"Wasn't it great to see Mo Vaughn and John Valentin return to Fenway Park last month to take part in the annual WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon?

We should not have been surprised. The two former Red Sox [team stats] players were frequent fliers in the Boston philanthropic community during their days here, particularly with the Jimmy Fund. The guessing here is that when they were asked to attend, the two men responded by saying, "What time?"

It also was good to see that both Vaughn and Valentin seem to have transitioned well into their post-playing lives. Vaughn runs Omni New York, a business that rehabilitates low-income housing. Valentin serves as hitting coach of the Los Angeles Dodgers' Triple-A club in Albuquerque, N.M.

The returns of Vaughn and Valentin seem particularly relevant in the aftermath of the latest news about Manny Ramirez [stats], the former Red Sox slugger who was released from a Florida jail yesterday after being charged with misdemeanor domestic battery."