Papelbon Says His Pregnant Wife Had Her 'Life Threatened' at Red Carpet Parade

The only thing sillier about the All-Star Game (excluding Alfonso Soriano picking his nose) than actually having an hour-long red carpet parade was that Yankee fans got into a veritable froth over hearing that Jonathan Papelbon, the Red Sox closer, wanted the ball in the ninth inning so he could *gasp* close the game. You know, instead of Mariano Rivera.

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Of course, all of that became a hell of a lot less funny when Papelbon told the press that he and his wife were uncomfortable during the pregame ceremonies, to the point that insults from fans felt life threatening.

"I feel like I needed to be in a bullet-proof car," Papelbon said, according to the Web site. "My wife is pregnant and she's getting her life threatened. It's stupid."

[...]Papelbon told MLB.com that he was so disturbed by the parade incident that he didn't even care if he pitched on Tuesday.

"Your family gets involved like that and you're trying to enjoy an experience with your family, and you have a wife who's pregnant who doesn't feel safe riding in a red-carpet event, you know what I mean? How would you feel?" Papelbon said, according to MLB.com.

That's what you call keeping it classy Yankee fans. Threatening a pregnant woman because her husband wants to do his job. It really is a great way to celebrate the rich history of Yankee Stadium.

He said he would like to close. That's what he does. I've prattled about this ridiculous rivalry before, so I don't want to go off on another rant about the need for Red Sox and Yankees fans to take a step back and evaluate what's actually important, but seriously, grow up. There's nothing cool about death threats on pregnant women.

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