Jonathan Papelbon Learned These Important Lessons From 2004 Red Sox

Former Red Sox pitcher Jonathan Papelbon will always identify with Boston because it was the first team he came up with in professional baseball. He also learned a lot from the 2004 World Series team.

On NESN’s alternate Red Sox broadcast “Unobstructed Views” on Tuesday night, Papelbon, who was drafted by Boston in 2003 and made his big league debut two years later, detailed what the championship team meant to him.

“To me, Johnny Damon, (Kevin) Millar, Trot (Nixon), (Curt Schilling) … for me, I looked up to those guys,” Papelbon said. “Those were the guys that I wanted to carry on and be like when they left.”

Papelbon went on to talk about how Schilling taught him how to throw a split-finger fastball. Millar and Nixon helped him become a big leaguer and how to handle himself on the day-to-day.

The late Tim Wakefield also taught him a lot and going to his funeral reunited the 2004 Red Sox.

“You see all those guys back, and I mean there were tons of guys back,” Papelbon said. “We got to talking about how those were the times where kind of just are families grew up together, just such a tight-knit group of guys.”

The second alternate Red Sox broadcast can be watched next Tuesday with host Jared Carrabis. The broadcast will be for the Miami Marlins game at loanDepot Park.