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Papa Papelbon Proud To Watch Son

TBO.com photo by SCOTT BUTHERUS

Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame is located next to the main entrance of Tropicana Field.

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By JOEY JOHNSTON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 12, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - He works at Tropicana Field and has loved watching the Rays grow into a postseason team.

But Friday night, when Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth and set the postseason career record for scoreless innings (20 2/3 over 13 outings) in a 2-0 win against the Rays, he made no effort to conceal his partiality.

For one obvious reason.

"He's my son. What am I going to do? Root against him?"

John Papelbon, who lives in Jacksonville and commutes to St. Petersburg, is deputy director of the Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame, which relocated from Citrus County to the Trop in 2006. Despite being surrounded by fans who view his son as the enemy, the elder Papelbon said he couldn't be happier to witness a Red Sox-Rays playoff series.

"Last year, the Rays were the bottom-dwellers and you kind of felt sorry for what they were going through," the elder Papelbon said. "I know how good the Rays are now. I hope this series goes seven games and I hope the best team wins. The Rays being here is good for baseball.

"Of course, I want Jonathan to do well. It still seems surreal, seeing him win the World Series in 2007. I'm still pinching myself to make sure it's not a dream. This couldn't be a more perfect set-up, the Red Sox playing here and being able to see these games. It's just ideal."

Papelbon, the pitcher, suffered one of his most grim moments this season when Rays pinch-hitter Dan Johnson slammed a game-tying homer, positioning Tampa Bay for a victory that kept it in first place on Sept. 9.

"If he blows a save, he knows it's not a perfect world," Papelbon's father said. "He bounces back. I've always told all my boys two younger twin sons, Joshua and Jeremy, are minor-league players, 'Maybe you blew a game, but, hey, what about the poor kid in the hospital with cancer? Keep what you're doing in some perspective. You guys have got it made in the shade."

MAGADAN BACK HOME

Red Sox hitting coach Dave Magadan, who was once called "the finest athlete ever at Jesuit High School" by Bill Minahan, the school's former football coach and athletic director, has enjoyed being back home.

His 90-year-old father, Joe Sr., is a big Rays fan and watched every television game this season.

"He's rooting for me - I think," Magadan said with a laugh. "I have a lot of friends who are Rays fans. I understand how they're supporting the home team. And it's great to see something like this happening in my hometown. But, hey, we want another ring."

Magadan was a late call-up on the 1986 Mets and didn't get a championship ring that season (although he and three others were given rings 10 years later, courtesy of pitcher Randy Myers, who footed the bill). Last season was different. In his first season on the Red Sox field staff, Boston won the World Series.

"Being part of that was a true highlight," Magadan said. "It makes you hungry to do it again."

YOUKILIS' HAT TRICK

With three hits in Game 1, Red Sox 3B Kevin Youkilis became the only player in League Championship Series history (AL and NL) to record three consecutive three-hit games. Youkilis, who made it four games in a row Saturday, also extended his ALCS hitting streak to nine games - the longest LCS streak to start a career since the Angels' Darin Erstad hit safely in his first nine games (2002-05). The all-time LCS hitting streak record is 13 by Philadelphia's Greg Luzinski (1976-80).

THAT'S DIFFERENT

Red Sox RHP Josh Beckett allowed three home runs in a postseason game for the first time. He yielded five homers in his first two postseason starts this season - one more than he gave up in nine previous postseason starts. Through five innings, he had allowed 12 earned runs in his two 2008 postseason starts. In eight previous postseason outings, he had allowed a total of seven earned runs in 571/3 innings.

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