Funny thing – Goose agrees with me. From the Post:

” Gossage also said it was a “no-brainer” that Mariano Rivera deserved the chance to close the All-Star Game, if the situation had presented itself, because the game was at Yankee Stadium.

“Had it been Fenway it would have been [Jonathan] Papelbon,” he said. “

Pape made a blunder regarding Mariano BUT do Yankee fans have to assault Papelbon and his wife at the parade? That is so disgusting. Fans have every right to boo at the Satdium but telling the guy and his wife things in the parade. This Yankee-Red Sox crap is getting stupid with people getting killed and hurt because of sports? This is really stupid. Yeah, the Rubes in Boston( upscale rubes,but still rubes) would be worse BUT NYC is the capital of the world not some patrician backwater that pretends to be working class like Boston. With all the booing that went on, I’m surprised that Doc Halladay, who is one of the greatest Yankee killers of all time, didn’t get destroyed by the crowd either. The Stadium faithful should have been at least consistent…….

“Papelbon would have coughed up the lead in the ninth instead of the eighth?”

You had a point until that amazingly ignorant statement.

You know, that must be the reason. I’m sure Francona wasn’t thinking about trying to win the game, only about placating Yankee fans – it’s not like WS home field advantage would mean aything to him.

So, you’re saying that if the game were played somewhere else, Papelbon would have coughed up the lead in the ninth instead of the eighth?

I thought so…

Yeah, you must be right.

Of course, Francona never made any reference to the game being played at Yankee Stadium. Nope not a single mention.

Oh yeah, that’s right. HE DID TALK ABOUT WHERE THE GAME IS BEING PLAYED. IN FACT, HE NEVER SAID A DAMN THING ABOUT THE SEASON RIVERA IS HAVING, HE SPOKE ABOUT THE LOCATION, AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MARIANO’S CAREER.

“There is no way that the location of the game wasn’t a major, in fact the predominant reason why Mariano pitched the ninth.”

The only thing stunningly ignorant here is you. Mariano pitched the ninth because he’s having the best year of a stellar career. For you to say anything else was the “predominant reason” is ridiculous and petty – then again, given your team allegiance, that’s not surprising.

Nice fantasy there.

Location meant absolutely nothing – Mo, based on his clearly superior numbers, gets the nod from any manager worth his salt, regardless. To use a guy just because he plays for your team, leaving a superior pitcher on the bench would be stupid.

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Talk about fantasy. Mr. Roarke wouldn’t have arranged the one you describe.

“Location meant absolutely nothing”?
That’s a stunningly ignorant statement. There is no way that the location of the game wasn’t a major, in fact the predominant reason why Mariano pitched the ninth.

>> Without the history and the location, Mo does not close. Paps does. >>

Probably because Francona is just more than a little afraid of what Papelbon would do to him after he fell asleep on the flight home.

Rivera would have been fine with it either way.

“The reason Mariano got the gig is because of his history and the fact that it was at Yankee Stadium.

Take away those factors, and just have Closer A who is having an amazing season and Closer B who is having an excellent season and plays for the manager, you can bet that in a neutral park, Closer B gets the nod.

“Without the history and the location, Mo does not close. Paps does.”

Nice fantasy there.

Location meant absolutely nothing – Mo, based on his clearly superior numbers, gets the nod from any manager worth his salt, regardless. To use a guy just because he plays for your team, leaving a superior pitcher on the bench would be stupid.

Like I said, boorish behavior is inexcusable but I also get a feeling that Papelbon is trying to spin this in his favor after putting his foot in his mouth with the comments he made earlier about Rivera and “blah-blah-blah.”

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Especially if what PeteAbe reported this morning was true…that Mariano said last night that Francona (via Girardi) told him three days ago he was going to close, and that, presumably, Papelbon knew it too.