Just sit back and enjoy the ride.
When living through the Jonathan Papelbon Era, this should be the mantra, with the last two days serving as the latest checkpoint. As hard as it is to fathom – especially after such history-making moments as came along in the Red Sox' 11-inning, 6-5 win over the Orioles in Baltimore on Wednesday – this ride has just begun.
If nothing else, the closer has a talent for keeping the conversation busy, as was evidenced Wednesday morning. Papelbon's perceived demise was enough to carry debates through another rainy morning, thanks to his second blown save of the season. But by the time dinner-time rolled around most concerns had been quieted.
Eighteen pitches – and one come-from-behind win for the Red Sox later – and Papelbon had reeled in the panic. Few were talking about his contributions to Tuesday night's collapse, instead choosing to revel in the franchise's best-ever security blanket.
The closer did what he has done better than any Red Sox reliever: he closed for the 133rd time, to be exact, which just so happens to be more than any other Sox player has done so ... ever.
Coming into Papelbon's 237th career regular season game, Bob Stanley had a share of that title of most proficient Red Sox save monger. But no more. The Red Sox' closer had his commemorative baseball (which he jammed in his equipment bag next to the ball that represented tying Stanley's mark), and the return of some peace of mind.
"Obviously, it feels good," Papelbon told reporters. "When I set out to do this -- to be the closer for the Boston Red Sox -- there was definitely a lot of goals in sight, and this was one of them. So to get there and to kind of finally get it and to kind of get it out of my head and stop thinking about it is definitely good for me."
When Stanley recorded that 133rd save – which came on May 5, 1989, when he fittingly got three straight ground outs by Scott Fletcher, Rafael Palmeiro and Ruben Sierra of the Texas Rangers – he was 34 years-old and found himself in the midst of a final major-league season.
The game-ending moment for Papelbon, however, is much, much closer to the beginning than the end. His story is still in the early chapters, as the last two days exemplified.
Yes, the four years Papelbon has lived the life of a major-league closer might have seemed like a lifetime for some. Why else would naysayers jump in to surmise that the 28-year-old's era of dominance had come and gone because he: a) is actually allowing baserunners this season; and b) was the unfortunate punctuation mark on the Sox' epic loss to the Orioles on Tuesday night?
But, as Papelbon's latest perception reversal reminded most, there's a long way to go when it comes to telling this story.
As we sit here right now, Papelbon has the identical strikeout-to-walk ratio (34 strikeouts, 17 walks) as his very first big-league season. Yet we all know how much has changed in the World of Pap since 2005. Obviously a lot would have had to transpire for a season involving 20 saves, a 1.80 ERA, and another likely All-Star invitation to spawn such concern.
A lot has happened in his relatively short career – postseason triumphs, monetary hub-bubs, medical ups and downs and a constant immersion into the Red Sox-Yankees dynamic. And in regards to all of it, more is sure to come.
This is the path Papelbon has ventured down, and (although it's sometimes hard to believe) it's one that has miles and miles and miles to go.
Here are five more (quick) things we learned as the Red Sox finally arrived back at Fenway Park close to 10 p.m. Wednesday night:
LUGO CAN STILL HIT
The focus will remain on Julio Lugo's fielding, and even the diminished burst of speed he might have left behind thanks to various leg injuries. But it is hard to argue that the shortstop should get credit for not only finding his batting stroke, but doing so under less-than-ideal circumstances.
This time the payoff for Lugo's continued offensive improvement was the game-winning single in the 11th, plating Jacoby Ellsbury. It was Lugo’s only at-bat of the game, after he came on as a pinch-runner during the Red Sox' four-run ninth inning. He now finds his average at .301.
"He's been good offensively," Francona told the Boston Herald. "That hasn't been why he hasn't played. But he hasn't thrown at-bats away, that's for
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