Papelbum. Papelsmear. Never thought the day would come where I would hear Red Sox fans use those derogatory terms about their closer, Jonathan Papelbon! But it happened after Monday’s game.
Last night was both the most exciting win of the year for the Yankees, and the most gut-wrenching loss for the Red Sox. So because I’m a believer in what Conan the Barbarian said about enjoying watching the lamentation of your enemies and all that jazz, I checked out what Boston fans were saying at Sons of Sam Horn and the Boston Globe’s web site. Reading those comments was nearly as much fun as watching Alex Rodriguez and Marcus Thames go deep against Papelbon!
Needless to say, most Red Sox fans weren’t very happy over Papelbon’s performance. Lots of derogatory nicknames hurled his way (I was hoping for somebody to call him Cinco Dopo, but alas, it didn’t happen!) Lots of talk about Daniel Bard needing to replace him. There was some criticism of John Henry – the Yankees have gone 14-3 against the Sox since his juvenile “MT Curse” tweet!
And there was even some grudging acknowledgments that Mariano Rivera is the better closer – many Sox fans mockingly brought up how Papelbon once suggested that he deserved Mo-type money, and how he didn’t deserve it.
On Boston.com, some fans even blamed former Yankees beat writer Peter Abraham for cursing their team. One reader wrote, “The Curse of PA? Ever since he left the LoHud blog, the Yanks went on a roll and won the WS. The Red Sox have been sucking ever since.” Heh!
Another Sox fan, Timmy15 was so sure of victory after the Sox came back against Chan Ho Park that he wrote this:
Under other conditions I would never start crowing here like I am but I see a switch; Paps will blow the Skanks away in the bottom of 9th – if we even need him by then. Does anyone remember last season when the Sox beat these guys the first 8 games and then took a vacation. Well something like that in reverse may be happening. Just as I predicted yesterday, V-Mart is heating up and he may be the dtraw that stirs this drink….if the Sox lose this game I will not post another remark for two weeks. That’s how sure I am.
So much for that!
Papelbon looked more like Chan Ho Park out there than the elite closer who wanted to finish up the All-Star Game. Heck, Javier Vazquez, the game’s winner, was more impressive than Paps was. (And how about Javy – he was even smiling in the postgame! Maybe he can build on this era of good feeling.)
Anyhow, when Papelbon plunked Francisco Cervelli after giving up the homer to A-Rod, he reminded me why he’s my least favorite Red Sox. What a clown.
Remember how Papelbon said he worked out last season while watching his meltdown in the ALDS? Well, I guess the closer now has a new video to watch for motivation in the workout room! Snicker.
I’ll be writing more of my thoughts on Yankees-Red Sox today, but in the meantime, please tell me what you think.
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