A View from the Capital

Bad boy behavior disappeared as an issue in Washington with the departure of Jose Guillen whose tempestuous relationship with Frank Robinson and Brad Wilkerson became grounds for divorce in 2006. Guillen is a baseball archetype whose corrosive effects are tolerated only by teams in dire need of the talent they bring. Now GM Jim Bowden–who finds affinity with these players–has brought in Elijah Dukes to fill the role.

Even Dukes’ baseball talent was in question until this year. He managed to hit only .190 in 189 at-bats last year in Tampa. But this year he has shown when healthy that he has excellent speed both in the outfield and on the bases, has awesome power and finally has hit for average consistently enough to use it (.275/.380/.498 with 11 home runs in 233 at-bats). His outfield defense overall is excellent as well. But a zealous temper led to recurring domestic violence charges that came to a head last year. The tenor of the charges were far more serious than those that have afflicted other major leaguers over the years.  The Tampa Bay Rays suspended him in June of 2007 and then unloaded him to Washington in the off-season.

The Nationals knew they were walking the line with Dukes, but obtained counseling for the young man and it appeared to be working until Wednesday night when his ugly taunting of Mets players nearly brought down the sold-out house. Dukes had to be restrained by his team mates when Mets pitcher Mike Pelfrey brushed him back in retaliation. New York fans do not mince words and there is no doubt that Dukes got an earful all night long from talented hecklers. That violence was avoided is good news given the volatile actors who were brought together.

The questions about Dukes become more vexing now than ever. In a weak hitting Washington lineup he provides badly needed power, much the way Jose Guillen did in 2005. Unlike Guillen however, Dukes is still well-liked in the clubhouse. Ryan Zimmerman is the effective senior citizen on a very young team and Zimmerman offered a cautious vote of confidence in support of Dukes when talking to the press the day after the incident.

The Washington Posts’ Tom Boswell wrote of the incident on Thursday and it was good to learn that the Posts’ senior writer was still following baseball enough to notice. The Redskins are playing after all, and in Washington sports news there is not enough white space for high school, college and professional football and much of anything else.

Boswell put Dukes’ talent in the same category with proven players like Guillen and while it is still early to cast aside all doubts about a 24-year old player on the basis of a partial season, it is not unreasonable to project Dukes as a top tier outfielder in the NL. On the field he could compare with well-rounded outfielders like Tori Hunter.  Such gifted players are not easy to find, especially in Washington.

Nationals’ fans are put in a difficult position. There is little love lost between the Mets and the Nats, but no one wants to be put in the position of rooting for a foul-mouthed, hot-tempered bully. It was difficult to watch the display by Dukes for all concerned and surely Washington has had enough embarrassment in losing the most games in the majors. Do we now have to endure the most ill-behaved player in the majors as well?

It is not easy to remember when I was 24 years of age, but I believe I had a temper and did a few things that I might not want to brag about.  So I urge all involved to breath deeply and remember how young some major leaguers really are. I remember watching Dukes early in the season in Miami playing the Marlins. He had a large contingent of family from the Tampa Bay area watching from the center field stands behind him.  He smiled up at them at the beginning of the inning several times as they called out.  He finally had to urge them to calm down. There was Dukes urging calm, pushing down with both hands outstretched slightly telling someone in the stands to cool it.

Elijah Dukes will mature. He showed that in the days following the incident by admitting the mistake and apologizing to all concerned. They say that the brain of a male of the species does not reach full maturity until 25, so we can hope that some of the circuitry will cool for our Mr. Dukes. The question is whether it will come fast enough. Will the temper outpace the natural human cycle by which we all gain wisdom.

There is a new emerging Elijah Dukes who is struggling to learn that the path to success is one that best focuses his anger on the white spheroid coming out of the pitchers hand.  He is aligned against the younger, less disciplined Elijah Dukes that gained the upper hand on Wednesday night in New York City. Part of this young man still believes that anger is the engine of life itself. As a Nationals fan and an eternal optimist who pulls for the underdog until they are hopelessly defeated, I am pulling for the newer, wiser Elijah Dukes to win out.

Dukes has both the temperament to exceed Milton Bradley as a bad boy of the sport and the talent to compete for All-Star honors in right field. But physical gifts alone cannot save this young man.  He must learn some essential life lessons while shouldering the responsibility for possessing such rare baseball aptitude.  We can never understand the demons of others, but we can all see how important it is that Elijah Dukes win this most important contest with himself.  If so, then baseball will have served as a crucible in which a troubled young man builds and maintains character going forward. Such an outcome would be good for baseball, for Elijah Dukes and all involved.

In Washington, we are keeping our fingers crossed.  We deserve a win and this one would be sweet indeed.