Paps to the 'Pen, and Other Homecomings

Red Sox rookie phenom closer has laid claim to Boston's ninth innings as long as we'll give them to him. The Globe has it:

[Jonathan Papelbon] said he hasn't been able to sleep this spring because he wanted to close and finally told Francona of his desire on the field prior to Tuesday night's exhibition game. "I walked into Tito's office and said, 'If you want to give me the ball in the ninth, I want it,'" Papelbon said today... "This is something I'd like to do the rest of my career. Forget about starting. Go out (as a closer), chase records and hopefully do for the Red Sox what Mariano Rivera does for the Yankees."

This makes the Red Sox bullpen so much better. Julian Tavarez goes to the rotation, with Jon Lester and Kason Gabbard backing him up from Pawtucket, and the bullpen has more flexibility using its stable of arms, including Joel Pineiro, Brendan Donnelly, Mike Timlin (DL for now), Hideki Okajima, Manny Delcarmen, J.C. Romero and Kyle Snyder (at least until Timlin comes back).

I'm home in Boston, and enjoyed running up and down the Great Blue Hill looking for my absent-minded little sister, who had drifted off the trail to muck around in a stream. That's my sis!