"I'm making a statement right now, saying I don't want it, I want him to have it. I said all that earlier, but that's the way I feel about it."
If the game holds to form - the American League is unbeaten in the last 11 All-Star games (10 wins and a tie) and has won 16 of the last 20 since 1988 - Francona, who selected Cleveland's Cliff Lee to start against Milwaukee's Ben Sheets, will likely be handing the ball to someone to register the game's final three outs.
He has an extraordinary collection of closers from which to choose: Joe Nathan of the Twins, Francisco Rodriguez of the Angels, Joakim Soria of the Royals, George Sherrill of the Orioles, and, of course, Papelbon, one of just four Sox players chosen to the All-Star team in each of his first three seasons (Frank Malzone, Carlton Fisk, and Fred Lynn are the others).
Ordinarily, an All-Star manager would exercise the prerogative of choosing his own players, especially one who closed out the previous October's World Series.
But this is Yankee Stadium, which is being torn down at the end of the season, and Rivera has a claim to pinstriped greatness equal to those immortalized by the monuments and plaques beyond the center-field fence.
The only fitting ending, the argument goes, is for Rivera to get last call.
Francona wasn't tipping his hand. "We're not going to announce our rotation yet," Francona said yesterday. "That wouldn't - Clint [Hurdle] doesn't need our help."
Hurdle, manager of the NL team because his Rockies made it to the Series last fall, grinned when asked if he thought he'd be seeing Rivera at the end.
"I'm going to stick my neck out there and say we'll prepare for him a little bit," Hurdle said. "Watch a little video."
Papelbon is not immune to the significance of the occasion. And for a hometown crowd that already has to swallow hard to support a team that has seven Sox on it (David Ortiz can't play because of injury), imagine the reception Papelbon would get if he emerged from behind the bullpen door in the ninth.
"We have an awesome relationship," Papelbon said of Rivera. "I saw him this morning. We were hanging out with [Sox bullpen coach] Gary Tuck, who was with Mariano here.
