Boston.com - According to former WBZ sports director Bob Lobel, Manny Ramirez was fined a six-figure amount for his June altercation with Red Sox traveling secretary Jack McCormick — and he wasn’t happy about it.

“Manny was fined six figures to go to a charity,” Lobel said this morning on sports radio WEEI. “That got [Manny’s] attention … he became a petulant child by being punished. No matter what the crime was, pushing an employee, that was the issue … he acted out [after they fined him]. They got his attention. He doesn’t like to be punished in any way, shape, or form… ”

Lobel’s strong words didn’t stop there. He went on to allege that there was a perception that in a pinch-hit at bat at Yankee Stadium on July 6 — more than a week after the incident with McCormick — Ramirez took three straight called strikes to send a message to the Sox.

“The thing that most people are forgetting and haven’t talked about is the strikeout in Yankee Stadium,” Lobel said. “The bat on the shoulder for the three pitches from Mariano Rivera. That was a big [expletive] to the Red Sox after the fine. I’m just telling you … there are things in the front office that are perceived … I’m saying that there is a strong feeling that that [three-pitch strikeout] was the message to the Red Sox and it’s a strong feeling that that’s unacceptable … there’s a feeling that he didn’t give it his all, let’s put it that way … I’m just saying the front office has not forgotten that moment. It’s akin to Nomar sitting on the bench [in a game in which Derek Jeter dove into the stands at Yankee Stadium in 2004]. It’s the same thing. It’s an at bat that resonated very strongly in the front office.”

Right now I am not willing to let my brain imagine a world without Manny in left field, but if this has any amount of truth to it, we could be seeing that next year.

I ask you, do you find some truth in this or do you think Lobel’s been sippin’ a little too much?

We have traveled near and far. Gone places many would not think of going. Sacrificed our bodies for any nugget of information to this curse. We are glad to say that we are safely back in our offices and - we have unearthed the cruel beast that has stricken Varitek with the inability to move the bat from his shoulders. We now know the reason he swings widely; almost purposely missing the ball as if someone has taken away his sight.

Ladies and Gentlemen we will allow the evidence to speak for itself.

Now I am not one to attack youngins’ but listen you little long-haired freak - you voodoo practitioner - give us back Varitek! Allow him to bend his arms at the elbows. Free his arms! For all that is holy - give the man back his eyes. You are raping him of his livelihood.

I demand from you, the very doll you have used to strike our All-Star catcher. If you have a heart inside that miniature cauldron of evil you call a body I request you contact us and send us that LEGO doll now. We will carefully defuse the curse and free Jason Varitek of this horrid curse.

If you choose to ignore this, I offer you this small piece of advice. Cut your hair. You will want to make sure you have good peripheral vision when I sneak up behind you.

The winners of our contest are…

Matt H-C- This guy attacked our contest with such fury it can only be compared to the days my dad would use his fists in anger on our living room walls while watching the New England Patriots. (Did I say that out loud?)

ncsoxfan67 - Well it really wasnt furious, nor did it even slightly resemble anger, but this contestant came in second. Do people in NC even know what baseball is? I kid.

Congrats to both winners. We are glad you found us and decided to participate.

Please email us with your mailing information and we will swiftly send out your prizes.

Now get off the computer - Pedroia is a single away from the cycle!

The team is in the midst of it’s annual “Holy Shit, This Team Has Serious Issues” stretch. Cue up Shaughnessy and his rants - you know they are coming soon. Fellas, the long wooden objects you hold in your hands - those are bats. The quick rundown? You want to try and use them in a swinging motion to hit that white thing they are throwing at you.

We opened up our wallet a few days ago and reached an agreement with someone new to join our staff. The guy has entrenched himself in Red Sox baseball for many years, locking himself inside his house, away from the daylight, to study all things Red Sox. We will be bringing up his thoughts/findings of him from time-to-time. We call him many things, but you’ll probably know him as our “Man in the Trenches”. “Jason Varitek will not get another hit on this road trip”. Does it sound that far off? Tek is a 4-44 in his last 14 games. 4 for effin 44. Call me crazy, but I am pretty sure Ralph Tresvant had more hits.

JD Drew had a flash back last night. Guy comes to bat in the 8th and can’t find it in himself to lift the bat off his shoulders. Three pitches, three strikes - sit down.

What are you doing as a coach allowing someone batting 4-43 to step up to the plate and bat with a man in scoring position? Especially when the guy on second is the potential tying run. I’d love to hear that thought process!

It doesn’t get any better tonight fellas, Kazmir tonight. I will say this though, I do like watching Rays fans getting all giddy halfway through the season. It will be fun watching them pout when the young pitching doesn’t hold up.

Sidenote: We are tallying up the tickets on the contest. Expect the winners to be announced tomorrow morning at the latest!

The Rumble in Tampa starts tonight, 7:05pm.

Tampa has their pitching lined up as they will mound Shields, Garza and Kazmir. Boston will have Masterson, Wake, and Matsuzaka going.

Tampa is 7-3 in their last 10, while Boston broke even at 5-5.

Crisp will miss the series because of the June 5th brawl. Iwamura will miss the game tonight as he is finishing up his three game suspension.

Also - the contest ends tonight. Just your friendly reminder before we tally up the tickets. Good luck to you and the Red Sox!

First, they decide to drop the appeal on Sean Casey’s suspension. This normally would have been fine, but as luck had it - Youkilis goes out with an eye injury.

Now here is my question to you - did you find it a little overly precautionary to pull Youkilis out of the game? If you saw the “play” unfold you noticed it wasn’t a hard throw from Lowell. Lowell even describes it as a lob throw.

“It wasn’t even a hard throw. I kind of lobbed it, and he went to scoop it and it hit off his glove, and I thought it hit him off the side of the head. I saw that he was shaken up and he was touching his eye, and I was hoping it didn’t hit him in the eye.”

Paul Lessard, Boston Red Sox trainer was giggling while out on the field checking over Youkilis. Does that warrant an exit from the game and a CT scan? I understand the threat of him getting up to bat, but they were in the middle of a Haren 2-hitter.

As it turns out, Moss takes over first, bobbles a routine grounder, and Arizona scores on the play

Hind”sight” is 20/20 - we know!

Did you know? Arizona is 4-0 lifetime at Fenway?

That being said, I believe the Red Sox bats come alive tonight.

Boston is wrapping up a 6-game home stand before they embark on a very tough 10-game road trip. The Red Sox sit atop 1st place in the American League East with a 47-31 record. They hold a very tough 29-9 home record and are 6-4 in their last ten games.

Arizona is sporting a 39-37 record but are holding on to 1st place in the National League West. Like most teams, their road record is not very good at 15-22. They just got swept at Minnesota and are 4-6 in their last ten games.

Tonight is a great match-up with Beckett (7-4) vs. Haren (7-4).

Tuesday is Masterson (4-1) vs. Davis (2-3).

Wednesday they finish up with a classic Wakefield (4-5) vs. Johnson (4-5).

You’ll get to see a great match-up of first baseman as well. Youk vs. Conor Jackson. Jackson is batting .310 with a .400 OBP and .491 SLG. Youkilis with a monster walk-off last night, and two HRs for the day, seems to be coming out of a small slump.

Keep an eye on D-Backs third baseman, Mark Reynolds. He has some power with 16 HRs, 47 RBIs, and a .496 SLG. Arguably their best positional player.

J.D’s brother will be fielding at SS. He has 10 HRs so far this year (can you imagine - a little pop at SS - must be nice!)

This is a big series for the Red Sox. Tampa Bay will be in Florida for three while NY plays in Pittsburgh. We’d like to see a little more breathing room before the Red Sox find themselves in Tampa for 3 and then in NY for 4.

We hate to say it, but you may see the Red Sox in 3rd place come July 7th!

It may be the lack of sleep, but I am still baffled on how a team in the NBA Finals gives up 131 pts. Run 4 effin’ corners to save an ounce self respect. Something! You are on national television for all that is holy!

The picture you see on this main post, was an image that was burnt into my memory up until last night. That picture summed up years of Boston Celtics frustrations. You can see the pain in both Rivers and Ainge’s faces. That’s all over after last night!

Since The Cup of Giddiness is overflowing - let’s scoop some of it up and show some love to the Boston Red Sox. What the C’s did this year was nothing short of spectacular, but don’t overlook the Red Sox.

Here is our “Excuses Hank would be Chain Smoking Over” List:

• Curt Schilling starts the season on the 60-day DL
• Josh Beckett has back issues at the beginning of the season
• Buchholz misses time with a injured finger
• David Ortiz is out at least a month with a bum wrist
• Mike Lowell misses time with a thumb injury
• Dice-K goes on the 15-DL with a sore shoulder
• Manny Ramirez misses time with hammy issues
• Bartolo Colon is on the 15-DL with a bad back
• Moss, Ellsbury, Drew, Youkilis, Cora and Casey all miss time as well
• Lugo loses his glove hand in a terrible dog biting incident

Allow us to add - this is all before the All-Star Game.

That’s a pretty significant list right there! Most teams finding themselves sliding in the standings when they lose one of their top pitchers. The Red Sox have lost, at one time or another, Schilling, Matsuzaka, Beckett, Colon and Buchholz.

They’ve been without the services of the most clutch hitter in modern-day baseball history. The greatest hitter in modern-day baseball history has also been shelved from time-to-time.

Any excuses from that team? NONE. They sit atop the American League East and continue to have players fill roles.

Some teams whine when they aren’t winning, others dig in and find ways to win.