There is a long tradition in the Western Cannon from Beowulf to High Noon of defending the narrow space. You know the drill. The enemy is following, one warrior stays behind at the bridge or the log, ala Predator, and defends the pass.
Tonight I was reminded of this as I watched Jonathan Papelbon defend the narrow space against the Texas Rangers by throwing some Godawful heat. It was beautiful and something to behold. He came in the eighth inning with one out, bases loaded with a one run lead and shut Texas down with five pitches.
Thomas Jambeck would be proud I remembered something from all his efforts.
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And it was the heart of the Rangers order... Jambeck taught the literature portion of The Bible class we took at UConn didn't he?
Yes he did. He was also my advisor.
Against Young his fastball just kept getting tougher to hit: 94, 96 and 97 mph. Schilling described Pap’s performance in his blog, 38pitches:
"Jon Papelbon was incredible last night. It's not what he did as much as it is how he did it and who he did it against. I'd bet that most GM's in the game would have Michael Young as a guy anyone would love to build a franchise around. I've never heard a negative thing about him on or off the field... He's a throwback who can flat out hit. Very rarely do you see hitters that good get beaten like that, in that situation. Paps stuff is just that good. Some of the sequences they used to finish off the game were outstanding."
There's also a good thread on Papelbon over at RedSoxNation.net. They discuss (among other things) the way he was used the other night. I think it was EXACTLY the way you should use him. You want your best out there in high leverage situations like that.
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