Zach Wilt: Jonathan Papelbon's history with the Orioles

Jonathan Papelbon desperately wanted out of Philadelphia for a chance to pitch in October again. The veteran reliever spent seven seasons in Boston with the Red Sox and put together an impressive resume that included pitching in four postseasons and recording the final out of the 2007 World Series. How can anyone forget that riverdance celebration? Things went south in 2011 when the Sox entered the season as the favorites to win the American League after the acquisitions of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford. The Boston Herald featured the Red Sox on the cover of their paper in spring training with the headline "Best Team Ever".

On September 1, all looked good for the "best team ever". Though they narrowly led the AL East, atop the Yankees by half a game, they were nine games ahead of the Rays in the wild card. However, a 7-20 finish in September and dramatic loss in the final game of the season ended up costing Boston a spot in October and made them the only team with a lead that large in the last month of the season to miss the postseason.

Orioles fans remember September 28, 2011 very well. For me, it marked the start of the run that they've been on the past three seasons. It was sort of what sparked that magical 2012 run. After an hour and a half rain delay, the O's were down 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth with Papelbon on the hill to close it out. He recorded two quick strikeouts and looked as though he would pitch the Sox into the postseason despite the September swoon. Then, in a flash, everything changed.

Chris Davis doubled, Nolan Reimold drove him in with a ground-rule double and Robert Andino blooped a single to left that brought in the game-winning run. Papelbon, the impending free agent, ended his time in Boston with the worst collapse in MLB history and it was all at the hands of the pesky Orioles.

That offseason, the Phillies paid Papelbon $61 million to become their closer for the next five seasons. Philadelphia was coming off their fifth straight consecutive playoff berth and were just three years removed from winning the World Series. The City of Brotherly Love seemed to be the perfect fit for Papelbon as the Red Sox unloaded and rebuilt for the future. A .500 finish in 2012 ended up being the Phillies best record during Pap's time there and by early 2015, he was telling the media that he wanted out. "I've always been straightforward that I want to go play for a contender and I'm not going to shy away from it," he said in June of this year.

He got that chance a few weeks later when the Nationals welcomed him to D.C. to close out games for a team that had similar expectations to those of the 2011 Red Sox entering this season. When Papelbon was acquired, the Nats were 42-34 with a 2 1/2-game lead in the National League East. Today, they're 78-73 and are fighting for their lives while attempting to make up ground on the Mets, who lead the East by 6 1/2 games.

With the Mets trailing the Braves last night, the Nationals looked to pick up a game in the division as they led the Orioles 3-2 in the seventh inning. Max Scherzer, who they paid $210 million this offseason, was on the mound with one on, two outs and Manny Machado at the plate. Scherzer challenged Machado with a fastball and paid the price when the O's third basemen launched a go-ahead homer over the center field wall. Just like that, the Nats' chances of picking up a game on the Mets vanished.

Papelbon didn't admit to throwing at Machado on purpose in the ninth last night. Why would he? He'd only subject himself to a fine or suspension, but everyone knows that the frustration had been mounting. I'm not talking about the frustration of last night's game or even of the second half for the Nationals. I'm talking about the frustration of the last four years for Papelbon. Somehow, the Orioles have seemed to be right in the middle of hurting his playoff chances the last two times he's had them.

Zach Wilt blogs about the Orioles at Baltimore Sports Report. Follow him on Twitter: @zach_wilt. His views appear here as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our pages. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.