Philadelphia Phillies: Changing the Culture with Jonathan Papelbon

Love it or hate it, it’s a done deal. Jonathan Papelbon will be closing games for the Philadelphia Phillies starting on Opening Day 2012. Though the signing ranks among the most polarizing decisions made by the front office in recent memory, the $50 million reliever will now be firing fastballs in the City of Brotherly Love.

Papelbon is no homegrown kid, spending his entire career at the back end of the bullpen at Fenway Park for the Red Sox. The closer is not the prototypical clubhouse leader that adds to the team’s renowned jovial team atmosphere – one of the reasons he has not been readily embraced.

Phillies’ fans shouldn’t be expecting a Hunter Pence-like warmth when he does suit up in 2012, and won’t be getting the humility they’ve seen with veterans Chase Utley or Roy Halladay. After throwing the very qualities that the city typically embraces out with Papelbon’s personality, why would the crowds at Citizens Bank Park even want the prized reliever representing their club?

Locked and loaded with six years of ninth-inning success and his colorful attitude, Papelbon is here to bring home a championship. Since their run in 2008, Philadelphia has maintained one of the most desirable locker rooms in sports, assembling groups of players that truly gel as team.

In the years following their second title in franchise history, not once has that tight-knit crew brought home a World Series trophy, falling shorter with each passing year.

It would be unfair to say that the Philadelphia Phillies have been a failure over the past three seasons, but the hardware isn’t there to prove otherwise. After all, a favorable team atmosphere can’t nail down the final outs in a critical playoff game.

Think back to the apprehension felt when Brad Lidge entered in Game 4 of the 2009 World Series.  Recording the first two outs in the ninth inning seemed too good to be true. As it turns out, it was. The runs surrendered by the shaky reliever cost the team a chance to even the series against the New York Yankees, sending the team into a 3-1 hole.

Imagine if the team was able to trot out a guaranteed shutdown in Game 6 of the 2010 NLCS when Juan Uribe homered off of Ryan Madson to effectively end the Phillies’ run to another chance at glory. Instead of lamenting the missed opportunities that have cost the club dearly over the past three postseasons, General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. set out to change the culture.

Reeling in the big prize on the reliever market won’t divide the clubhouse or handcuff the growing payroll to restrict filling more pressing needs. What it does accomplish, however, is adding a proven winner to a mix of players that have only known early defeat since the start of 2009.

With six 30-save seasons on his résumé to go along with a World Series-clinching strikeout, Papelbon knows what it’s like to win consistently – a feeling that a youthful Phillies’ bullpen needs after turning to several rookies in 2011.

Pap’s impact will be felt more immediately than veteran experience when he joins the team in the spring, replacing a first-year closer in Madson. In extending the large offer to the former Red Sox reliever, Amaro Jr. has upgraded to a steadier late-game choice.

Given the team’s history with back-end arms over the past decade, that should be more than enough for the fans in Philadelphia. Papelbon follows a revolving door of arms that has sent washed-up veterans, inexperienced rookies, and converted starters to finish games in the last ten years.

So if you’re a baseball fan still in awe of the eye-popping figures that were agreed upon by a suddenly free-spending Phillies’ front office, hold your judgments on both the man and the worth of the contract.

If the team receives anything close to what they’re paying for on the diamond, expect to see the saves pile up for Papelbon through 2015.

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