Jonathan Papelbon

It was raining outside on a recent weekday, so the Phillies pitchers played with their new toys. Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Chad Qualls flew tiny remote-controlled airplanes through the clubhouse. Jonathan Papelbon sat at his locker and quietly watched. Then he opened a massive box that contained something called the AR.Drone, a flying quadricopter that retails for $299.99. Everyone stopped looking at the smaller toys. Papelbon, the man who stipulated his contract include an extra $58 in addition to the guaranteed $50 million, directed the copter with his iPhone as the joystick.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Boston Red Sox will be back at Citizens Bank Park on Friday night for another interleague series that the Phillies always deem special enough to sell as a separate ticket package. Late last June when the Red Sox came to town, the games were billed by many as a World Series preview: Boston's high-powered offense against the Phillies' star-studded starting rotation. At the time, the Phillies had the best record in baseball, and the Red Sox had recovered from a 2-10 start to move within a half-game of the New York Yankees in the American League East.

IT TURNED OUT to be a good bullpen night: Antonio Bastardo got two strikeouts in the eighth inning and Chad Qualls followed him and got the third out, surviving a line drive that was caught by Hunter Pence in rightfield. Then Jonathan Papelbon — warming up in a save situation — still pitched the ninth after Placido Polanco's home run turned it into a non-save situation. But it was one night. And, well, put it this way: if the Phillies expect to do any damage in October, they will need to acquire a power bat and fix their bullpen.

Jonathan Papelbon conceded that this weekend's series with the Boston Red Sox had extra meaning. How could it not? Before signing a four-year, $50 million free-agent deal with the Phillies in the offseason, Papelbon had spent his entire career with the Red Sox organization. A four-time all-star, he had 37 saves for the 2007 World Series champions. In six full seasons and part of another with the Red Sox, Papelbon recorded 219 saves. He was the fastest to record 200 saves in major-league history, taking 352 games.

PITTSBURGH - Closers are different. That is a fact acknowledged by everyone who has ever set foot in a baseball clubhouse. What's amazing is that they can be different in so many different ways. "He's typical, I guess," Roy Halladay said Thursday after he combined with new closer Jonathan Papelbon to blank the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Phillies' 1-0 opening-day victory at PNC Park. Halladay meant that Papelbon was typical because he has proven to be every bit as different as every closer he has met during his well-decorated career.

Here is the Phillies' press release annoucing the signing of closer Jonathan Papelbon: Right-hander Jonathan Papelbon has signed a four-year, $50,000,058 million contract with the Phillies, Senior Vice President & General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. announced today. The contract includes a vesting option for 2016. Papelbon, 30, went 4-1 with 31 saves and a 2.94 ERA in 63 appearances this past season with the Boston Red Sox. He had a career-best 87 strikeouts in 64.1 innings (12.2 SO/9.

THE OAKLAND Athletics traded All-Star closer Andrew Bailey and outfielder Ryan Sweeney to Boston yesterday for outfielder Josh Reddick and prospects Miles Head and Raul Alcantara. In the deal, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine found a reliable ninth-inning guy to replace Jonathan Papelbon , who left for the Phillies as a free agent. Bailey - the 2009 AL Rookie of the Year who made the All-Star team that season and again in 2010 - is from Haddon Heights, N.J. The righthander, 27, went 0-4 with a 3.24 ERA and 24 saves in 41 2/3 innings this year.

WELL BEFORE the Phillies signed Jonathan Papelbon to a $50 million deal, they reached out former Phillies closer Billy Wagner, the retired reliever told the New York Post. "It was after the regular season . . . just to see if I was even contemplating coming back or had an itch or anything," Wagner said. "I just told them, 'No, I do not have an itch.' " Wagner retired after spending the 2010 season with Atlanta. He was 8-3 with a 1.86 ERA and recorded 59 saves with the Phillies in 2004 and '05 before signing with the Mets in free agency.

If you think Yankees-Red Sox games are interminable, you're not alone. SI.com and the MLB Network broke down Sunday night's glacial 10-inning Red Sox victory and confirmed what everybody knew. SI.com found that, in selected innings, Boston's Josh Beckett averaged 23 seconds between pitches with nobody on and 43 seconds with runners. He once took 59 seconds between pitches to Eric Chavez . The rules say a pitcher must deliver a pitch within 12 seconds with no one on, or a ball is added to the count.

Billy Wagner is on his way to the Boston Red Sox, leaving the Mets for the chance to pitch in a pennant race as a setup man for All-Star closer Jonathan Papelbon. After a few days of back-and-forth talks, the Mets traded the lefthanded reliever yesterday for two players-to-be-named. The AL wild-card leaders had claimed Wagner on waivers, and the teams worked out a deal that persuaded the former Phillies closer to waive his no-trade clause. Wagner's main motivation, according to agent Bean Stringfellow, was his "overwhelming desire to pitch in a pennant race.

Jonathan Papelbon conceded that this weekend's series with the Boston Red Sox had extra meaning. How could it not? Before signing a four-year, $50 million free-agent deal with the Phillies in the offseason, Papelbon had spent his entire career with the Red Sox organization. A four-time all-star, he had 37 saves for the 2007 World Series champions. In six full seasons and part of another with the Red Sox, Papelbon recorded 219 saves. He was the fastest to record 200 saves in major-league history, taking 352 games.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Boston Red Sox will be back at Citizens Bank Park on Friday night for another interleague series that the Phillies always deem special enough to sell as a separate ticket package. Late last June when the Red Sox came to town, the games were billed by many as a World Series preview: Boston's high-powered offense against the Phillies' star-studded starting rotation. At the time, the Phillies had the best record in baseball, and the Red Sox had recovered from a 2-10 start to move within a half-game of the New York Yankees in the American League East.

It was raining outside on a recent weekday, so the Phillies pitchers played with their new toys. Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Chad Qualls flew tiny remote-controlled airplanes through the clubhouse. Jonathan Papelbon sat at his locker and quietly watched. Then he opened a massive box that contained something called the AR.Drone, a flying quadricopter that retails for $299.99. Everyone stopped looking at the smaller toys. Papelbon, the man who stipulated his contract include an extra $58 in addition to the guaranteed $50 million, directed the copter with his iPhone as the joystick.

IT TURNED OUT to be a good bullpen night: Antonio Bastardo got two strikeouts in the eighth inning and Chad Qualls followed him and got the third out, surviving a line drive that was caught by Hunter Pence in rightfield. Then Jonathan Papelbon — warming up in a save situation — still pitched the ninth after Placido Polanco's home run turned it into a non-save situation. But it was one night. And, well, put it this way: if the Phillies expect to do any damage in October, they will need to acquire a power bat and fix their bullpen.

ATLANTA - Around 9:15 Tuesday night, Antonio Bastardo tugged on his cap and climbed on the mound that helped vault him into prominence. You remember that game, don't you? It was 13 months ago, April 8 at Turner Field, the Phillies trailing 6-3 in the top of the sixth, the game destined to end in a garden-variety, early-season loss. In terms of leverage and pressure, it was one of the more inconsequential appearances Bastardo would log last season. But when you consider the impact it had on the evolution of the Phillies' bullpen, it meant everything.

Jonathan Papelbon is being paid more than any closer in baseball history, but he never left the bullpen during the Phillies' two walk-off losses to Pittsburgh. Then he pitched the ninth inning of a 6-2 defeat to Miami on Monday and allowed an Austin Kearns home run in an otherwise forgettable outing. Charlie Manuel, and just about every single manager in baseball, plays those decisions by the book. If the road team is tied or losing, the closer stays in the bullpen until he has a lead to save.

Jubilant fans were flourishing brooms in Tampa on Sunday as the Rays completed a three-game, season-opening sweep of The Evil Empire, also known as the Yankees. Carlos Pena, back in the Bay after a one-season exile to Chicago, feasted on Yankees' pitching, going 6 for 10 with a pair of homers - including a grand slam - and seven RBIs in the sweep. But the folks in the stands - more than 30,000 showed up in a city fabled for ignoring its baseball team - need to remember this: the last time the Yankees started 0-3 was 1998, when they went on to win a major- league record 114 games.

PITTSBURGH - Closers are different. That is a fact acknowledged by everyone who has ever set foot in a baseball clubhouse. What's amazing is that they can be different in so many different ways. "He's typical, I guess," Roy Halladay said Thursday after he combined with new closer Jonathan Papelbon to blank the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Phillies' 1-0 opening-day victory at PNC Park. Halladay meant that Papelbon was typical because he has proven to be every bit as different as every closer he has met during his well-decorated career.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Both Cole Hamels and Jonathan Papelbon pitched in the Phillies' spring-training opener on Saturday with the subtext of free agency looming over their seasons. For Hamels, it's what he will do - entering a market this offseason in which he's the elite starting pitcher available. For Papelbon, it's what he did do - setting the market during the winter by signing with the Phillies for the most money any closer has ever received. Both were strong in their season debuts.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - After Cole Hamels pitched his first two innings of the spring Saturday, he walked to the Bright House Field bullpen. He only needed 25 pitches against the Yankees and his day of throwing called for 40 total. So there was work left to do. The bullpen is adjacent to Frenchy's tiki bar, where heat and beverages conspire for debauchery. "I think they're having a good time up there," Hamels said. But then he noticed something else. "The Yankee fans were real nice for some reason," Hamels said.