Papelbon and Kendrick Meet in Classic Confrontation

It is what you call earning a save.

Jonathan Papelbon came into a 5-3 game with two out in the bottom of the eighth. Terry Francona just had a hunch he would be better off going with his ace right hander against Vladimir Guerrero. Good call, as Vladdy flied to left.

Papelbon has been next to perfect against the Angels over the past few years. He has gone 18 innings without giving up a run. And now we go to the 9th in Anaheim and the big guy is going to have to earn the save. Hunter leads off. The best of Anaheim is coming to the plate, but Torri electrifies the crowd of 30,000 by leading off the bottom of the ninth with a Home Run off Papelbon. That just does not happen to Paps. It gets worse, as Kendry Morales, a Cuban defector, finally getting a full chance to play at first for the Angels, ropes a line drive double off the right field wall. The tying run is now at second with no one out.

This is what closing is all about. Juan Rivera grounds to shortstop, and the runner holds. But Mike Napoli is now the batter, and he already has two homers this afternoon. The tension builds. Paps has an open base. He pitches around Naps. He walks and Aybar, a light hitting SS is now up. But a slap hit is all he needs to tie the game and ruin Papelbon’s streak of perfection. The big guy fans Aybar, but promptly gets into more trouble by walking Chone Figgins to load the bases.

The game is now on the line. It is 5-4, the bases are loaded, Hit Man Howie Kendrick comes to the plate and Johnathan Papelbon, already 30 pitches into his relief stint, uncorks some 95 mph heat, going ahead of Kendrick 0-2. Papelbon refuses to waste a pitch. He comes back with in zone smoke for the next three pitches and Kendrick fouls them all off. The count remains 0-2. And Paps reaches back, Kendrick reaches in, and he fouls off the next pitch. And the next. And the next. And the next. And you look up and suddenly realize a classic confrontation is unfolding.

With an 0-2 count, Kendrick has now fouled off six consecutive 95 plus mile per hour fastballs. Says the announcer “he wants to win or lose the game on his best stuff.” But surprise, the next pitch is off speed. And it too is topped foul. Paps comes back with heat, and Kendrick sizzles one down the line, just foul. 8 in a row. 8 strikes. 8 fouls. All with the game in the balance. The tension has gone beyond peaking.

Two more times Papelbon reaches back and two more times Kendrick fouls the ball off sharply. On the thirteenth pitch of the at bat, after two strikes and ten foul balls, Kendrick makes fair contact. He scorches a line drive to the right fielder. It is right at him. He catches the ball. The game is over. The fans let out a huge sigh. Papelbon and the Red Sox have prevailed, barely, over the Angels once again. Barely.

If you are a fantasy fan, you go to the play by play, and it will read of this classic confrontation, a battle that earned World Series drama, that captivated thousands of fans, it will read in the play by play that:

“ Kendrick flied to right.”

That is all it will say. And you will understand how reading a box score or a play by play may tell you nothing at all about the game or the battle that Howie Kendrick and Jonathan Papelbon had last night, which they will each remember for years. Baseball players do remember moments like these, and though they may not be a fantasy stat, it’s a memory the athletes treasure.