Overlooked by us initially in the quest to name Joe West an American Hero for calling out the Red Sox and Yankees for playing such ridiculously long games (Derek Jeter once finished a game in fewer than 3 hours #thelegendcontinues) was a gem of a quote from Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon during spring training.
During spring training, Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon told WEEI.com: "Have you ever gone to watch a movie and thought, 'Man, this movie is so good I wish it would have never ended.' That's like a Red Sox-Yankees game. Why would you want it to end?"
He added: "If you don't want to be there, don't be there. Go home. Why are you complaining. I'm not going to sit somewhere I don't want to be. If you go to a movie or any entertainment event and you like it, you're going to stay and watch and you're not going to want it to end. If you don't, then you won't. Why is it such a big deal?"
Hey Jonathan: We loved Kill Bill. But we're really glad they chopped it into two movies -- you know, two movies that, when added up (111 minutes for Volume 1 and 136 minutes for Volume 2, a total of 4 hours and 7 minutes) were only 20 minutes shorter than the average time of the first two Sox/Yanks game this year (3:46 and 3:48).
We love baseball. But slow play is agonizing and there is never a time we'd prefer a well-played 4-hour game to a well-played 3-hour game. Pick it up and shut your mouth.
Papelbon's quote just makes us more angry every time we read it. It's probably time to check out for the weekend.
