July 15, 2008

Faux Closer Controversy -- Papelbon & Rivera Say The Exact Same Thing

Here is the back cover of today's Daily News:


The story's headline: Jonathan Papelbon Says He Should Close All-Star Game Instead Of Mo

"I think I should get the shot."
The guy's got a lot of nerve, huh? Reading that statement from Papelbon, who is a relative upstart in the closing game compared to Rivera, it's no wonder New Yorkers are ups--

Oh, wait ... that's a quote from Rivera himself!

Here it is again, with more context (and some bold!):

Mariano Rivera: "[W]e're here in Yankee Stadium. I think I should get the shot."

It's typical of the brand of "journalism" practiced at the right-wing Gotham rag. Tell only half the story and then splash a huge lie on the back page attributing the damning quote to someone who never said it. If you read the article, it's clear it was Rivera who said he "should" be the closer tonight!

This is what Papelbon said:
If I was managing the team, I would close. I'm not managing the team, so it don't matter. ... 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. It's not that easy. Everybody thinks it's a cut and dry answer, but it's not.
It's also a non-issue. If anything, Rivera's statement is slightly more outspoken. Big deal.

Here are tonight's lineups:
National League           American League
Hanley Ramirez, SS Ichiro Suzuki, RF
Chase Utley, 2B Derek Jeter, SS
Lance Berkman, 1B Josh Hamilton, CF
Albert Pujols, DH Alex Rodriguez, 3B
Chipper Jones, 3B Manny Ramirez, LF
Matt Holliday, RF Milton Bradley, DH
Ryan Braun, LF Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Kosuke Fukudome, CF Joe Mauer, C
Geovany Soto, C Dustin Pedroia, 2B

Ben Sheets, P Cliff Lee, P
Click on over to Ish's blog for the All-Star Game Thread.

14 comments:

9casey said...

The amazing thing is they both forget K-Rod......Blah , Blah , Blah.....

9casey said...

Another thing from last night was when Rick Reilly asked "what's with all the white guys?"


About Hamilton.sure nice story , but to quit 4 outs in of the 2nd round, dude it's not just about you bunt 9 times then hit 10 HR's for charity.........He hit 35 or so and none got any money for charity or won that guy a car......But to quit in the 2nd round , how did baseball let him do that, I know he allready made it to the next round and all....but maybe , you lord savior Jesus Christ could had told you to hit 2 HR's for the kids.....

allan said...

More Bot:
"He's the godfather of closers. He obviously has done a lot of great things for this role. He's done so much to make this role what it is today. I have a lot of respect for him ... I'm a big believer in paying your dues. If I have to step aside for an elder statesman, I'll do it. At the same time, I'm going after it. There's no question about it. One day, I might surpass him. If I said I didn't want to do that, I'd be questioning myself, my own character."

Rob said...

Another thing from last night was when Rick Reilly asked "what's with all the white guys?"

I thought that was hilarious. I mean, he did have a point, which brings up the way they decide who will be in the derby. Some years they'll just pick some guys. Other years, like 2006, they'll have one player representing a country, etc. At least, I think that's what they did.

Surprising not to see Tejada, A-Rod, or Manny in there.

Rob said...

Oh dear. PTI on ESPN is ripping Papelbon for his "quotes" to the Daily News.

nixon33 said...

the radio here in NY was KILLING paps... saying that "he should even be allowed to say Mo's name out loud". I dont agree with the "Yankee stadium, blah, blah, blah..." quote. that just sounds stupid.

i just kinda wish pap would keep his mouth shut a little bit. especially the way he's been pitching as of late.

people should be like manny, keep quiet and win.

nixon33 said...

they also forgot joe nathan!

9casey said...

I agree Nix....The sad part is this is a non issue if they where playing anywhere else.

andy said...

Fuck the yankees and everything about that over-inflated franchise. Blah Blah Ruth blah blah Mantle blah DiMaggio blah blah Gehrig blah blah blah 97 world championships. What have you done this decade? 1 world series in the first year. Since then? nothing. Way to go closer. you save games for a loser. way to go. maybe you should start the fucking game. This is just like how A-rod tried to take over the world series with his BIG announcement. This is not the Yankees era and they try to steal it with this whole new stadium thing which by the way is right next door and looks almost identical. They could have done it over night and very few people would have noticed. The house that ruth built and jeter intangibled it. Ohhh look how wonderful we are.

Rob said...

Hey, there was nothing like watching almost five full innings of baseball at the Toilet without one single Yankee playing.

Benjamin said...

Uggla's batting WPA:
8th inning K = -.067
10th inning DP = -.325
12th inning K = -.181
15th inning K = -.061
Subtotal = -.634

WPA for Uggla's fielding errors:
10th inning (Young): -.073
10th inning (Quentin): -.222
13th inning (Drew): -.055
Subtotal = -.350

Total WPA = -.984

Uggla basically singlehandedly lost an entire game. If he were a pitcher, it'd be as if his opponents were down three runs in the bottom of the 9th and he loaded the bases and gave up a walkoff grandslam.

Other WPA of note: Drew's MVP .583 was more than eight times the next highest AL batter (Young)'s .072.

andy said...

Drew showed excitement after the game too. He may be breaking out of his shell.

Jack Marshall said...

What's happened to New York fans? Is this pathetic or what---going ape over whether their closer is going to close the All-Star game? All this venom directed at Bot for having the timerity to say he wants to pitch? Wow---how the mighty have fallen, when such a minor matter becomes so central to a fan base's self esteem.

allan said...

But remember what we're always told:

Yankee fans are NOT obsessed with the Red Sox.
They never ever think about us.
Not at all!

...

It's amazing that MFY fans believe and say this, even as they are frothing about something Bot didn't even say. With all their losing and choking, they are forced to define themselves by our superiority.