Steely-eyed to starry-eyed

Rookie Papelbon among the elite

July 03, 2006|Amalie Benjamin, Globe Staff

MIAMI -- Jonathan Papelbon sat at a table in the middle of the clubhouse at Dolphin Stadium shoveling in his postgame meal, prompting Coco Crisp to make the inevitable vacuum comparison. The rookie closer's face, as it often is, was placid, with no indication of the emotional pregame scene in the manager's office.

Terry Francona, given the duty of alerting his bevy of All-Stars that they had made the American League team, called Papelbon into his office, a place that seemed far less comforting back in 2000, when Francona was fired as manager of the Phillies during an end-of-the-season series against the Marlins. He recalled the experience to Papelbon, in the process breaking down, his tears mixing with a genuine joy at delivering the news that he had been named to the All-Star team, getting the most votes of any reliever in the balloting from AL managers, coaches, and players.

``I started telling him the story and got all emotional all over and just embarrassed the hell out of out myself," said Francona, after Papelbon had tied Chicago's Bobby Jenks for the AL lead in saves with his 25th and lowered his ERA to 0.43 in the Red Sox' 4-3 win over the Marlins. ``I was so happy for him. Just the look on his face. To me that was a slam dunk. To see it just was really fun for me to be able to say that."

And Papelbon, as expected, wasn't the only one. With the closer, first baseman David Ortiz (.276, 26 home runs, 75 RBIs), outfielder Manny Ramírez (.309, 22 HRs, 60 RBIs), and -- in a bit of a surprise -- second baseman Mark Loretta (.317) rounded out the crew bound for Pittsburgh next week, joining a group that includes fan balloting winners Ivan Rodriguez of the Tigers, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter of the Yankees, Vladimir Guerrero of the Angels, and Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners.

The National League starters include St. Louis' Albert Pujols (the leading vote-getter with 3.4 million), Philadelphia's Chase Utlay, Pittsburgh's Jason Bay, Washington's Alfonso Soriano, and a quartet of Mets: David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, and Paul Lo Duca.

It wasn't all satisfying news in the Red Sox clubhouse. Starters Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett and catcher Jason Varitek will be home for the All-Star break.

``Given what's happened over the last 18, 24 months, to be in this position is very rewarding," Schilling said. ``Obviously going is a big deal. It means something and it always has. . . . Having your kids involved, at this age, it's a big deal to [11-year-old son Gehrig], so it's a big deal to me."