Bobby Valentine has had his final bike ride to Fenway Park. (Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE)

By Alice Cook, She's Game Sports

After the final game of the Red Sox's sorry 2012 season, Bobby Valentine was asked what he planned to do next. He said, "My plan now is to wake up and have a long bike ride."

Bobby Valentine is riding out of town the same way he rode in - on his bike.

Every morning during spring training Bobby would cruise in on his bike before the sun came up. The Red Sox equipment staff had to take the bike apart and put it back together in each city the team visited. Valentine lives less than a mile from Fenway Park, and he rode his bike to work every day. He stayed so late after a game one night that he got locked into the ballpark and couldn't get out. It was just Bobby and his bike trapped like rats.

We would be hard-pressed to every find another personality like Bobby V, and his unusual mode of transportation is just one of many things that makes the man completely unique. Love him or hate him, Valentine is anything but boring.

Here was a baseball manager that performed as a ballroom dancer at the 1964 World's Fair at age 14. He can salsa, he can cha cha, and he can do the sock hop. He claims to have invented the wrap sandwich. Unfortunately, Valentine is also really good at putting his foot in his mouth.

As Boston bids farewell to Bobby Valentine, let's take one more look at the 'best of Bobby.'

April 15

Valentine says he doesn't think Kevin Youkilis is "as physically or emotionally into the game." Youk was dumbfounded, and his team mate Dustin Pedroia famously said, "That's not how we do things around here" in response to Valentine publicly calling out Youk. Valentine apologized for the comment and reiterated his regret on the final day day of the season.

April 21

After the Red Sox blew a 9-0 lead and lost to the Yankees 15-9, Valentine said, "I think we've hit bottom, if this isn't the bottom, we'll find some new ends of the earth, I guess."

Be careful what you wish for- the Red Sox were not even close to the abyss.

July 30

After Red Sox outfielder Ryan Sweeney punched a door and broke his pinkie finger, Valentine says, "boys will be boys." Instead of leaving it there, Bobby added that the door had other dents from a number of players who smashed their fist into it. "He must have went at it in the wrong direction," Valentine said of Sweeney.

August 1

It is revealed that earlier in the season, Valentine chided Will Middlebrooks after the rookie misplayed a couple of balls. Valentine's "nice inning, kid" remark went back to the owners and Valentine was left to explain to his bosses that he offered Middlebrooks words of support after the game. It was never revealed what player, coach or employee threw the manager under the bus in that situation.

September 5

A few days earlier, Valentine was late to the ballpark in Oakland after a 20-2 loss the night before. Valentine got stuck in Bay Area traffic after going to pick his son up in traffic. WEEI talk show host Glenn Ordway asked Bobby if he had checked out for the season, and Valentine (jokingly) said he would like to punch Ordway in the face.

September 12

Fresh off a suspension for slamming the door of the manager's office, pitcher Alfredo Aceves did not hand the ball to Valentine during a pitching change. Aceves took the "long way" back to the dugout in a sign of defiance to the manager. After the game Valentine said, "who cares if he showed me up? If I have to explain Aceves' actions, I'll wind up going across the river and work for Harvard."

September 14

With the Red Sox clearly on their way to their worst record since 1965, Valentine told the media, "This is the weakest roster we've ever had in September in the history of baseball."

Ouch.

It's been a tough and trying year for anyone associated with the Red Sox. Say this about Bobby Valentine: he is not boring. He said some stupid things, but the burden of this horrible team should not be put squarely on his shoulders. The blame pie is shared with the owners, the front office, the players, the coaches, which reminds me ...

October 3

Valentine is asked if he felt undermined by his coaches. "Yes," he said, "just what I feel."

Several days before the season ended, Valentine crashed his bike in Central Park while trying to read a text sent by Dustin Pedroia.

Fitting that his first ever bike accident would put a cap on this train wreck of a season.

Bobby Valentine has had his final bike ride to Fenway Park. (Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE)

By Alice Cook, She's Game Sports

After the final game of the Red Sox's sorry 2012 season, Bobby Valentine was asked what he planned to do next. He said, "My plan now is to wake up and have a long bike ride."

Bobby Valentine is riding out of town the same way he rode in - on his bike.

Every morning during spring training Bobby would cruise in on his bike before the sun came up. The Red Sox equipment staff had to take the bike apart and put it back together in each city the team visited. Valentine lives less than a mile from Fenway Park, and he rode his bike to work every day. He stayed so late after a game one night that he got locked into the ballpark and couldn't get out. It was just Bobby and his bike trapped like rats.

We would be hard-pressed to every find another personality like Bobby V, and his unusual mode of transportation is just one of many things that makes the man completely unique. Love him or hate him, Valentine is anything but boring.

Here was a baseball manager that performed as a ballroom dancer at the 1964 World's Fair at age 14. He can salsa, he can cha cha, and he can do the sock hop. He claims to have invented the wrap sandwich. Unfortunately, Valentine is also really good at putting his foot in his mouth.

As Boston bids farewell to Bobby Valentine, let's take one more look at the 'best of Bobby.'

April 15

Valentine says he doesn't think Kevin Youkilis is "as physically or emotionally into the game." Youk was dumbfounded, and his team mate Dustin Pedroia famously said, "That's not how we do things around here" in response to Valentine publicly calling out Youk. Valentine apologized for the comment and reiterated his regret on the final day day of the season.

April 21

After the Red Sox blew a 9-0 lead and lost to the Yankees 15-9, Valentine said, "I think we've hit bottom, if this isn't the bottom, we'll find some new ends of the earth, I guess."

Be careful what you wish for- the Red Sox were not even close to the abyss.

July 30

After Red Sox outfielder Ryan Sweeney punched a door and broke his pinkie finger, Valentine says, "boys will be boys." Instead of leaving it there, Bobby added that the door had other dents from a number of players who smashed their fist into it. "He must have went at it in the wrong direction," Valentine said of Sweeney.

August 1

It is revealed that earlier in the season, Valentine chided Will Middlebrooks after the rookie misplayed a couple of balls. Valentine's "nice inning, kid" remark went back to the owners and Valentine was left to explain to his bosses that he offered Middlebrooks words of support after the game. It was never revealed what player, coach or employee threw the manager under the bus in that situation.

September 5

A few days earlier, Valentine was late to the ballpark in Oakland after a 20-2 loss the night before. Valentine got stuck in Bay Area traffic after going to pick his son up in traffic. WEEI talk show host Glenn Ordway asked Bobby if he had checked out for the season, and Valentine (jokingly) said he would like to punch Ordway in the face.

September 12

Fresh off a suspension for slamming the door of the manager's office, pitcher Alfredo Aceves did not hand the ball to Valentine during a pitching change. Aceves took the "long way" back to the dugout in a sign of defiance to the manager. After the game Valentine said, "who cares if he showed me up? If I have to explain Aceves' actions, I'll wind up going across the river and work for Harvard."

September 14

With the Red Sox clearly on their way to their worst record since 1965, Valentine told the media, "This is the weakest roster we've ever had in September in the history of baseball."

Ouch.

It's been a tough and trying year for anyone associated with the Red Sox. Say this about Bobby Valentine: he is not boring. He said some stupid things, but the burden of this horrible team should not be put squarely on his shoulders. The blame pie is shared with the owners, the front office, the players, the coaches, which reminds me ...

October 3

Valentine is asked if he felt undermined by his coaches. "Yes," he said, "just what I feel."

Several days before the season ended, Valentine crashed his bike in Central Park while trying to read a text sent by Dustin Pedroia.

Fitting that his first ever bike accident would put a cap on this train wreck of a season.

By Arielle Aronson, She's Game Sports

Bartolo Colon's suspension for PED usage means more questions for MLB's drug policy. (Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE)

Upon first glance, the two recent suspensions of Melky Cabrera and Bartolo Colon for failed drug tests indicates baseball is finally doing something about a steroid issue that, for years, ravaged a league without a steroid policy.

Much of the achievements by players and teams in the 1990s and early 2000s will be questioned thanks to a lack of regulation from Major League Baseball and after-the-fact revelations that accused some of the biggest names of that time of using performance-enhancing drugs. Baseball first started doing something about steroid use in 2002, when it created a steroid policy that resulted in treatment – not suspensions – for players testing positive for performance enhancing drugs. The MLB was the only pro sports league without a drug policy at the time.

Then, the league was rocked by the BALCO scandal that revealed widespread usage of steroids among greats such as Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Roger Clemens. As a result of the evidence presented in a book, Game of Shadows, and a federal investigation, commissioner Bud Selig pushed the league to adopt stronger punishments for proven steroid users.

The harsher terms were met by resistance from the MLB Players Association, and the MLB adopted a still-lenient policy of 10-day suspensions for a first offense, 30-day suspensions for second offense, 60-day suspensions for a third offense and a one-year suspension for a fourth offense. But after dozens of players continued to test positive for PEDs, Bud Selig pushed the MLBPA until, in 2005, it adopted the current policy of a 50-game suspension for a first offense, 100-game suspension for a second offense and lifetime ban for a third offense.

Over the last three years, it seems the drug problem in Major League Baseball was starting to resolve itself, as only seven players were suspended through the 2009-2011 seasons for positive PED tests (although former Red Sox Manny Ramirez was suspended twice – once in 2009 and once in 2011).

But things are taking a turn for the worse in 2012. Guillermo Mota was suspended in May for 100 games after a second positive PED test, and in the span of one week, Cabrera and Colon became the fourth and fifth players respectively to be suspended for PED use this season.

Their suspensions were both for excess levels of testosterone and follow close on the heels of a disputed positive test from Ryan Braun, who avoided suspension after saying his test sample was not properly handled. Braun’s appeal was the first successful appeal of a steroid suspension by an MLB player.

But with two testosterone suspensions in one week and increasing positive tests for performance-enhancing drugs from some of the game’s higher profile players, baseball needs to reconsider its punishments for positive tests.

In the aftermath of Cabrera’s suspension, many in the media argued that testosterone testing is not strong enough in baseball, a complaint the MLB addressed by issuing a press release defending its testing methods.

And despite positive tests and suspensions for Ramirez and Mota, both used steroids again. Since Mota’s first positive test in 2006, he has signed six contracts worth a total of $10,025,000. So he missed 150 games in the meantime. How much does that matter when you’re making over $10 million dollars in six years?

Ramirez made out pretty well too. After his positive test in 2009, Ramirez finished out a contract with the Dodgers that paid him $18,695,006 and then signed a $2,020,000 with the Rays for the 2011 season.

Alex Rodriguez, an admitted steroid user who tested positive in 2003 (but was never suspended since suspensions for steroid use did not exist at the time), signed a $200-million contract after acknowledging he used performance-enhancing drugs.

While teams likely cannot get away with refusing to sign players who have tested positive for PED usage, players continue to enjoy high salaries and therefore do not have much reason to be deterred from steroid usage. Sure, Ramirez saw a drastic salary drop from his time with the Dodgers to his contract with the Rays, but he was also known as a problem player and was not producing at a level consistent with a high salary (he hit .298 with nine home runs and 42 RBIs – a career low – in 2010).

Baseball is certainly punishing its players who test positive for steroids – Oakland and San Francisco fans definitely feel that – but is the league really hitting the players where it hurts? With two suspensions in one week, now looks to be the perfect time for the league to re-examine its policies.