Background and career
Jonathan Robert Papelbon (; born November 23, 1980) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably for the Boston Red Sox, with whom he was an All-Star in four consecutive seasons (2006–2009), won the 2007 Delivery Man of the Year Award, and was a 2007 World Series champion. The Red Sox drafted Papelbon in the fourth round of the 2003 Major League Baseball draft, and he played three seasons of minor league baseball before breaking into the majors. He also pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies from 2012 to 2015, and the Washington Nationals during 2015 and 2016.
Jonathan Robert Papelbon was born on November 23, 1980, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He is the oldest son of three to John, a staff sergeant in the United States Army, and Sheila, a corporate trust banker. In college, Sheila had been a pitcher for the softball team at Louisiana State University, and all of her children grew up to become baseball pitchers. Papelbon attended Bishop Kenny High School in Jacksonville, Florida, where he was a standout first baseman for the school baseball team. He was named All-City for three consecutive years, and during his senior year in 1999, Papelbon batted .336 with five home runs and 27 runs batted in (RBI). He pitched only occasionally, but threw two no-hitters that same year.
In his senior year of high school, Papelbon committed to play college baseball for Mississippi State University. Papelbon was a closer for the Mississippi State Bulldogs and had a 9–6 record with 13 saves and 2.90 ERA in his three years on the team. During his time at MSU, the Bulldogs appeared in the 2001 and 2003 NCAA tournaments and won the 2001 SEC tournament. During the summer after his freshman year, Papelbon played with the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts in suburban D.C., a summertime collegiate baseball team then in the Clark Griffith Collegiate Baseball League (now in the Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League). During the subsequent summers of his college career Papelbon played for the Danville Dans, a summer baseball team in Danville, Illinois. Soon after arriving in Danville, he led the team to a CICL championship. In the 2002 MLB draft, the Oakland Athletics selected Papelbon with a 40th-round draft pick. The team was taking a chance with the pick in the hopes that Papelbon would agree to leave Mississippi State after his junior year, but Athletics scouting director Eric Kubota said Papelbon was firm in his decision to return to school. Papelbon graduated from Mississippi State in 2003.
Papelbon was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the fourth round of the 2003 Major League Baseball draft. Papelbon began his minor league career as a starting pitcher for the Lowell Spinners of the New York–Penn League. In 13 games (six started), he had a 1–2 record, a 6.34 ERA, 43 hits, 36 strikeouts, and 9 walks in 32+2⁄3 innings pitched. After a 13–10 record for Class-A Lowell Spinners and Sarasota Red Sox from 2003 to 2004, Papelbon was 5–2 in 14 starts for Double-A Portland in 2005. Promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket, he went 1–2 with a 3.57 ERA in four starts, walking two and striking out 21 in 221⁄3 innings.
Papelbon made his major league debut with the Red Sox on July 31, 2005, against the Minnesota Twins, in which he went 51⁄3 innings, struck out seven batters and issued five walks in Boston's 4–3 victory. He did not receive a decision. Papelbon earned his first major league win on September 12, pitching three scoreless innings in an extra-inning game against the Toronto Blue Jays. In two postseason appearances in 2005, he pitched four scoreless innings against the eventual World Series Champion Chicago White Sox. The Red Sox had plans of slotting Papelbon into their starting rotation prior to the regular season in 2006. However, the incumbent closer, Keith Foulke, proved to be ineffective trying to come back from an injury-plagued 2005.
In April 2006, Papelbon changed his hair to a Mohawk style, after Charlie Sheen's character Ricky Vaughn from the film Major League due to a wager with teammate Kevin Youkilis in which they bet whether he could start the season with 10 scoreless innings. On April 5, the third game of the 2006 season, Papelbon recorded his first career save, against the Texas Rangers. On April 29, he set a major league record with his 10th save, against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, becoming the first rookie in major league history to record double-digit saves in the month of April. He subsequently received the Delivery Man of the Month Award for April. In early September, Papelbon injured his shoulder. When the Red Sox were eliminated from playoff contention, he was shut down for the remainder of the season to rest. The team considered using Papelbon as a starter due to his shoulder problems, but he was moved back to the bullpen before the start of the 2007 season and remained the team's closer. Papelbon in 2006 saved 35 games, struck out 75 batters in 68 innings, and held opposing batters to a .167 batting average.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
