Jonathan Papelbon is still relatively young, but has obviously already made a name for himself as a premiere pitcher in baseball. That rep, combined with an equal level of skill and a fiery personality, usually lets him get away with saying anything he wants.

And that outspokenness, in turn, attracts the cameras. And perhaps the heinous red shades you’ll see in the video. But mostly the cameras. Comcast has such cameras, and they asked Papelbon to appear on them recently and talk about Manny Ramirez, which, as you can guess, was tons of fun for everyone involved.

You can watch the whole video, which is quite entertaining and which I recommend, right after the jump.

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I had some fun seats right behind the left field wall (no, not the bleachers) for the MLB All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium - which served as my live blog perch throughout the evening.

Thank goodness they weren’t anything like this. (Isn’t it brand new?)

Tuffy and S2N have mostly covered all that there is to cover about the game. But I did want to chime in on Jonathan Papelbon claiming his pregnant wife’s life was threatened during the pregame parade yesterday.

(Paps, pregnant wife not too concerned about smears here?)

I happened to be 10 feet from Papelbon for about 30 minutes, during most of his time on the parade route, and I didn’t hear anyone saying such things. Read more…

Just got back from the red carpet MLB All Star Game parade down sixth avenue here in New York:

Highlight of the parade for me was the fans mercilessly booing Bosox reliever Jonathan Papelbon. Of course, the Yankee fans were responding to Papelbon’s demand to be the American League’s closer for tonight’s All-Star game - over Yankee relief legend Mariano Rivera. Papelbon tried to have fun with it, as you can see him gesturing to the crowd here:

That reception wasn’t entirely unexpected, but the response to a high profile Yankee player in the same parade was. Read more…

Brooks is punchy about partying over at the Playboy Mansion tonight.

• Is Ron Artest willing to give up a few bucks so he can gain an NBA title? “Not in a million years.”

• A modeling agency wants to turn seven LPGAers into real lookers.

• Would it have been too much trouble for Mark Buehrle to pony up for Dad’s plane ticket so he could see his son’s 1,000th MLB career strikeout?

• Jonathan Papelbon briefs us about the state of his stinky underwear.

• Michael Strahan starts his network analyzing early, saying that ex-Giants teammate Jeremy Shockey has got to go.

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Recent installment of Jonathan Papelbon’s weekly video visit on Comcast Sportsnet.

Did Roberto Clemente profoundly predict his own untimely demise?

• Jonathan Papelbon & Manny Del Carmen sure know how to cheer up the rain-soaked faithful at Fenway Park.

• Jerry Manuel helps ease the pain of George Carlin’s passing.

• This minor league ballgirl is leaps & bounds above the rest.

• Big Brown’s big Belmont loss? Gotta be the horseshoes.

• Your next host of the Olympic Games - Birmingham, Alabama?

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This has a little age on it, but FAN IQ records Jonathan Papelbon and Manny Del Carmen’s “remix” video of Milli Vanilli’s “Blame it On the Rain” - which appeared on the JumboTron during a Red Sox rain delay last Friday:

Ah, Jonathan Papelbon. From your crazy jigs to accepting nudie photos from fans near the bullpen, to teaching your teammates how to play craps, you never fail to amuse us and give me blog fodder.

This is what happens during a rain delay at Fenway, as fans were treated to a video of Papelbon and Manny Delcarmen getting their Rob and Fab on, cranking out a remix of Milli Vanilli’s “Blame It On The Rain” while waiting for play to resume between the Red Sox and Cardinals (video thanks to the BOSTON GLOBE’S EXTRA BASES blog.)

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In my drive from Miami to Los Angeles, I’m not even halfway home yet, as I come to you today from lovely Lake Charles, Louisiana. I’m hoping to make it to El Paso tonight, if I can effectively steer clear of the thousands of Taco Cabanas and Whataburgers that I”ll encounter along the way.

Being on the road, you never realize how much you miss tomatoes until you eat fast food every meal. If the Mexicans start pooping in liquid cheese too, I’ll soon be shorting Taco Bell stock.

Also on the subject of fast food, I live mostly now on the west coast, so Hardees is off my radar screen. But it seems every other billboard driving through the South pimps the chain’s “Thickburger”. Who’s the marketing wizard who came up with that name?

As bad a name as that is, Hardees could still save face with an ad campaign featuring Reggie Bush’s favorite menu item. With the chain owned by Carls, Jr., which has featured plenty of sexually-charged commercial spots, it’s probably only a matter of time.

Speaking of liquid cheese, my crummy diet has me a little concerned about my newly-expanded waistline. So thank goodness I spotted this in SBD today, “Boxer Laila Ali, who is six-months pregnant, will be featured in a global print and TV campaign for Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula stretch mark products. Ads are slated to run on broadcast outlets and in major magazines in the fall.”

Laila Ali for stretch marks products? How that endorsement opportunity eluded Buster Douglas lo these many years remains a mystery

Or at the very least, a product placement pop in the latest Will Ferrell vehicle?

Here’s to all the folks in FL, MS, LA and TX for helping keep my speed down. That’s mainly thanks to discriminating locals driving cars that look exactly like those used by State Troopers. How can Ford and GM be struggling so when all those factory-fresh Crown Vics are flying off the lots from Lafayette to Lake Charles?

I’d like to ask the good folks at Hilton and Marriott a question. How are you able to keep your hotel rooms clean, as it seems all your maids only camp outside my room all morning - every morning. On the bright side, I’ve absolutely nailed the Spanish words for “toilet brush“.

From this week’s Comcast SportsNet appearance by Jonathan Papelbon - as the Bosox closer talked about the Devil Rays (1:35 in) (video after the jump): Read more…

• ESPN anchors Josh Elliott & Stan Verrett really enjoyed the amusing moniker we bestowed upon new free agent Gilbert Arenas:

Mucho gracias to AWFUL ANNOUNCING for the video.

• Darren Rovell of CNBC reads up on mortal enemies Buzz Bissinger & Will Leitch giving back-cover kudos on the same book.

• WITH LEATHER punches up video of the groin hit to end all groin hits.

• DEADSPIN trades word that Jonathan Papelbon & the Red Sox will give you autographed baseballs in return for nude pics of your ex-wife.

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