Poor Elijah Dukes. Times are tough all over.
So destitute is this professional ballplayer, that the good children of Great Falls Little League are sending him money, according to the Washington Post.
What's a group of kids doing giving someone who makes $400,000 a year money -- $501 to be exact? Paying his team-issued fine, of course.
Dukes showed up to the opening day of the Great Falls Little League, high-fiving the players, and saying a few words of encouragement.
Unfortunately, he cut it a little too close, and arrived five minutes late to that afternoon's Nats game. Trouble followed.
Dukes was taken out of the lineup and fined -- $500, as it were.
Each move, perhaps, defensible. Rules are rules, after all.
But this being the Nats -- an organization that lacks any semblance of shame, credibility, intelligence, common sense, or spirit -- things exploded.
Even though Dukes was doing non-court ordered community service, they threatened him with a demotion to the minors. That'll teach the jerk to play with kids!
When the kids and their parents heard the news of his treatment and the fine, they decided to give back. They're raising money to pay the fine.
The president of the league said, "It's not a question of whether this guy can afford the 500 bucks. We're just trying to send a message to our kids: He was here for us. Now we've got to be there for him."
Manny Acta continued the Nats' tone-deaf response, saying that he'll gladly take money from the kids, "We don't care how the money comes to us, because we don't keep the money. We give it to the clubhouse kids who are needy, or the extra coaches to help with their housing."
Oh, so it's OK because the organization keeps it, instead of giving it to a worthy cause such as, say, the Great Falls Little League?
Good on the kids. Good on Dukes (even though it was a paid appearance). But boo to the Nats -- what else is new with those bums?
Chris Needham used to write Capitol Punishment. He wonders what else will go wrong with this team.
