Nationals outfielder Elijah Dukes, known for a long history of miscreant behavior, was recently fined $500 and benched for a day for being late 5 minutes for whatever time players were supposed to show up for Saturday's game. Now it turns out that he was late because of volunteer work at the Great Falls Little League, who have now announced that they are going to pay his fine for him. Their official reasoning is as follows:
"The point is, this guy gave back to our community, and now he's in a hard spot. We need to help him," said Jim Mraz, the Great Falls LL president, according to the Post. "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."
You know, I'm with the Little League on this one. Now if Dukes really wants to set the right tone, he should pay the fine for himself anyway and not let the Little League do it. Nevertheless, I think the gesture by the Little League was the appropriate one, as they are sending the right message by saying that they have some accountability too. Amen!
4 hours ago
2 comments:
I have no comment on the actual story, but as a point of trivia I will mention that I used to live in Great Falls, VA, and, in fact, played in the Great Falls Little League.
It's good to know that at least some of their alums have made it big. ;)
(Sorry, I couldn't resist. I meant the above in good humor.)
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