From Papelbon, great stuff

Closer is dominant on mound, colorful off it

Jonathan Papelbon shows he is just as intense during a spring training fielding drill as he is during a postseason save situation. (Jim Davis/Globe Staff)

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Since the Johnny Damon and Kevin Millar "Idiots" and "Cowboy Up" days the Red Sox have become a less flamboyant team. Save for Jonathan Papelbon, that is.

Papelbon must have learned something from those guys because he's become one of the game's true characters. Someone who can create color on and off the field at a moment's notice and who can bring a bit of those '03 and '04 teams back in small doses.

He has the rare combination of flakiness and intense competitiveness. He can be so loose - see the step dancing at the postseason celebrations and the high school dance video that was released to the team last summer - yet on the mound he's focused and flowing with adrenaline.

When Papelbon said last All-Star break he thought he should close the Midsummer Classic at the old Yankee Stadium, even with Mariano Rivera also on the American League squad, he didn't back down from the fact that his competitive nature makes him want to pitch when it counts most.

Papelbon's 113 saves in the last three-plus seasons show how dominant he's become. The fact that he's pitched 25 scoreless innings in postseason play, including a sterling performance last season in which he struck out 13 and allowed only three hits and two walks in 10 1/3 playoff innings, also speaks to that.

There was some concern for Papelbon at season's end when he admitted he felt a lot of wear and tear after an accelerated workload from Sept. 1 through the playoffs.

"It's that domino effect," Papelbon said. "There's no doubt that pitching so much in the postseason takes a lot out of any pitching staff, but that time of the year you're pitching on pure adrenaline. It's just the way it happened that I had to pick up more innings. I didn't like that, but I sure wanted my innings because I'll take the ball any time . . . but I just started to get a little bit more wear and tear on me, man.

"It wasn't just the innings, but the wear and tear from road trips, just every little thing that ends up coming back to remind you what a long year it's been. Every little injury I had back in April and May all of a sudden pops back up and says, 'Hey, remember me?' and now you're starting to feel things you thought had gone away."

When Papelbon talks about wear and tear it tends to cause concern because of the subluxation of his right shoulder in September 2006 that forced him to undertake a strict shoulder strengthening program. The shoulder healed, but careful management of his workload is vital.

The stressful innings of the playoffs don't help.

"I'm not gonna deny that," said Papelbon. "I think in the postseason you work on so much adrenaline and then you have the whole offseason to recover from that. But that's OK because teams and individual players are known for what they do in the postseason. You can't ever measure greatness in a player unless they have been able to do it in the postseason."

With the bullpen even deeper now with Ramon Ramirez, Hideki Okajima, Manny Delcarmen, and Takashi Saito all available for late-inning duty, it doesn't appear Papelbon will have to fret about overuse.

"The first thing I said to [general manager] Theo [Epstein] when I saw him is, 'I noticed the job you guys have done with our bullpen and it won't go unnoticed,' " Papelbon said. "I told them with a big smile on my face I'm expecting big things."

Regarding contracts, the Sox have been content to allow Papelbon to go one year at a time in these early, controllable seasons rather than sign him long term. They believe they'll have the money to pay him when they need to, and given how much he pours himself into his role, who knows how long he will remain dominant?

The Sox were contemplating a long-term offer to Papelbon but he signed a one-year, $6.25 million deal, avoiding arbitration.

Some believe taking one-year deals is risky business for such a top closer, but if a long-term deal doesn't make sense, Papelbon is willing to roll the dice, feeling he's already made more money than he ever dreamed possible.

He'll also try to get stronger and more prepared to deal with what might be thrown his way.

"I don't think I'll ever change anything, I just think I'll look at things a little differently and a little more precisely," he said. "If I have to change something it'll be because I have to because of something that's happened physically, but the program I've been on has kept me healthy," Papelbon said.

The Sox closer said he can't yet be considered the equal of Rivera, whom he obviously idolizes, and whose longevity he appreciates.

"I still don't think I can be considered on that level," said Papelbon. "I have work to do in this game. With what I'm doing in the postseason and what I'm accomplishing, I want to pursue what he's already mastered.

"I don't want to be him at all because I want to be me. It's just neat to watch him and I've always said this, I call him 'The Godfather' because he's made the closer role what it is today. He says, 'You make me sound old,' but I say, 'You are old,' and you know, he's a great guy.

"He understands the whole thing with the All-Star Game last year. I sat down and we talked about it. I said, 'I'm not trying to devalue you, I'm just trying to be competitive. I want the ball.' He's a very understanding person.

"Hopefully he can play as long as he wants to and put the records out of reach, but I'm gonna go after them. That's who I'm going after. If you can't go after the best, you can't be the best."

Papelbon and his wife had their first child this winter, a daughter, and he admitted he lost track of things and had no idea what the Yankees had done this offseason until recently.

"Man, you know what, to be totally honest, I didn't know what they were doing," he said. "I was inside for eight weeks."

But about the Yankees' signings of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixeira, he said, "I just expect that. It's what they do. It's kind of fun to go out there and compete against them year in and year out. They have the best team and we do, too. I don't see it as a heated rivalry. I look at it like, 'OK, you think you got it? No, we got it.' "

There's a little "Idiot" and a little "Cowboy" woven into one fantastic and colorful performer.

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com.