Jonathan Papelbon Talked Out of Plan to Wear "Obama Can't Ban These Guns" Shirt to Apology Presser

When Jonathan Papelbon choked Bryce Harper in a September game last year, it signaled the end of a profoundly disappointing season for the Nationals, and appeared to do the same for the closer’s tenure in Washington. However, with a new regime under Dusty Baker, and a lack of palatable alternatives, the Nationals have brought back the combustible closer for another go-round.

In a Washington Post column where Thomas Boswell opines that bringing Papelbon back is either the “best idea or the worst,” comes this nugget:

"Later, he walked the Nats’ complex in a cut-off muscle T-shirt with arrows pointing to big biceps covered in jagged tattoos. The shirt said: “Obama Can’t Ban These Guns.” Pap wanted to wear that shirt to the “apology press conference,” but he was talked out of it."

The “apology press conference” refers to Friday, when Papelbon addressed the clubhouse incident from last season, but said that would be the last time he answered for it this year. However it shakes out with Papelbon in Washington this season, it won’t be boring to observe.