Papelbon calls Manny a 'cancer'

He tries to get out, but they keep pulling him back in.

Manny Ramirez can't seem to stay out of the headlines in Boston.

In the latest go-around in Mannyland, Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon takes some shots at Manny and even breaks out the "C" word to describe him in an interview in the April issue of Esquire magazine. In the article, he touches on many Manny topics, including Ramirez's suspicious injuries and the physical confrontation with Red Sox traveling secretary Jack McCormick.

"It just takes one guy to bring an entire team down, and that's exactly what was happening," Papelbon was quoted as saying in the interview with Esquire's Chris Jones. "Once we saw that, we weren't afraid to get rid of him. It's like cancer. That what he was. Cancer. He had to go. It sucked, but that was the only scenario that was going to work."

Papelbon said Ramirez wasn't on the same page as the rest of the team.
"The beautiful thing about our team is, we don't let anybody get above the team," Papelbon said. "He wasn't on the same train as the rest of us....We got rid of him and we moved on without him. That comes from the manager, and it comes from guys like Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield and David Ortiz. "

"So Manny was tough for us. You have somebody like him, you know at any point in the ball game, he can dictate the outcome of the game. And for him not to be on the same page as the rest of the team was a killer, man!" Ramirez recently signed a two-year deal with the Dodgers worth $45 million. It will be interesting to see if he responds to Papelbon's comments.

MY TAKE ON THIS: I always said that he was a cancer and hoped that he could change his funky attitude. Somedays we had 'Super-Manny' playing and other days it was 'Manny being Manny'. Just like Cracker-Jax.... surprise in every box, you never know what you're going to get. The 'c' word? First time I ever heard that expression. Pap's is right, but he shouldn't speak for others because the Sox players will eventually get tired of this routine. Just speak for himself without mentioning anybody else's name. I am certain that the Red Sox have sessions on how to deal with the media, etc., and it looks like he is going to need some remedial training. Great, great pitcher, but he should just let his arm do the talking.

Yankees Fans Bulldoze Papelbon's Home

Call of the Green Monster - An satirical look at current Red Sox topics

Tragedy struck for the Papelbon family when they learned that last night hordes of irate Yankees fans demolished his home with bulldozers. The fans stated that the reason they carried out the heinous crime was because of Papelbon’s insults to Mariano Rivera prior to the All-Star game. They apparently still don’t understand that Papelbon actually paid tribute to Rivera and emphatically stated that Rivera should close the game.

To read the remainder of the story, go to the website: Call of the Green Monster which has a lot of satirical stories regarding our beloved Red Sox. Enjoy the humor.

The words of Jonathan Papelbon; Paps being Paps

Confidence is a key element in a relief pitcher's mental make-up. And Boston' Jonathan Papelbon and the Yankees' Mariano Rivera, two of the game's best closers, don't lack for it.

Consider Papelbon, who on Monday suggested -- before toning down his comments -- that he should pitch the ninth in Tuesday night's All-Star Game rather than Rivera, even though the game is at Yankee Stadium. "We've both earned that right; us, by winning the World Series and having the opportunity of having our manager there and our team being represented, and Mariano by what he's done for this role, we're in Yankee Stadium and blah, blah, blah," Papelbon said. "It's not that easy. Everybody thinks it's a cut and dry answer, but it's not."

"If I was managing the team, I would close," Papelbon said. "I'm not managing the team, so it don't matter." But Rivera feels the same way about taking the mound for the ninth. "It's definitely tough, but we're here in Yankee Stadium. I think I should get the shot," Rivera said. "I definitely would love to. Knowing [Red Sox manager] Terry Francona, I have a feeling he'll put me there if we have the opportunity to close the game."

Francona, who is managing the AL thanks to Boston's 2007 World Series triumph, was mum when asked who would pitch the ninth. "Out of the spirit of the game and competition, and having a little bit of fun, we're not going to announce the rest of our rotation yet," Francona said.

In additional comments on Monday, Papelbon lessened the suspense, saying Rivera should get the nod. "I'm making a statement right now, saying I don't want it, I want [Rivera] to have it. I said all that earlier, but that's the way I feel about it," Papelbon said. "This is what I think, of course I want to close the game out. I wouldn't be Jonathan Papelbon if I didn't want to close the game out," he said. "But at the same time, there's also things within this game I have to understand and people have to understand. It doesn't always work out that way.
"I feel I owe a lot to this game and that's one of the things I owe to this game, to let an elder statesman go ahead of me."

Tim Wakefield outduels Randy Johnson 5-0

In a matchup featuring two of the oldest current players in the Majors, Tim Wakefield shut down the Arizona DBacks completely. "I'm not facing him as a hitter, so it's kind of cool," the 41-year-old Wakefield said. "I'm actually facing their hitters and they have a pretty good lineup over there." So do the Red Sox, who got three doubles from Coco Crisp. The youngest player in their lineup, 24-year-old Brandon Moss, drove in both runs the 44-year-old Johnson allowed.

Wakefield relied on his knuckler, which travels about 65-70 mph. He mixed in some curveballs, one as slow as 55 mph -- Johnson throws some pitches almost 40 mph faster than that.
"Two guys with some great statistics going at it, totally different game, with good numbers," Crisp said. "It's a classic."

Wakefield (5-5) was 1-4 in his previous eight starts. Johnson (4-6) had his best outing in five starts, but has lost all of them.
Wakefield baffled the Diamondbacks with his knuckleball and allowed two of Arizona's three hits in seven innings.

"It was tough," Chris Young said. "It's a tough pitch to hit. Guys struggle with it because you don't really know how to approach it." Wakefield struck out six, walked one and has allowed three runs or fewer in at least seven innings in six straight starts. Manny Delcarmen struck out two in a perfect eighth and Jonathan Papelbon struck out Chad Tracy for his 23rd save in 27 chances after Craig Hansen loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth. Johnson went six innings, allowing two runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

Red Sox rally to beat DBacks 5-4

Tuesday, June 24, 2008 BOSTON Behind 4-1 in the eighth inning, the Red Sox pushed across 4 runs to take a 5-4 lead. Varitek began working his way out of a long slump and the Boston Red Sox emerged from a short one, beating the Dbacks 5-4 Tuesday night with a four-run eighth inning capped by the captain's go-ahead single. Varitek was mired in a 1-for-30 slump before driving in the go-ahead run for the Red Sox.

"Tek's been a little bit unlucky," said Mike Lowell, whose two-run double tied the game at 4. "He's hit better than just those numbers, but it always feels good for a ball to drop, especially in a big situation." They were dropping all over the place in the eighth. Boston had six hits in the inning, one more than it totaled in the first seven and two more than the Red Sox managed in Monday night's 2-1 loss in the series opener. The win maintained their one-game lead in the AL East over Tampa Bay, which beat Florida 6-4.

"Any comeback win is big," Lowell said, "especially when I saw Tampa Bay won and we can stay atop our division." Chris Smith (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings in relief of another rookie, Justin Masterson, for his first major league win. Arizona led 4-1 going into the bottom of the eighth behind the pitching of Davis and the hitting of Chad Tracy, who singled home a run in the second and hit a three-run homer, his third of the season, in the third.

"We had a good feeling going into that inning," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said. "A couple of guys get on and it unraveled on us." Dustin Pedroia's seventh homer in the first was the only run off Davis through seven innings. But the left-hander allowed singles to the first two batters in the eighth, Julio Lugo and Jacoby Ellsbury, and was replaced by Chad Qualls (1-6). Pedroia singled in Lugo, but Qualls nearly got out of the jam by striking out Drew and retiring Manny Ramirez, who has one RBI in 11 games, on a grounder to third.

Youkilis Hits Walk-off in 13th; Sox Win 5-3

June 22, 2008. BOSTON, MA Kevin Youkilis socked his second home run of the game in the bottom half of the 13th inning, giving the Red Sox a 5-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. After leading off the 10th, 11th and 12th innings with doubles and failing to score, Kevin You-Killed-Us hit a two-run home run off of Mike Parisi in the bottom of the 13th inning to lift the Boston Red Sox to a 5-3 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday.

The Red Sox avoided being swept in a series at home for the first time since losing two contests to the Blue Jays last April. The Cardinals had a chance to take the lead in the top of the 13th off Javier Lopez(2-0), but Chris Duncan was thrown out at home plate by Red Sox right fielder J.D. Drew trying to score on Adam Kennedy's base hit. "He hit the ball hard enough to be able field it on a nice run," Drew said. "I was surprised to see him going and it wound up that it was a nice hop to Tek and he had time to duck under."

After the Red Sox scored twice in the eighth to take a 3-2 lead, the Cardinals tied the game in the ninth off Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, who blew his fourth save opportunity of the season. After striking out the first two Cardinals he faced, Duncan drew a walk and Adam Kennedy doubled to center to tie the game at 3. Joel Pineiro, who hasn't won since April 29, gave up two runs and seven hits over seven-plus innings. In his last three starts, Pineiro has allowed only five earned runs over 19 innings. Lester was nearly as good as Pineiro, allowing nine hits over 7 1/3 innings. It was his 11th straight start in which he has held his opponent to three earned runs or fewer.