Given that reputation, it should come as no surprise that the Nationals disciplined Dukes on Saturday after he showed up five minutes late for a team workout. What may come as a surprise is that he hardly seems like the bad guy in all of this:
Dukes was late because he was signing autographs at a Little League function that was not sponsored by the Nationals.
Both acting general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Manny Acta made the decision to let Dukes sit out the game, and the outfielder was warned that if he was late again, he would be optioned to Triple-A Syracuse.
Charitable Athletes
Washington Nationals outfielder Elijah Dukes was benched on Saturday, fined $500 and threatened with a demotion to the minors after he showed up five minutes late to the ballpark. The reason for his tardiness? He was signing autographs as a Little League function. Click through to see charitable works by athletes.
Al Messerschmidt, Getty Images
Before the Bobcats played the Knicks in March, Emeka Okafor stopped by a public school to try to help a 6-year-old girl suffering from a rare form of acute leukemia. Okafor was tested to see if he was a genetic match for the bone marrow she needs to survive.
Chuck Burton, AP
Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade presented a South Florida woman with a new house and furnishings for Christmas. Wade's World foundation also vowed to make some payments on the home for the family.
Issac Baldizon, NBA / Getty Images
Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong gave $5 million to his foundation, which helps people affected by cancer. A cancer survivor himself, Armstrong recently began a comeback to cycling.
J. Scott Applewhite, AP
Michael Jordan pledged $5 million to help upgrade Hales Franciscan High School, a historically African-American all-boys school in Chicago. Considered the greatest player ever, Jordan is a part owner of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats.
Rick Havner, AP
The University of Arizona received $3.5 million from the Bucks' Richard Jefferson. The veteran forward entered the NBA in 2001 and helped the Nets to two Eastern Conference titles.
Al Bello, Getty Images
A $5 million gift from former NHL star Eric Lindros to support the London Health Sciences Centre is one of the largest one-time donations to the hospital. The 16-year veteran retired from hockey last season.
Ronald Martinez, Getty Images
World No. 1 golfer Tiger Woods gave over $1.3 million to his learning center to help with the education of children. Woods has won 14 major championships, including the 2008 U.S. Open.
Denis Poroy, AP
Through his foundation, tennis great Andre Agassi pledged $1.3 million to help at-risk children. The former No. 1 tennis player won eight Grand Slam titles.
Brad Barket, Getty Images
Former professional wrestler, and now Hollywood movie star, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, donated $1 million to the University of Miami's football facilities renovation fund.
Doug Benc, Getty Images
How's that for shattering our perception of Dukes? He was late. By five minutes. Because he was doing good work in the community -- signing autographs for kids -- a practice that seems to be growing rarer and rarer among professional athletes.
That hardly seems like a crime in the baseball world, and if it is one, it's about as small as they come, but then, the Nationals aren't your run-of-the-mill franchise. On the field and off, they've been one of the worst in baseball, and in the wake of former general manager Jim Bowden's departure amid scandal and a 102-loss campaign in 2008, it's clear Rizzo and the remaining Washington brass are trying to change things around the organization.
"We are going to change the culture here, regardless of how well a guy is playing," [manager Manny] Acta said. "It was a bizarre situation, because he was doing something that we encourage our players to do. He was out in the community doing something for some Little League program and he just showed up late for work."Changing the culture" is why Lastings Milledge is in Triple-A. And it's why three relievers and four players in all are going to join him in the minors (or with another organization) as of Monday. Certainly many things in D.C. need to change. Whether making that point to your (arguably) most talented and (certainly) most moody player over a relatively minor infraction is worth it remains to be seen.
"He was very remorseful about it. He felt bad, but we have to lay down the law. Regardless of who is out there, we are still losing ballgames. We have to change the culture somehow."
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
OK... so he isn't the best "morally correct" character out there. But he damn sure isn't the worst either. I think they should have given him a pass on this infraction to rules.... come on, he was doing the RIGHT thing for a change. Meeting ballplayers is sometimes one of the only big moments of a child's life. How can they fault him for that? GOOD JOB, Elijah!!!!!!
In this age of gimmie gimmie ball players, seeing 1 putting the kids first for a change is refreshing. His team leaders need to cut him some slack.
The whole Nationals team should be optioned to Syracuse. Especially the owner & the manager. What a Mickey Mouse organization.
Him being late doesn't change the fact they are still getting beat down by everyone in the league. Let the man sign autographs which was probably more productive than him supporting the losing cause that is the DC Nationals.
Think of that poor kid, who was last in line...manager telling Dukes, "We're going to be late".........Dukes saying, "Just one more".......made the kid happy, (because that's the whole point, right?) Then he gets punished for it.....that poor kid, is probably crying and saying, "It's all my fault!".......it's not your fault little one, MLB is just, "PICKY".....
So, this is what the Nats have deemed important - it's no surprise they are doing so poorly. When all else fails - start micromanaging.
Late is late.. He should of course be doing good things, we all do good things. That's expected -but you show up on time to work. That's professional. Next time, get to the signing 15 minutes earlier. Being on time is basic. Charity is great, and it's wonderful he's doing it, he should probably be doing a lot more of it... and in between go for some anger-management classes..
I am glad he was doing good work in a day where many pro athletes won't wave to the fans, let alone sign autographs. However, it was a small fine for a player making nearly $400,000. It was a slap on the wrist to let him know that he needs to be more carefull and let the rest of the team know that they too need to be on time.
That's the dumbest thing I've heard in a very long time. The man was less than 10 minutes late, first of all. Second of all, he was late because he was with kids! He was actually helping to promote this great game that has gotten a black eye lately.
Kudos to Elijah! He did right by the kids and he made his fans proud. Karma's a powerful thing, and what goes around comes around. Hopefully that means a trade for Elijah, to a better team and one that isn't run by morons. I'd love to see him join my Cardinals!!!
Uh, did anyone stop to think that maybe he was making up the whole "signing autographs for kids" thing. He's been a problem his whole young career. I certainly don't think he's above lying. Maybe he's been late so many other times the Nationals had to put in a zero tolerance policy with him. Maybe they didn't want to accuse him of lying and just settled on the one-game suspension instead of making him look even worse by checking out his story.
Whats the big deal here? The news has no more to report on than this? He DID sign a contract didn't he? Whats to figure out here? Is someone trying to play this down or what?
Seriously? That is TERRIBLE... The guy is doing something GREAT and gets fined for it? WOW...
Some of these people that think the fine is ok would probably be complaining about him if the story was "rich athlete upsets kids by not filling wishes" .....
WHO ARE THESE IDIOTS RUNNING THE WASHINGTON NATIONALS. HERE'S A GUY TRYING TO DO THE RIGHT THING AND HE IS PUNISHED FOR IT. WHAT THE HELL ?
FIGURES THIS IS A TEAM OUT OF WASHINGTON. SEEMS EVERYONE THERE IS A TOTAL MORON.
HonestJohn