PAPELBON MAKES COLORFUL PITCH TO PHILLIES
CINCINNATI Philadelphia Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon said it’s hard to play “in a losing environment” and urged the front office to trade him to a contender, colorfully adding it was time to “you-know-what or get off the pot.”
“The Phillies have got to make a decision,” Papelbon said Monday to a large group of news reporters during an All-Star Game media session. “You’ve got to go one way or the other. You can’t be in limbo and sit here and say, ‘What if we do this or what if we do that?’ You’ve got to make a decision and go with it.”
Papelbon, 34, is in the last year of a four-year, $50 million contract, but a $13 million option for 2016 vests if he finishes 19 more games.
“If so many people weren’t involved in decision-making in the organization, I think things could happen quicker and easier,” he said. “That’s just my opinion.”
Reunited: Yadier Molina did not hesitate when asked about his his favorite player, promptly answering, “Albert Pujols.”
The two were teammates for eight seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, winning two World Series championships together.
Pujols, who left the Cardinals for the Los Angeles Angels after the 2011 postseason, was so eager to see his pal when he arrived in the Queen City that he woke him up with a 3 a.m. call to inquire about eating together.
But it just so happens Molina, who turned 33 on Monday, has two older brothers — Bengie and Jose — and he remembered them just in the nick of time.
“I can’t leave my brothers out or they’re going to slap me in the head,” Molina said in Spanish, drawing chuckles.
Weather: This All-Star Game already is ahead of the 1988 edition at Riverfront Stadium — the most recent to be played in Cincinnati. That year the Home Run Derby was rained out, and concerns about weather prompted officials to revise the already-revised format of this year’s Derby to speed up the event.
As for Tuesday night’s forecast? Scattered thundershowers and a 60% of rain. That’s nothing new for Reds such as Todd Frazier, who predicted a power show in the Derby thanks to the volatile conditions.
“It seems like this whole year, we’ve been playing in a lot of rain delays,” Frazier says. “Once that goes away, it gets a little humid, and then the ball flies even more.”