied 3-3.
Ryan McMahon would lead off the inning with a four pitch strikeout. Then a five-pitch double to Trent Grisham. Then an Aaron Judge strikeout in three and a Cody Bellinger fly out in four. That’s 16 pitches, three outs.
Garret Whitlock, fastball wielder, takes care of Ben Rice to being the 8th inning, but it takes six pitches. 22. He’s thrown exactly that many pitches five times this season. In three more pitches Giancarlo Stanton is retired. That’s 25. Whitlock has thrown 24 four times on the season. In two of those instances getting six outs.
Jazz Chisholm then works a walk on seven pitches. Now Whitlock is at 32.He hasn’t thrown that many pitches in an outing since June.
It isn’t looking good during the Austin Wells at bat. A ball very high. A ball very outside. 39 pitches and Chisholm scores from first base. Anthony Volpe then needs three pitches to single.
Garrett Whitlock is at 42. Life, the universe, and everything it may be but now Chapman is without a towel.
Ryan McMahon is now up again against Whitlock and drag out a walk on five pitches. 47.
One pitch short of Broxton. Four pitches over his high from a two-inning appearance all the way back on April 6th.
And we all watched it happen.
After Jazz Chisholm’s walk, did Whitlock have more? It didn’t matter because Chapman played that role 24 hours earlier and couldn’t get four outs the next day as well.
Likely unavailable for the finale on Thursday, it’s possible this is the last we see of Garrett Whitlock this season and if that is what happens it’s a terrible way to end an excellent 2025 campaign.
