Jonathan Broxton definitely had electric stuff in his season debut for the Dodgers. Just how electric, however, may only be known by his catcher, Russell Martin.
Warming up for the ninth inning in his first opening day as the Dodgers' closer, Jonathan Broxton drilled Martin in his protective cup.
"I spiked a slider," Broxton said.
Martin couldn't -- or wouldn't -- dismiss the episode with a shrug of a shoulder the way Broxton did.
"At that moment in time," Martin said, "I wanted to retire ... He throws a heavy ball. They all feel like they're going to go through my glove."
And you wonder why catchers wear all that protective equipment.
Thankfully, Martin was able to tough it out and stay in the game, and Broxton quickly and easily retired the side in the bottom of the ninth to close out the victory. He struck out two of the three batters he faced, and got the last one looking on a pitch that registered at 99 mph.
Broxton later said he knew he was throwing hard, and didn't need to look back at the radar gun for confirmation. That makes sense -- because all he had to do was look at Martin's face.
