DHL Dan XCVI - Curiouser And Curiouser

In today's installment of the Picked up Pieces column from Ft. Myers, Shank touches on a wide range of subjects, including the Summer Olympics, the Beanpot from a few weeks ago, and...

Ah - who am I kidding? Of course Shank keeps beating up on the Red Sox!

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Picked up pieces while wondering if the Red Sox are going to promote “Zakim” and “Tobin” nights at Fenway this summer in honor of their 2020 Bridge Year.

Now that the lame humor's out of the way...

■ Everybody loves Big Papi. He’s Boston Baseball’s Father Christmas. He was a clutch and dominant player, great to fans, and stood up for our city in 2013. All of Boston prayed for him when he was shot in the Dominican Republic in June. It’s great to see him looking healthy. But his first day back in Sox camp last week was not his finest hour.

Ortiz is part of Sox management now and Big Papi has become Big House Man. Now that Ortiz is taking the side of Sox ownership on every issue, are we supposed to forget how he groaned about his contract and disrespect from his bosses almost every year? Ortiz insists that the Mookie trade was a good trade. That the Sox had no choice. Got it.

But when a member of the Red Sox brass (Ortiz is identified as a “special assistant” to Fenway Sports Group in the club directory) calls Mike Fiers a “snitch” while the Boston Red Sox are the subject of an ongoing MLB investigation regarding cheating allegations, it borders on witness intimidation.

Would someone like to tell Shank this isn't a criminal proceeding here? Furthermore, MLB has completed their investigation into the matter, further proof that Shank has no editor between him and the Post / Submit button. Will he go for the triple play?

Truth has never been an enemy of baseball fans. We could have used a little more of it during the steroid era and Ortiz has considerable exposure in this area.

...and there it is. It happened for years right under your fucking nose, dickhead; you and every other Boston Globe baseball guy. Too bad Ortiz didn't kick your ass when he had the chance.

Other than that, it's a decent column!

UPDATE AT 4:50 PM - The Astros investigation has been completed; the one involving the Red Sox is ongoing. Shank's getting cute here by conflating the two (i.e., strongly implying Fiers, who was never a member of the Red Sox, is involved in the current investigation).