There’s something about Cincinnati. There was the puffing, swilling, je ne sais quoi of the late Marge Schott, former owner of the Reds. Her malapropisms entertained and outraged nearly as much as Pete Rose and his gambling – on the game itself. The Bengals have a special team, the felons squad — their largest special team. Now comes a 23-year-old Reds pitcher, Mike Leake, who has asked to enter a diversion program for first-time offenders. His first-time offense? He allegedly stole six t-shirts, valued at $59.88 from a Cincinnati Macy’s. Perhaps the lad was without sufficient clothing and wanted Macy’s to give him the shirts off its rack? Well, he had $250 in cash plus three credit cards on him at the time of the incident. There is also plenty more cash where that came from – the young ‘un received a signing bonus of $2.9 million in 2009 and earns $425,000 per annum. If he’s broke, that’s a great deal of scratch to have burned through in less than two years. Hard to figure why this young man, who played baseball at the Barometer’s own Arizona State, had to dabble in the activities of troubled Hollywood starlets. Cry for help? Something in the water in Cincinnati? Or perhaps the classic problem of too much too early in life?
 The Reds are not helping – young Mr. Leake will not only remain with the team, he will start as pitcher when the Reds face the Diamondbacks a mere three days after his arrest.  Without consequences, well, expect more of the same from more professional athletes. Enforcement is to any organization what integrity is to individuals – you follow the rules because you know there are consequences. Let’s hope someone steps in to help this young man sort through some root causes.
