First off, this isn't a "the Red Sox screwed up by not signing Jonathan Papelbon" column.

Let's get this out of the way: Papelbon's price tag this offseason simply wasn't good business sense for the Red Sox. In short, if you dive into the four-year, $50 million pool the closer landed in with the Phillies, an already difficult financial future gets exponentially more complicated.

You have the possibility of having five players commanding either near or above $20 million a year trying to get on the Red Sox roster (Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Jon Lester, Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia) in the coming years. 

And when you're put in that position, and presented alternatives that could at least come close to what you're used to at significantly less cost (see Andrew Bailey, Alfredo Aceves or even Daniel Bard), it makes sense to allocate the coin elsewhere.

Would they be better off without John Lackey's five-year, $82.5 million deal, replacing it with a commitment to the closer? Of course. But that isn't an option. What's done is done, and that is done.

No, this is simply a reminder that Thursday should have offered a dose or reality.

Papelbon's existence will be missed more than most chose to realize until this point. For six years, he was the Red Sox' security blanket -- a portion of the equation few had to debate or fret over. While many teams do everything they can to devalue the position, Papelbon did his best to show exactly how important that role is to a team's survival.

Thursday, while Papelbon was closing out the Phillies' 1-0 win over Pittsburgh with a 10-pitch, one-inning, one-strikeout save, the Red Sox were left to live the kind of uncomfortable existence they really hadn't experienced since 2003.

From 2004-05, Keith Foulke was the Sox' end-of-gamer. Papelbon took over after the first game in '06 and never looked back (except for a one-month hiatus in September of that year because of a shoulder subluxation). In six years of Papelbon closing, there wasn't one trip to the disabled list, and 219 saves in 248 chances (along with 27 postseason innings that included just three runs).

Since '03 began, the Red Sox have three pitchers with more than 20 saves -- Papelbon, Foulke (47) and Mike Timlin (27). The only group that is comparable in its consistency resided at Yankee Stadium, with Kyle Farnsworth following up Mariano Rivera's 360 saves over that span with seven.

What Thursday told us once again was that not having to worry about who or what is going to show up in that ninth-inning pressure situation is one of the best values in baseball. Again, it took us back to '03.

That season -- which began with the "bullpen by committee" extravaganza -- might offer a lesson for what awaits. While Alfredo Aceves could jump up and deliver the kind of closing value teams always think is waiting to be found, discovering the closer who will be finishing meaningful games in September may take some time.

There was the group of Chad Fox, Bobby Howry, Alan Embree and Timlin for a while, until Brandon Lyon separated himself. That bought the Red Sox time until they could identify a closer on the trade market, dealing for Byung-Hyun Kim (in exchange for Shea Hillenbrand) on May 29.

By the time the Kim deal went down the Red Sox were 12-for-17 in save opportunities, with their bullpen carrying a 5.21 ERA along with a .289 batting average against. The team had survived, however, totaling a 31-22 mark while things were getting sorted out.

It was also the organizational slap in the face regarding how important security at that position was. (Hence Foulke's three-year deal the following season.) It was a lesson the Red Sox never forgot, as was evidenced by jumping on the opportunity to trade for Bailey.

Few truly expected Bailey to dig into the closing role for the next six years with the same limited number of hiccups as Papelbon experienced. But he did represent enough of a track record, and financial compromise, that the transition certainly could fall under "the next best thing."

It hasn't worked out that way.

Aceves certainly could land as "the next best thing," perhaps Mark Melancon figures it out to be that guy, or maybe it will be Bard down the road. Judging either off of what transpired Thursday would be ridiculous. In fact, trying to define the bullpen as a whole at this point would be a mistake. There are pieces there that could fit well enough.

The point is that Papelbon always instantly offered definition. For mostly better, and occasionally worse, he was the closer. The rest could figure itself out as the season unfolded.

Papelbon might not have even come into the game Thursday. But it couldn't be ignored that when the Sox closer did enter the game in the ninth to put out a fire, there was a different feel and level of confidence. And it was one that hasn't been experienced in these parts for some time.

Maybe it was just a day to remember what once was, on the way to moving on. The Red Sox better hope so.