Yikes. Papelbon Gets Booed by NY Psychos

You probably heard about this already, but just in case you are completely clueless, Papelbon caught major heat from the NY media and fans over the past few days at the All-Star Game for some of his boneheaded comments. He claimed that he should be the closer if the All Star Game came down to a save situation.

Papelbon: "If I was managing the team, I would close. But I'm not managing the team."

To be honest, I kind of agree with him if this was a normal All-Star Game. The Red Sox won the World Series last season, Francona is the manager and Papelbon is one of the best closers in the game. I like his confidence as well. I'd rather him ask the ball instead of being a little sissy and backing down to let someone else do it (especially a Yank). The problem is that Yankees closer Mariano Rivera has better numbers this season and the game is in Yankee Stadium for the last time ever. That's a fairly decent reason.

Papelbon: "It's not that easy. Everybody thinks it's a cut and dry answer, but it's not."

Once again, I respect his fire and intensity and willingness to speak out but he really needs to learn when to pick his battles and should shut his mouth. The game doesn't mean much (although the AL receives Home Field Advantage for winning it) so I'm not sure why he cared so much. Is it really that big of a deal when you pitch in a fairly meaningless game?

Here's some serious bashing of Papelbon during the parade:


Here he is getting booed at the actual All-Star Game:


Good times. It's tough to defend him in this situation when he brought this upon himself.

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