Papelbon interviews the pen

In case you missed it...

Comcast has the full video and of Papelbon, I mean, Cinco Ocho..

Lowell on Papelbon's Blunder

The Courant had some some hilarious comments by Mike Lowell on Papelbon's trippy defense on Wednesday.

"Him and [Josh] Beckett talk about getting a Gold Glove," Gold Glove third baseman Mike Lowell said. "They stink. Pap whiffed at the ball twice and if he let it go, it would have gone foul. Then he kicked it, or spit on it or kneed it, I don't know. He got there quick, but I want to see a replay of it, because that was terrible. Pitchers always say they can hit and they can field and they get their chance and they screw it up. It's like me saying I can go on the mound and start getting guys out, although I went 9-0 in high school with a 1.74 ERA."

If you haven't seen the play, do check the video below. Many laughs..

Sweeeeet sweet relief!

It wasn't long ago that the Sox decided that Justin Masterson would be a great reliever. They sent him to Pawtucket to make the transition just a little bit ago. Suddenly, tonight he was in the pen, warming early, in just the 6th inning. He ended up coming in in that 6th inning, gathering the last 2 outs and stayed in for the next 2 innings. Masterson was nearly perfect in his 2 and 2/3 inning. It was amazing. The bullpen had been so hard to watch all season, but tonight, it was awesome, powerful, impressive. The Sox front office folks are geniuses. Masterson is not a power pitcher and why someone there thought he'd work out of the pen, I can't imagine, but if tonight is any indication, it was a brillant move. And now with the trade deadline approaching, I can safely say 'We don't need no stinking Gagne'. Please Front Office, do not make any desperate disaster trades like last year. We have what it takes.

The rest of the pen must have sensed the turn of the tides, as Oki and Delcarmen also went hitless. In fact, there were no hits given up by relievers for FIVE innings, when Papelbon tripped over himself trying to get to a little bloop down the first base line. Clearly, tripping over yourself is an error, but the generous scorer called it a hit, just to mess up the relief no-hitter the Sox had in motion. Pap was undoubtedly trying to show up Buchholz, who also fell on his ass fielding a ball...

It Ain't Over

Pap made it clear that there will be more drama to come in the days ahead for the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays. The Sox go to Tampa at the end of the month... seatbelts fastened... I'm having trouble keeping the rotation straight, but it looks like it'll be 4, 5, 1, or Wakey, Dice, and BECKETT. =)

Keep Your Shirt On!

Yesterday brought the first loss of 2008, thanks to an ugly inning by Clay Buchholz and and even uglier one by Craig Hansen. The good news is that it gave Don and Jerry plenty of time to discuss the "Dancing with the All-Stars" event. Lots of funny clips, made funnier by Jerry's commentary and Don's giggling.
And if you're curious, NESN has the entire performances.

Baseball is Back!

It's good to have baseball back! Friday night's game brought back Don and Jerry and kicked off baseball for 2008. The first few innings looked like a Red Sox game. The rest looked like a minor league game, full of unfamiliar faces and names. It became hard to cheer correctly. I had to keep reminding myself to cheer for the men in blue. Why are they wearing blue shirts with red socks? It's not a good fashion statement... And there was Tito all wrapped up in a big blue jacket, carefully following the new rule that managers can no longer wear "nightshirts". The highlight of the game, for me, was not actually the game, but a look back at Sox Appeal. Nothing is funnier than when Don and Jerry get giggling...

The Sox won Friday night's game against the Twins with relative ease (8-3). Dice-K and Oki had very nice outings. Saturday's afternoon victory wasn't quite as smooth. A healthy Lester struggled to find the plate and a crazy Papelbon forgot his jersey. Luckily the Sox always keep extra jerseys for Manny on hand, since Manny is, well, Manny...So Pap got to be Manny for the night.."I could feel the dreadlocks flowing, I just forgot my jersey and sure enough, they seem to always have an extra Manny jersey laying around here due to the circumstances."
Papelbon likely had a lot on his mind, as later that night he was to compete in Mike Lowell's Dancing with the All Stars charity event. Despite the distraction, Paps was perfect on the mound. On the dance floor, I can only imagine...

Fenway Flashback: Someone's Got a Temper!

June 29, 2007

It's good to be back home and good to be back on NESN. I thought the bats would start flying once the boys got back to Fenway. Not so, but they did manage to eek out a win against Texas. The only weakness I've been able to see in the Sox bullpen, up until now, has been a long relief guy. We've got a setup guy and a closer, but if the starter doesn't make it through 7, then what? Well, we do have Manny DelCarmen and in this clip he proved that he's got the stuff we need against Sammy Sosa. Look what the babyfaced, DelCarmen does with the bases loaded...

Wow! I really thought Manny was out of his league up there against Sosa, but he totally rocked! Love love love that MannyD.

Then in the 9th, Pabelbon is on to save and ends up in a foot race with the uber fast Kenny Lofton. It's a virtual tie that goes to the runner and Papelbon loses it. The boy's got a temper! And it's little teeny Dustin Pedroia who risks his life and gets between the evil ump and Pap. Someone has to keep him in the game...

Pap was able to chill enough to get the final out -- after hitting the next guy, that is -- and the Sox won 2-1...

Papelbon Day

Centerfield is profiling a player a day as an advent calendar. Today is Papelbon and I haven't laughed that hard in a long time so go here and check out all the funny pictures and videos.

pap-pap-papelbon!

If you missed Papelbon on Letterman, it's a MUST SEE! He is hilarious, especially with Letterman by his side.