BALTIMORE – Jonathan Papelbon dropped down to one knee and unzipped the overnight bag laid out in front of his locker. Shifting some items aside, he spotted the faded, game-used baseball in the front, left-hand corner.
Smiling, he now placed yet another faded, game-used baseball next to the first one, and then he closed the case.
Papelbon apparently lost the baseball he used to strike out the Colorado Rockies’ Seth Smith for the final out of the 2007 World Series. The Red Sox closer’s story, and he’s sticking to it, is that the family pet ate the historic baseball.
It won’t happen again. The first baseball in the suitcase was from the Red Sox’ 4-0 victory over the Orioles Monday night, in which Papelbon recorded his 132nd career save to tie Bob Stanley for most in franchise history.
The second baseball? It was the one the Orioles’ Aubrey Huff popped to shortstop Julio Lugo for the final out in the Sox’ 11-inning, 6-5 victory yesterday afternoon, earning Papelbon his club record 133rd career save.
Papelbon is in just his fifth season in the big leagues – his fourth full season – and already he is the Red Sox’ all-time saves king.
“When I set out to do this, to be the closer for the Boston Red Sox, there were definitely a lot of goals in sight,” said Papelbon. “And this was one of them. To get there and kind of get it out of my head and stop thinking about it, is definitely good for me.”
It was an important save for Papelbon on a different level. After blowing his second save opportunity of the season in the Sox’ 11-10 loss to the Orioles Tuesday, Papelbon rebounded yesterday with a 1-2-3 11th inning to send the Sox back to Boston with a victory.
“We showed the league and the rest of the guys on this team what our bullpen is made of,” said Papelbon. “We came through with flying colors today.”
And Papelbon’s next goal?
“I don’t know, man,” he said. “To stay healthy as long as I can, really, and keep grinding it out, man. That’s it.”
Red Sox manager Terry Francona was so caught up in his team’s comeback victory that for a moment he forgot about Papelbon’s saves record. When it occurred to him that his closer had passed Stanley, he actually stopped in midsentence for no other reason than because he wanted to say something appropriate.
And he did.
“Good for him,” said the manager. “And he’s been so good since he’s come into this role. I keep getting asked about how he has a higher walk count this year, things like that. This kid’s having a fabulous year.
“He’s growing up, he’s getting stronger, he knows his body better,” said Francona. “He prepares. And when he gets into the game, he’s ready to pitch.”
