 Jonathon Papelbon opened his big mouth and not only proved that he’s a douchebag, he also effectively threw three of his teammates under the bus.
Look, we all know that Manny didn’t like playing in Boston last season after they left him in limbo over his two option years. But, really, everybody with half of a brain knows that it was all Scott Boras pulling the strings and making that situation as bad as possible. Ergo, Papelbon has less than half of a brain.
And to actually call him cancer? That’s horrible. I think it crosses a line when a guy says it as bluntly as Papelbon did. “That’s what he was. Cancer.” Really, enough people have lost friends and family members to that disease and to compare a person to it is in poor taste. I’ve used the term “locker room cancer” before, but never flat out called some a potentially fatal disease. Imagine if he had said something like “Manny was AIDS to us.” It just goes too far.
Then, he comes out and says that three of the team’s veteran leaders, Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield and David Ortiz, wanted Manny gone. I find it hard to believe that the guy who benefited most from Manny’s bat (Ortiz) would ever want his buddy to be run out of town.
Seriously, Paps, you’re only a kid and only a relief pitcher. Let’s not go and get a big head about ourselves and bash one of the best hitters of the era. He won Boston two World Series. You declined to even sign a contract extension to stay. How about that for loyalty?
Also, two Friday the 13ths in a row? Come on now. How did this happen?