Staff report

While Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa certainly deserves to be embarrassed over being caught Tuesday night swinging a corked bat, he’s also deserving of praise for his willingness to immediately come clean and apologize.

Too often in our society today role models and leaders who get caught at whatever particular shenanigans they happen to be involved in are more apt to lie, stonewall or blame others – anything rather than take responsibility for their actions.

Exemplified by then President Bill Clinton fooling around with Monica Lewinsky, members of the present administration wildly exaggerating the threat posed by a two-bit tyrant or Pete Rose betting on baseball, the mantra today seems to be to admit nothing and wait until the fickle public’s attention turns to other matters.

This sets a bad example for young people and insults the intelligence of adults.

Sosa, on the other hand, caught red-handed with cork spewing from a broken bat lying at the umpire’s feet, did the right thing – he took responsibility for his actions.

While Sosa is likely to face some type of retribution from baseball, what he did, if even intentional, seems minor. He was simply attempting to gain a slight competitive advantage in a very competitive endeavor.

While he may deserve a slap on the wrist from Major League Baseball, his honesty and genuine remorse are refreshing and is behavior worthy of emulation by all.