Jonathan Papelbon wasn’t quiet on the baseball field and he’s not staying quiet off of it. The four-time MLB All-Star has recently made headlines with some of his comments on social media.
Papelbon joined Alex Reimer on Audacy’s Sports Media Mayhem podcast to talk about his recent social media activity, future media opportunities, and, of course, some stories from his playing days.
“I wanted to stay in Boston. Trust me, I wanted to stay in Boston as much as I could,” Papelbon said (19:45 in player above).
“But we had a little instance with beer and chicken. We had a little instance with Terry Francona, them not being able to get him re-signed, and Theo Epstein,” he continued. “With all that being said, there was no real possibility of me really staying for the next crew that came through, which I think was Bobby Valentine and his whole crew. I don’t think me and Bobby would’ve got along very well anyway.”
Papelbon came up through the Red Sox system and made his MLB debut in 2005. He quickly became one of the best closers in the game. Papelbon was named to four-straight All-Star teams from 2006 to 2009 and won the World Series in 2007.
He picked up 31 saves with a 2.94 ERA in the 2011 season, his final in Boston, as the Red Sox missed the playoffs despite winning 90 games.
“We end up losing, don’t make the playoffs, the beer and chicken s— came out,” Papelbon continued, hinting that there will be more to come on that front.
The closer didn’t know during the year that it’d be his last in Boston. He found out about that after the season.
“Theo actually met me in the clubhouse I think shortly afterwards and said ‘Hey Pap, look, if I was staying I would do everything I could to keep you here. I would love for you to stay here but – wink wink – I’m not so sure if I’m gonna be staying nor will Tito be staying and I think the whole system’s gonna get gutted.’
“So I respect the s— out of Theo for telling me that,” Papelbon continued. Then it gave me the opportunity to say ‘OK, now I can go see what’s gonna happen elsewhere with my career. And that doesn’t always happen, trust me, so I’m grateful for that for sure.”