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DES MOINES, Iowa - Manny Ramirez has been called everything from a World Series MVP to a cheater. The disgraced slugger is hoping to add "mentor" to his resume. The 42-year-old Ramirez, a two-time champion with Boston and a two-time offender of Major League Baseballs rules against performance-enhancing drugs, joined the Triple-A Iowa Cubs as a player/coach on Thursday after signing with Chicago in late May. Ramirez is expected to play one or two times a week for the organizations top affiliate in Des Moines. But Ramirezs biggest responsibility will be to work with the Cubs most promising prospects — and hes already got some simple advice for them. "Do the right thing, bro. Follow the rules. Thats it," Ramirez said Monday. That was often a problem for Ramirez when he was starring in the big leagues. Drama has always seemed to follow Ramirez, a happy-go-lucky but enigmatic slugger who clashed with managers, teammates and front office personnel during a 19-year major league career that included 555 home runs and 12 All-Star selections. But Cubs president Theo Epstein, who spent years dealing with Ramirez as the general manager of the Red Sox, said Monday in an interview with Boston radio station WEEI that he believes Ramirez is a changed man. "Manny gave me as many problems as he gave anyone, probably besides (former Red Sox manager Terry Francona) in his time in Boston. Hes responsible for most of the grey hairs on my head. So its not something that we entered into lightly," Epstein said. "But people do change. I talked a lot to Manny, and he seemed like a completely different guy... hes grown for the better. Hes open and honest about all the mistakes hes made in the past and he wants to fix that by being a positive influence on young players," he said. Ramirez spent the last month working on his swing in Arizona, even though Epstein said that the club had no plans to add him to the major league roster. But Epstein said that hes received glowing reports about Ramirezs attitude and work ethic from those in the organization whove worked with him so far. "When you love the game and you want to help young players and give them your testimonial and the things that you went through so they dont go through that, its easy," Ramirez said. "When you come here and youre helping young players grow up and see them go to the next level, I think thats such a joy for yourself, to come and help somebody else. It doesnt matter who you are. Its who youre going to be," he said. Ramirez, whose trademark dreadlocks have been replaced by an outgrown Mohawk, was scheduled to hit sixth and serve as the designated hitter on Monday night for Iowa. But what Chicago really wants is for Ramirez to share the wisdom that made him such a great hitter with his younger teammates. Many of the cornerstones of the Cubs rebuilding effort are now under the guidance of Ramirez, and perhaps shortstop Javier Baez will benefit most from Ramirezs tutelage. Baez, a 21-year-old Spanish-speaking native of Puerto Rico, is considered one of the games brightest young prospects. But hes struggled some at Iowa, currently hitting .239 with 11 home runs through 71 games. Arismendy Alcantara, a 22-year-old second baseman from the Dominican with an .893 OPS, and third baseman Kris Bryant are among the other high-profile prospects the Cubs are hoping Ramirez can reach. "Theres no one better to teach hitting," Epstein said. "He could always burn me on it, and wed release a minor league coach, a minor league player. But I dont think thats going to happen. I think if he helps one of our many talented young hitters in the organization. ... it will be worth it. And help one kid avoid a mistake off the field by using himself as an example, it will be worth it. Hes doing a great job so far." . Chris Johnson singled with two outs off left-hander Jerry Blevins (1-1), and Schafer pinch ran. With a 2-2 count, Schafer ran on the pitch and Upton dropped a single in front of Bryce Harper. Schafer already was rounding third when Schafer bobbled the ball. .What they got was a bevy of players chipping in to pick up the slack.Josh Smith scored 18 points and James Harden added 17 as the Rockets used a balanced scoring effort to outlast the Mavericks for a 99-94 victory. . The Laval Rouge et Or defensive back/kick-returner gained the invitation following his showing Sunday at an NFL regional combine in Baltimore. .com) - Brad Stuart has yet to play a regular-season game for the Colorado Avalanche, but that didnt deter the club from signing the veteran defenseman to a two-year contract extension on Monday. . The 30-year-old Moore played in 13 games for the Saints last season, catching 37 balls for 457 yards and two touchdowns.PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- The PGA Tour rescinded the two-shot penalty given to Justin Rose before his final round Sunday in The Players Championship, changing its mind to say sophisticated TV technology was the only way to determine the violation. Rose was given a reprieve by an addition in January to the "Decisions on the Rules of Golf" that waives a penalty if the slightest movement of a golf ball can only be detected by enhanced technology. It was the first time Decision 18/4 was used. "I didnt know that this new recall was in place," Rose said after closing with a 3-under 69. Rose was penalized after the third round when he addressed a chip shot off the 18th green, and suddenly backed away. Rose said he didnt think the ball had moved from its original position, even after consulting with playing partner Sergio Garcia and seeing a replay on the video board. Only after his round, when he met with officials and watched a third television angle zoom in on the ball, was it clear that it moved ever so slightly. He was penalized under Rule 18-2b -- one shot for the ball moving at address, another for returning it to its original position. His 71 was changed to a 73, and he went left the course seven shots out of the lead. About an hour before he teed off Sunday, he was back to where he was. Because it was too late to adjust the tee times, Rose started his final round more than an hour before the other players on the same score of 7-under 209. Rose was within two shots of the leaders at the turn until three straight bogeys. Rose closed with back-to-back birdies and finished at 10-under 278. "We feel like we did the right thing here," said Mark Russell, vice-president of competition for the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour said in a statement the incident had been reviewed because Decision 18/4 had never been used. "The Rules Committee reopened the incident and focused on how much the use of sophisticated technology played a part in making the original ruling," the statement said. "After that review, it was determined that the only way to confirm whether and how much the ball in fact changed position was to utilize sophisticated technology." Russell said the tour consulted Grant Moir from the Royal & Ancient and Thomas Pagel of the USGA before deciding to apply the new decision. Decision 18/4 waives the penalty if a ball movement is noot "reasonably discernible to the naked eye at the time" and required enhanced technology, such as HDTV.dddddddddddd The example often cited by rules officials is when Peter Hanson had a double-hit that could not be detected except through HD in super slow-motion. One reason cited for penalizing him in the first place was the way Rose backed away from the shot, aware that there might have been movement. Rose maintained he did not think the ball moved until seeing the close-up view that he said was magnified so much "the golf ball looked like a Lego ball." "I was willing to accept the way things played out last night, and under 50 times magnification, you could argue that there was a tiny bit of a roll toward the toe (of the club)," Rose said. "Im talking a hair or a millimeter or a quarter dimple or whatever it might be." Russell did not made clear what triggered their decision to review a ruling that had already been made. He described sophisticated technology as "HD zoomed in." "It was such a slight move that it was not discernible by the naked eye," Russell said. "He didnt know. He knew something happened when he grounded his club and felt like he pressed the grass down. And it came right back. Everything went down and then the grass went down and the ball came back up. He knew something happened, he backed away from that, but it took something really zoomed in that was not seen on regular television to determine if the ball did indeed move. And it did." Rose said it was "interesting" that Decision 18/4 was not mentioned Saturday night as he met with officials. He said he only learned about it through comments he was getting on Twitter, and when he saw the decision, it sounded exactly like what had happened to him. "We have never had this tool before that we could apply," Russell said. "We asked for this and we feel like that this is the first time this has ever been used and we feel like this is exactly why this decision is in there. ... I think he deserved exactly what he received under the rules." Rose said he wasnt going to argue with the officials Saturday night that he would happily go along with whatever they decided. "Im certainly surprised its overturned," he said. "Very rarely is that ever the case. Never, ever the case. Im not sure." ' ' '
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