To Papi, Manny, and the Other 102 Cons, Cheating Is Cheating Is Cheating

There has been no shortage of stories about yesterday's shocking, yet not so shocking news, regarding Red Sox slugger David Ortiz and former Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez. Many of my friends and fans reached out to me, inquiring how I felt on the subject.

I'm flattered by the thought that so many of my friends think of me and the Red Sox in the same grouping of brain cells like some psychoanalytical game of free association.

As a die hard and passionate fan of the Boston nine, I suppose many thought that I would defend my boy and minimize the impact that yesterday's "non-news" has on my team.

I certainly did not suffer from a shortage of opinions when my arch nemesis Alex Rodriguez' name was leaked (see my story A-Rod's Not My Hero, My Son is My Hero) as a card carrying member of baseball's infamous list.

Nor did I refrain from sharing my thoughts about the village idiot, Manny Ramirez (see When a Character Lacks Character), when he tested positive for PED earlier this season and was subsequently suspended for 50 games.

I chose long ago to remain a wide-eyed little boy when it comes to the sport I love. Some say I suffer from a strong case of Peter Pan syndrome and simply want to remain a child forever. "Call it as you see it", he says as he drinks from his Sponge Bob Square Pants coffee mug.

From the first time I threw a bat on my shoulder and heard the sound of raw-hide hitting wood, I loved baseball. That will never change.

Some of the characters who play the sport have acted in an irresponsible manner for their own personal gain, but it doesn't change the way I feel about the sport or my team. It does, however, change the way I feel about the player.

The championships don't get asterisks and the Curse isn't magically reinstated. I haven't burned my Papi shirt and haven't ordered my case of Wrecking Balm to fade away my two Sox tats.

I'm not mad at my team and I don't love them any less. I'm simply saddened and disappointed that humankind cheats to win.

Anyone who knows me well or who has become a fan of my writing would know that I am passionate in my beliefs. I'm not afraid to get up on my soap box and scream to anyone who listens about my beliefs on right vs. wrong.

The crime didn't occur yesterday, it occurred almost a decade ago. In my mind, not only is Ortiz and Manny guilty, but so are the others on the list, the commissioner and his court, the owners of the sport and, to a lesser degree, the players who knew about it, but chose to let it continue.

I, like everyone, have my faults. I don't pretend to be holier than though, but I was brought up correctly and have tried to do the same with my children. Though not an overly religious lot, my family does know Commandment Number Eight and that reads, "Thou Shall Not Steal."

Yesterday's game was a perfect test of my own internal belief system. Big Papi stepped to the plate with the game on the line and sent a high fly towards the center field bleachers. I cheered for the ball and I cheered for my team, but I didn't cheer for Ortiz.

As Papi crossed home he stepped firmly on the plate and pointed skyward as he always does.Only this time, instead of thanking God for his strength and his abilities, I sensed he prayed to God that this all would go away.

In life and in sport, cheating is cheating is cheating.

Todd Civin is a freelance writer for the Bleacher Report and a supporter of the children's story "A Glove of Their Own."

"A Glove of Their Own" is the award winning children's story that teaches Pay It Forward through baseball and is being supported by Louisville Slugger, International Baseball Federeration, iFungo, Rawlings, Modells, as well as players and coaches including Jason Grilli, Joe Torre, Luis Tiant, Dick Drago, Ken Griffey, Craig Biggio and Sean Casey. Visit www.agloveoftheirown.com .

Red Sox Getting Good Return on Investment From Penny

If Lansdowne Street were Wall Street, Brad Penny's 6.69 ERA would be the grossly inflated figure of the latest government bailout—slightly less than Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, or Bear Stearns, but a hefty number nonetheless.

But after Penny's fifth quality start of the season, Red Sox GM Theo Epstein may indeed leave critics with "AIG" on their faces.

Many felt that Epstein was being penny wise and pound foolish when he signed the big right-hander during the offseason. After an injury-plagued year, Penny was inked to a $5.5 million deal, with another $5.5 million in possible incentives. Following a 6-9 win-loss record and an ERA of 6.27 for the Dodgers in 2008, most GMs didn't even have Penny on their shopping list.

Epstein saw Penny as a low risk, high reward move to help bolster the bottom of the Red Sox rotation. Penny is currently sitting at 3-1 with a hefty ERA, but for those who have watched him all season, it is clear that Penny's stock is rising.

Penny has gone more than six innings in five of his seven starts. In four of those five starts, he has given up three earned runs or fewer, while giving up four earned runs yesterday.

Omit Penny's two disastrous starts in April, and his earned run average would be a palatable 4.80.

In his last three starts it is evident that Penny is adjusting to the American League, a challenge that plagues many National League transplants. Penny has demonstrated that he has fully recovered from the shoulder inflammation that held him to just nine innings total after the All-Star Break last season.

His velocity has consistently been in the low 90s, hitting 94 several times on the radar gun yesterday with good location. He's been mixing in his other pitches well, keeping hitters off balance.

As solid as Penny has been, however, it would surprise no one if Epstein dealt from a position of strength and traded his asset within the next month or so.

To complement Penny and the other four Red Sox starters—Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Tim Wakefield, and Justin Masterson—the Red Sox have as much pitching depth as anyone in the majors.

Daisuke Matsuzaka is soon to return from the disabled list, which would allow Masterson to head back to the bullpen.

John Smoltz, who the Red Sox signed as another low risk, high return free agent, is expected to be pitching in the Boston Red Sox rotation roughly around June 1, 2009.

Down on the farm, the Red Sox have Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden waiting in the wings, eager to enter the Red Sox's vaunted rotation. Buchholz is 2-0 with a microscopic 1.03 ERA, while Bowden is 2-1 with a nearly identical 1.06 ERA for the Pawtucket Red Sox in AAA.

Barring an injury or a bout of prolonged ineffectiveness, Penny would appear to be the odd man out.

With 10 years in the majors, Penny's experience would be viewed as an asset by other contending teams, while his salary, with nearly half the season gone by June, makes him affordable for almost any potential suitor.

Look for Epstein and the Sox to move Penny in exchange for a shortstop or a left-handed power bat. Currently, Sox DH David Ortiz is struggling mightily at the plate, while Julio Lugo and utility man Nick Green have been filling in for the injured Jed Lowrie.

Either way, it appears that Sox fans would agree that Penny has provided a solid return on Epstein's investment.

When A Character Lacks Character: The Manny Ramirez Story

I am not going to continue writing the piece I had nearly finished, giving the Los Angles Dodgers an A+ grade for the first month of the season. If computer's spit out paper, my story would be in the form of a trail of balled up papers.

Sure, the Dodgers have won their first 13 games at home and yes, they are a Major League leading 21-8 coming out of the gates. Yes, Chad Billingsley still gets an A+ for his 5-0 start and yes, Andre Ethier is breaking onto the MLB map with a breakout season. But when magna cum laude gets caught cheating on the SATs, all scores need to be examined and unfortunately, marked with a big, red F!

What is really the issue now is not the grade the team got but what kind of emotional hit the organization takes. When one of your characters lacks character, the recipe is tasteless.

It has long been documented that while in Boston, Manny was a top-notch hitter and a bottom-of-the-barrel teammate. Towering home runs and a reputation for striking fear into opposing pitchers was often overshadowed by his on- and off-field antics. Over the summer and winter months, I wrote endlessly about the negatives that Ramirez brought to the table and was oft chastised by those who accused me of sour grapes. To them I simply say, I told you so.

Mommy taught me a long time ago that if something looks like a rat and smells like a rat, you start guarding the mouse traps.

Ramirez is a rat.

His attitude is nasty and surly. he thinks nothing of quitting on his teammates and now he joins A-Rod and Clemens, McGwire and Palmiero, Giambi and 90-plus others who simply lack the character and morals to carry on this tradition called baseball.

Role Model? With his long dread locs, he would not be allowed to hold many jobs without taking the scissors and the detangler to his unkempt locs. He fought teammate Kevin Youkilis, who, by many, is considered to be the consumate teammate.

Youkilis took exception to Ramirez's lackluster play. He even beat up the Red Sox' elderly traveling secretary, more than likely because he parked in Manny's special handicapped spot. Role Model? I think not.

The Golden Rule, Manny, states, "Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you". This isn't sour grapes or jealousy. It's the Golden Rule.

Venom is currently spewing from my very being. My kid and I entrusted you with our sport and you, Manny, and you, Bud Selig, and you, A-Rod, do not have the character to be entrusted with it.

You can now sit for the next fifty games, with your over-sized ego and your undersized set of jewels, and count your money, count your Hall of Fame votes. One can't use a hand for counting while the other doesn't even register on your hand.

This is of course more repulsive than high-fiving the fans in left field or urinating behind the Green Monster. This is cheating, stealing, and lying.

I pray that Dodger fans opt not to support and cheer for Manny upon his return. Everything they loved about him has to be soured by the latest antic.

I've said all I care to say on Ramirez and on the subject.

I think I'll go back and try to rescue the Dodgers from 50 days worth of detention.