Rocky Balboa is a beloved figure in Philadelphia. Jonathan Papelbon most certainly is not.
The vocal closer once again rankled his old teammates with comments he made on Monday prior to a series between the Nats and Phillies. The series marked Papelbon’s first time facing his old team since being traded to Washington in late July.
“I’m not going to take anything back that I’ve ever said or did because I believe that it’s right,” Papelbon said Monday via Todd Zolecki. “I don’t know if I got a bad rap here or whatever, but I can promise you I was far (from) the bad guy on this team. I was one of the few that wanted to actually win and I was one of the few that competed and posted up every day.”
Shortly after being traded, Papelbon said he became the “scapegoat” for the Phillies, who went from winning 102 games the year before he signed with the team to becoming a bottom feeder in the NL East.
Papelbon did not list any specific players he felt did not actually want to win, but he did note that the team’s leadership said they didn’t plan to win until 2017 or 2018. That’s a big part of the reason why he kept begging the team to trade him.
Papelbon might not be incorrect about the things he says. The problem is that continually opening his mouth the way he does doesn’t exactly do wonders for team chemistry.
