In a bizarre set of circumstances, I got a "save" from Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon yesterday.

I hailed a taxi to take me to Fenway Park and happened to notice a cellphone lying on the seat next to me.

"Excuse me," I said to the cabbie, "But I think your previous passenger left his cellphone here."

"Oh my God!" he exclaimed. "He a ballplayer!"

"A ballplayer?" I said. "Was he with the Yankees?"

"No, no, he with the Red Sox," he replied.

"Did you get his name?"

"It was a long, funny name," he said, "beginning with a 'P.'"

"Papelbon?" I said.

"Yeah, yeah, That's him."

"Don't worry," I said. "I'm a sportswriter. I can get the phone back to him."

When I got to Fenway, the clubhouses weren't open yet so I headed up to the press box. As I was setting up my laptop, Papelbon's phone rang.

"Hello," I said, "Is that you, Jon?"

"Yeah," said the voice on the other end, "Who's this?"

"This is Bill Madden," I said, "with the Daily News in New York. I've got your phone as you can see. You left it in the cab that I took the ballpark."

"No way?" Papelbon said. "What a relief. I can't thank you enough."

"No problem," I said. "Just give me credit for a save."

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2007/09/17/2007-09-17_news_madden_finds_papelbons_cell_phone_i.html