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Papelbon fined again for slow play
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Jonathan Papelbon’s slow play once again drew the ire of Major League Baseball, which fined the Red Sox closer today for taking too long to deliver a pitch for at least the fifth time this season, an infraction incurred Tuesday night.
The league fined Papelbon $5,000 for a failure to comply with a new rule designed to increase the pace of games. Papelbon vowed he would finally adjust to the rules while not allowing them to change his mound approach.
“What am I supposed to do it about, you know?” Papelbon said. “Ain’t nothing I can do about it. I’ll make an adjustment and move on. That’s it. It’s not going to affect my pitching. That’s for sure.”
Papelbon has been fined for similar infractions multiple times this season. “I think it’s the fifth or seventh,” he said. “One of the two.”
The league instituted two rules this season for pitchers intended to speed play. They must throw the first pitch of inning no more than 2 minutes and 20 seconds following the final out of the previous inning. Pitchers are given 12 seconds to throw a pitch once a batter settles into the box
Papelbon has been slow to adjust to both rules. His latest was for taking too long entering the game Tuesday night. During his outing, the first six-out save of his career, umpires called Papelbon for a ball for taking too long between pitches.
“It’s something I’ve got to get used to,” Papelbon said. “When I come in from the bullpen, I got to speed it up.”
The first pace-of-game violation cost Papelbon $1,000 and escalated from there. He has since lost count of how much the league has fined him for, but he knows the total has grown into five-figures.
The Boston Herald first reported Papelbon’s fine earlier this evening on its Web site.
Papelbon does not believe the Red Sox will help him pay the latest fine, “but then again, I don’t know,” he said. The club has discussed with Papelbon the need to comply with the rules.
“That’s ongoing conversations,” pitching coach John Farrell said. “You have to balance a pitcher’s pre-pitch routine and yet still be effective. A rule is a rule. You’ve got to abide and operate within those.”
Farrell believes Papelbon will be able to warm up more quickly without sacrificing performance.
“Anytime you have changes or adjustments, there’s a period in which you have to get comfort with it,” Farrell said. “So if it’s a quicker tempo, a little bit more of a quicker pace to his overall game, that’s going to take some harnessing. The one thing he has shown repeatedly is that any adjustments that has been presented to him, he’s adapted very quickly and continued to pitch well.”
How about MLB fines Maddon and the Rays for all those stupid team huddles he has.
MLB is being ridiculous because it makes not attempt to stop batters like Jeter and his gay wannabe Swisher from holding a hand back to keep the umpire from letting play start even when the pitcher is ready, only that the pitcher must act within a certain time "after the batter settles into the box."
This has got to be the dumbest baseball story I've read in a long time. This ranks up there with MLB harrasing Tito because he was wearing a sweatshirt during a game. Unreal.
Is there an equivalent rule for batters taking too long to adjust their gloves, etc?
It's called being a prima donna.
It's a known fact that some pitchers take LONGER to "get loose" than others, and RUSHING them through their pregame routine can negatively impact there performance on the mound. FORCING pitchers to get ready in 2:20 is really UNFAIR to pitchers that take longer to get loose, and I'm even starting to wonder if it's one of the reasons that Papelbon has struggled a little more this season.
In fact, this bogus rule reminds me of the time that "Yankee Bob" Watson checked Terry Francona's uniform during a Red Sox/Yankees game at Yankee stadium back in 2007. Perhaps "Yankee Bob" Watson is one of the masterminds behind this DUBIOUS "pace of game" rule (that puts Jonathan Papelbon at an obvious disadvantage) as well?
How do they judge this...does some knucklehead in the booth start a timer or is it at the discretion of the umpires and the MLB braintrust? Not that I think it's a bad rule but it looks like been targeted.
Maybe Giambi will share his lucky thong to help Pap get his *ss moving!!
So let me get this strait; Pap takes too long to throw a pitch, and the league fines him for it, but A-Fraud takes steriods (and probablly still is), and they do absolutely NOTHING?!?!
What am I missing here? Does this makes sense to anyone?
There is a reason the commissioners initials are B.S.
"Papelbon has been slow to adjust to both rules. His latest was for taking too long entering the game Tuesday night. During his outing, the first six-out save of his career, umpires called Papelbon for a ball for taking too long between pitches."
Yeah... Wait. What?
For all his bluster about being the next Mariano Rivera (or at least, being paid like him), Paps just doesn't have the temperament or self-control to occupy that lofty place in the baseball firmament. In fact, it's hard to imagine his career lasting as long as the newly-acquired Wagner's.
Both Papelbon and Beckett need attitude adjustments! They would both be good off season trading material along with "Big Floppy!".
During last night's game I actually switched away from NESN while Papelbon was pitching to the first batter in the 9th to catch a news story on another channel. By the time the story was over I wanted to switch back to NESN to see if the Red Sox had held on to win ... to my surprise the first batter of the inning was still at the plate! I love having Papelbon close for the Red Sox, but as a baseball fan his approach is *painfully* slow.
As silly looking as they were, how about bringing back the bullpen carts? Remember those goofy things that looked like a hige baseball landed ona golf cart and was just left there and cut-out for passengers? (See the move "Major League"). Bring those back, get the pitchers on the mound ASAP.
A decent golf cart is what..$2500? much cheaper than the fines...
fines for slow play? what is this, cricket?
He's not the only slow pitcher, plus, as someone said, the batters stepping out of the box messes things up as well. I'd say the batters constant primping and such makes games slower than anything pitchers do, really.
What a joke. Does MLB fine players who step out of batters box after every pitch to adjust their batting gloves, crotch, helmet, etc? And another thing....slow play? How about the Rays warming up and using every single pitcher in the friggin' bullpen.
Pap is a piece of work - thinks every pitch is a work of art. That lip pursing posturing is hilarious, though. What a pompous tool the redneck is - has no idea how ridiculous his act looks.
How about MLB focusing on getting hitters to stay in the box during an at bat...
I'd like to know how many other pitchers have been fined so repeatedly this year or is the league making Papelbon the poster child for delaying games (which if so, is absurd & unfair). I could take a nap between Okajima's pitches, he's painful to watch.
How about the number of times Rays batters called time to step out of the batter's box ... that's not delaying the game & forcing the pitcher to regroup? You have to wonder if some team(s) complained to the league about Paps in order to get under his skin.
Uh... Was that the game that took about an hour to get through the top of the 8th because Maddon changed pitchers with every new batter?
Ego maniac, prima dona.... anything else come to mind??
does nomar get fined for his batting routine or how bout hideo nomo it took him ten minutes each pitch
does nomar get fined for his batting routine or how bout hideo nomo it took him ten minutes each pitch
What's the MLB braintrust being so "empahatic" about???
Let wagner close. Send the human rain delay with the monkey face packing this offseason.
@Bat Insider
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