Baseball is one of the most fan-friendly sports there is. Fans are able to get up close and personal with the players whether that be near the dugout, playing field, or bullpen.
There are also some fans that use that opportunity to get autographs from players on whatever they can find. Usually, it’s on a ball, hat, jersey, or something else baseball-related, but some players have received unusual requests over the years.
Former Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon joined WEEI’s Rob Bradford on the Audacy Original Podcast “Baseball Isn’t Boring” and revealed the coolest thing that he ever signed in the bullpen at Fenway Park.
“This one was one of the coolest things ever,” Papelbon said (41:55 in player above). “A guy asked me if he could get my autograph. ‘Hey, you sign stuff for me?’ I said ‘Sure.’ He started to unbuckle his leg and threw his leg off into the bullpen, and I had to sign it. It had a real flesh kind of feeling to it, too.”
There have been stories of players being asked to sign body parts, but a fan removing a prosthetic leg and throwing it into the bullpen is something else.
“That, to me, was the coolest thing I ever signed,” Papelbon continued. “That was in the bullpen at Fenway.”
Papelbon spent seven years at Fenway Park with the Boston Red Sox before finishing his career with the Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals.
They say that closers are crazy, and Papelbon certainly embodied that mantra, but it sounds like some of the fans that hang out around the bullpen may have a screw loose as well.
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