Five Finger Discount

Last baseball season, Reds pitcher Mike Leake became the first player since Xavier Nady (2000) and 21st ever to go directly from the draft to the Majors. And if you're looking for the last pitcher to reach this feat, you'd have to go back even further to 1989 when Jim Abbott did so. A shorter list however, would be that of Major Leaguers who've been busted for stealing sixty dollars worth of t-shirts at their local department store. This past Monday, Leake was arrested by Cincinnati Police for doing just that. The star hurler out of Arizona State University where he went on to win back-to-back Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year Awards, was caught shoplifting from a Macy's in downtown Cincinnati after removing the price tags and attempting to leave the store with six American Rag t-shirts worth a whopping total of $59.88.

Such an act like this comes as a surprise given Leake's current income of $425,000 and that's not counting the $2.27 Million he received in bonuses when signing with the Reds just a year ago. Leake was charged with theft, a misdemeanor in the state of Ohio and could serve a max of 180 days in jail if convicted. Luckily for him, Leake's criminal record is nonexistent, as this is his first run in with the law. Upon first hearing about this story, I thought he had stolen six shirts that were worth $60 each. Though that doesn't appear to be out of Mr. Leake's price range either, it would make a little more sense to steal...At least I thought so
Choosing to let the legal process run its coarse, the Reds organization released a statement but did not issue any disciplinary actions of their own. Still slated to make his scheduled start today, Leake pitched a strong seven innings against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks, retiring 16 of the last 17 batters he faced to earn the win. Improving his record to 3-0, Leake allowed 3 earned runs on 4 hits while striking out 6 and walking 2 to help the Reds pull even with the St. Louis Cardinals (10-9) who currently share first place in the division. If the Reds plan to win back-to-back division titles for the first time since 1975-76, they better hope last year's NL MVP Joey Votto doesn't get any crazy ideas and pay a visit to his nearest JC Penny's or else they're really in big trouble.