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Boston Red Sox: Ranking the top 10 players from the 2000s

By Drew Athans

DENVER - OCTOBER 28: The Boston Red Sox celebrate after winning Game Four by a score of the 4-3 to win the 2007 Major League Baseball World Series in a four game sweep of the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on October 28, 2007 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
DENVER - OCTOBER 28: The Boston Red Sox celebrate after winning Game Four by a score of the 4-3 to win the 2007 Major League Baseball World Series in a four game sweep of the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on October 28, 2007 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /
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BALTIMORE, MD – SEPTEMBER 27: Relief pitcher Jonathan Papelbon #58 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates getting the last out against the Baltimore Orioles during the Red Sox 8-7 win at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 27, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD – SEPTEMBER 27: Relief pitcher Jonathan Papelbon #58 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates getting the last out against the Baltimore Orioles during the Red Sox 8-7 win at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 27, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

Jonathan Papelbon

The Red Sox have had their fair share of characters throughout the years and Jonathan Papelbon is no exception. The big righthander was drafted in 2003 and made his debut with the big league club on July 31, 2005. While he saw limited action that season, in 2006 he began his run as the team’s closer. He’d spend until the end of the 2011 season with the team before leaving in free agency.

From 2006 to 2010, Papelbon was one of the best closers in the game and an integral part of the 2007 World Series champions. During those years, he logged a 19-18 W-L record, a 1.75 ERA, 422 strikeouts, and 188 saves in 365 innings. He was also fantastic in the 2007 postseason, winning a game in the ALDS, saving one in the ALCS, and three in the World Series. His cumulative ERA during those three series was 0.00 and he struck out seven while walking four across 10.2 total innings.

Fans will also remember Papelbon dancing an Irish jig with an empty beer carton on his head on the field and on top of the dugout after the Red Sox won the ALCS as well as exuberantly throwing his glove in the air after getting the final strikeout in the 2007 World Series. Papelbon was certainly a character but he was also a great closer, the best the Red Sox had in the 2000s.

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