Papelbon Says His Pregnant Wife Had Her 'Life Threatened' at Red Carpet Parade

The only thing sillier about the All-Star Game (excluding Alfonso Soriano picking his nose) than actually having an hour-long red carpet parade was that Yankee fans got into a veritable froth over hearing that Jonathan Papelbon, the Red Sox closer, wanted the ball in the ninth inning so he could *gasp* close the game. You know, instead of Mariano Rivera.

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Of course, all of that became a hell of a lot less funny when Papelbon told the press that he and his wife were uncomfortable during the pregame ceremonies, to the point that insults from fans felt life threatening.

"I feel like I needed to be in a bullet-proof car," Papelbon said, according to the Web site. "My wife is pregnant and she's getting her life threatened. It's stupid."

[...]Papelbon told MLB.com that he was so disturbed by the parade incident that he didn't even care if he pitched on Tuesday.

"Your family gets involved like that and you're trying to enjoy an experience with your family, and you have a wife who's pregnant who doesn't feel safe riding in a red-carpet event, you know what I mean? How would you feel?" Papelbon said, according to MLB.com.

That's what you call keeping it classy Yankee fans. Threatening a pregnant woman because her husband wants to do his job. It really is a great way to celebrate the rich history of Yankee Stadium.

He said he would like to close. That's what he does. I've prattled about this ridiculous rivalry before, so I don't want to go off on another rant about the need for Red Sox and Yankees fans to take a step back and evaluate what's actually important, but seriously, grow up. There's nothing cool about death threats on pregnant women.

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NEW YORK - JULY 15: Jonathan Papelbon of the Boston Red Sox and his wife Ashley Papelbon take part in the MLB All-Star Game Red Carpet Parade on July 15, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ashley Papelbon;Jonathan Papelbon

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

7-16-2008 @ 9:14AM

the maan said...

the man is an idiot what does he expect he should come out with an apology to yankee fans he deserves what he got and i think fans went easy on him he shouldnt be on same sentence with rivera and i am a boston fan

7-16-2008 @ 7:56PM

Neil said...

You a Boston fan ha, my ass.

I guess it doesn't matter where you go. There will always be some rude fans. Boston, Chicago, Detroit, New York, and oh yeah don't forget to mention Indianapolis. So just learn to deal with it. But I do think that is pretty LOW to threaten a pregnant woman.

7-18-2008 @ 4:49AM

Linda said...

If the fans would have read the entire statement they would have realilzed he was only saying he would have loved to close, as any pitcher would say if he is worth his weight. However, New York needs to understand that there are other closers in baseball and just becuase it was in New York it isnt written in stone that Rivera should close. As it turned out, Kazmir closed it from Tampa.. so I guess that takes care of both teams and both pitchers.

7-16-2008 @ 9:02AM

Feruw said...

Venomous abusive New Yorkers? I've never heard of such a thing.

7-16-2008 @ 7:01AM

Robert said...

Come on, Will. Dont be an idiot. Papelbum's wife was not threatened. That is just him opening his stupid mouth again and lieing to save face. He said what he said and it was a very stupid thing to say. A...hole is the best way to describe him and he should have been the loser in the game. He was actually the FOURTH best reliever on the AL squad and cannot be mentioned in the same breath as Riveira.;

7-16-2008 @ 7:52AM

DavidCT said...

I doubt that all Yankee fans were rude or threating to the wife of Papelbon. I'm a Yankee fan and the last time I went to a Bosox/Yankee game at Fenway, I was treated rather badly by some Red Sox fans. Perhaps Paplebon should return to Beantown and have a Duck Boat ride down Yawkey Way with Swamp Yankee Sox fans fawning all over him. The little foul mouth pipsqueak would have been better off keeping quiet or staying home. He was such a miniscule part of the event anyway.

7-16-2008 @ 7:44PM

Buffy said...

Hey David - I was treated so badly by Yankees fans in New York that I was actually in fear that I was going to get hurt. I ended up watching a game between the Sox and the Yanks sitting in my seat not saying a word. What fun. Get over yourself - Yankees fans can be and are just as rude as Sox fans.

7-16-2008 @ 8:03AM

Dan said...

No lower form of life on our beloved planet than a Yankee fan. Classless morons.

7-16-2008 @ 11:37AM

DEBRA said...

CLASSLESS BOSTON RED SOX FANS ARE THE WORSE. BOSTON FANS KILLING ALLEGED YANKEES FANS. IT'S NOT THAT SERIOUS, IT'S ONLY BASEBALL. RED SOX FANS GET A GRIP. BOSTON FANS STOP CRYING. TAKING SOMEONE'S LIFE BECAUSE THEY ARE WEARING A YANKEES HAT OR JERSEY. GET REAL ASSHOLES.

7-17-2008 @ 9:55AM

Kasey said...

Bulletproof car.......does he think he is the Pope????? How did he feel about old Zimmer being thrown to the ground?

And Manny looked right at home in Da Bronx!

7-16-2008 @ 8:56AM

Bean said...

Zimmer was ran out on the field and attempted to attack Pedro. He even admitted it after the game and apologized. If Zimmer can say he was the asshole then you should accept it.

Yankees fans worsened the day they lost the right to chant 1918.

7-16-2008 @ 9:20AM

Bob Gossman said...

Why can't guys just come, relax, enjoy the experience, play in the game and go home. Do you ever hear about a Yankee complaining about any type of treatment from a Boston fan? Whatever treatment either get in the other's home city should be expected. I doubt sincerely that Papelbon's wife was threatened by anyone. Tell this clown to talk to Derek Jeter aboiut the way a professional should behave. Just do your job and be quiet.

7-18-2008 @ 4:58AM

Maybe the Yankee fans should have read what Papelbon really said and not what your rag of a newspaper said he said. Huge difference between the two!! Maybe thats too much to ask for. But there is nothing in stone that Rivera had to close the game. After all he gave the championship to Boston is 2004 all by himself. Every pitcher have their day, and some havent been that great for Rivera either.

7-16-2008 @ 10:32AM

Mike H. said...

i heard the yankee fans were throwing D cell batteries at Mrs. Papelbon...scumbags.

Way to stand-up for the greater good, Will.

7-16-2008 @ 10:29AM

tipcpup01 said...

Honestly this speaks more to the increasing classlessness of sports fans in general nation/world-wide, not just Yankees fans. Go to any rivalry game for D-I college football teams. Listen to the venom fans spew at basketball games towards the players. Keep in mind the Palace Brawl started because a fan threw a beer at a player.

I can remember as a 10 year old kid, having some drunk redneck threaten to beat me up in the parking lot for having the gall to cheer for a rival team. My girlfriend was called all sorts of disgusting things for wearing visiting colors at a Maryland football game. And this is all small potatoes compared to what goes on at a European soccer game.

Sadly, between the mob mentality, the alcohol, and the media glorification of rivalries, people will continue to debase themselves in increasingly vile aways in the name of Team Loyalty. Sad, but inevitable.

7-16-2008 @ 11:17AM

JoeYankeefan said...

Lighten up Will, If your hero Papelbon never opened up his mouth the day before this event there would have been no issue. Did you ever hear Jeter, Rivera, Posada, etc... say anything like that going ito Boston? No. Papelbon should know better and so should you for defending him like this. Gimme a break, I watched the event and he didn't look threatend to me. The Red Sox have a number of classless players like him, youkilis and Manny. Too bad they don't follow in their manager's footsteps on and off the field. Francona is a great man and manager and these little pipsqueaks could learn a lot from him the same way the Yankee players learned alot from the likes of Joe Torre, Phil Rizzuto, Yogi Berra, Joe D and the list goes on and on. In this case you could chalk it all up to Papelbon wanting more attention than he deserves and when he doesn't get it he has to stand behind his wife for sympathy and to take his shots. He's a joke to baseball. Did you ever hear Hank Aaron complain in the 70's when he was getting death threats?, nope. He just played with dignity every day like a man and didn't justify it. I suggest Papel-baby do the same.
one last point is he should never have felt threatened because the NYPD, the best police force in the would would be there to save his sorry butt!

7-16-2008 @ 3:31PM

Cardsfan said...

Just because players didn't gripe about being threatened doesn't mean they were more noble or liked it any less. They didn't comment on it because it would probobly just make it worse. Papelbon will catch hell for his comments and he knows that. It's a shame that the rude yankee fans had to put a little black cloud on the whole thing.

7-16-2008 @ 11:08AM

Ray said...

Come on people.He said he felt threatened. He didnt say they were. Insults from the fans are part of the game.I wish I had a 1.00 for everytime I felt threatend in my job as a Police Officer for 25yrs. Plus he make a hell of alot more money than the men of law enforcement.When was the last time a sports figure was shot to death. As far as fans go. A blog on here when Phil Rusitto died.From a boston fan was.All the Yankees should die in a plane crash.Thats a caring A-hole.

7-16-2008 @ 11:29AM

lonestarbl said...

Before you cry a river about bad yankees fans the foul mouths... maybe you should talk to the guy that was driving through Boston around the 4th of July with his wife and 2 kids that was nearly beaten to death for having a NY license plate...

Guy wasn't even a baseball fan! 2 dumbfuck bostonians grabbed him from his car and kicked the shit out of him for living in NY!

Maybe if little Jonathan cut the bully talk (aka Tampa Bay Series) people may realize it is just a sport...