Monday, June 11, 2007

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Struggling Wife Beaters Yearing To Breathe Free

Signing a fat, jolly, drug-abuser who slaps around his mistress while on some sort of sugar high or low is one thing.

Attempting to trade for a scumbag creep who stalks and threatens to kill his wife is another and leaves delightful answering machine messages when he's not sending her pictures of guns reminding her of his threats:
"Hey, dawg. It's on, dawg. You dead, dawg. I ain't even bulls-------. Your kids too, dawg. It don't even matter to me who is in the car with you. N-----, all I know is, n-----, when I see your m-----f------- a-- riding, dawg, it's on. As a matter of fact, I'm coming to your m-----f------ house."


Delightful.

When Jim Bowden traded for crazy Jose Guillen, at least Guillen kept his outburts on the field where it belongs (if there), even if most of it was directed at his teammates. Bowden crowed repeatedly about how Guillen was misunderstood and how he'd be happy to have his children spend time with him. That, for the most part worked out.

But would Jim leave his kids with this homicidal nutbag?

The team doesn't need to be a team of goodies like Jamey Carroll. But there needs to be a line drawn somewhere. And wherever you decided to draw it, Elijah Dukes is way on the other side of it.

  • To be fair, Duke's wife isn't completely an innocent bystander, as the bottom of this post shows.

    • posted by Chris Needham at 9:01 AM

    17 Comments:

    • Dimtri is a drunk not a junkie, unless I missed something, which is highly possible.

      By Blogger Unknown, at 6/11/2007 9:24 AM  

    • "I had drug and alcohol problems, and [Tigers president] Dave Dombrowski allowed me to go to Promises Malibu and deal with them," Young said. "It's a great day -- getting back is what I've been waiting for."

      Source

      By Blogger Chris Needham, at 6/11/2007 9:26 AM  

    • Hit .350 with some power and the crowd won't care if you bite the head off a kitten on the way to the plate. "That's just Elijah, being Elijah."

      (Anyone else his love of the word "dawg" will be too attractive to a certain GM?)

      By Blogger Harper, at 6/11/2007 9:44 AM  

    • I stand corrected :)

      By Blogger Unknown, at 6/11/2007 9:56 AM  

    • Wouldn't the ankle bracelet affect his ability to get a jump?

      By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6/11/2007 11:10 AM  

    • Elijah "Put Up Your" Dukes would be terrific for the Nats. Especially because Gary Sheffield wants to mentor him.

      On a more serious note, one bad apple does not spoil the batch (see Detroit Piston's acquiring Rasheed Wallace). No one denies his talents. And we're the Nats. Buy low, sell high.

      By Blogger OleShu, at 6/11/2007 11:11 AM  

    • That's true.

      But there's a difference between a mouthy, opinionated, contract-driving pain in the ass like, well, Gary Sheffield and the things that Dukes has done.

      But low, sure, but it's not Dukes or nothing. I'd rather have players I can root for, even if they have a bit less talent.

      By Blogger Chris Needham, at 6/11/2007 11:13 AM  

    • Wow. I think they have made a lot of comments on how the team is playing better than expected in part because the clubhouse dynamic is so good. Elijah Dukes is not going to help that in the least.

      I was still waiting for us to re-sign Tomo Okha off waivers, and totally missed that bit of news. I have to admit that as distateful as it is, though, oleshu's point about perhaps being able to get talent cheap in this case could be the deciding factor.

      By Blogger Positively Half St., at 6/11/2007 11:34 AM  

    • I would love to see the Nats get Dukes if the price is low. No doubt that the kid is a head-case, but he has immense talent. Getting him away from his home town might help, and I think that Manny Acta may be able to get him to channel his energy in the right place.

      The circumstances sourrounding the Dukes' domestic incident seem murky to me. Not hard to see threats being made after a former spouse cleans out a bank account and then demands $350,000 a year in alimony (the MLB minimum is about that). Obviously, he handled the situation wrong, but it sounds like Ms. Gilbert has issues too.

      The fact is that Nat organization has no MLB position player talent in AAA or AA, and Dukes has the ability to be a solid MLB CFer for a decade+. I would hold my nose, but make the move (assuming the Nats get a bad boy discount).

      By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6/11/2007 11:34 AM  

    • I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't want Dukes anywhere near this team.

      Honestly, his ex may be a bit of a case herself but death threats are NEVER acceptable. Especially when the individual is a big athlete of questionable stability.

      Seriously, look at the swarth of damage he did in Durham. Do you all seriously want to deal with the headache of the inevitable headlines of Dukes escapades?

      If he comes to DC, there will be trouble and I honestly think that unless he receives serious help and treatment, he will kill someone.

      Dukes belongs in Dr. Melfi's office.

      Oh, and I am tired of the "blame the victim" - referring to NiShea. Dukes has a rap sheet since high school. You don't make death threats. Period.

      By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6/11/2007 12:32 PM  

    • Re Ohka, it seems as if the Nats' need for "pitching, pitching, pitching" may not be as dire as it was, oh, just a few short weeks ago. Indeed, with Patterson, Hill, Bergmann and Ayala due to come back fairly shortly, it seems there may soon be a pitching surplus around here. Probably why we're not hearing Ohka's name bandied about much.

      Re Dukes, perhaps the report had a typo and meant to say the Washington Redskins? He does seem like exactly their kind of guy. Although if he really is a candidate for image rehabilitation rather than an unrepentant scoundrel, then Manny Acta's dugout might be just the place for him. As others have said, it seems to have done wonders for Dimitri...

      By Blogger An Briosca Mor, at 6/11/2007 12:37 PM  

    • I don't see the problem with taking on a chance on Dukes. Yes, he is a risk, but he brings with him the risk of the Nationals actually winning some ball games. If he doesn't pan out, they waive him and move on. Beggars can't be choosy.

      Let's put this in perspective: outside of Zimmerman, Dukes has more potential than the rest of the Nationals position players combined. That's enough for me.

      By Blogger RPS, at 6/11/2007 1:09 PM  

    • "...he brings with him the risk of the Nationals actually winning some ball games."

      Uhh, let's not forget that the Nats record in the past month is 17-11. They are winning some games.

      By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6/11/2007 1:22 PM  

    • whither josh hamilton?

      By Blogger DCPowerGator, at 6/11/2007 2:58 PM  

    • Regarding Mr. Dukes:

      NO, NO, NO! 1,000 times NO!

      By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6/11/2007 8:45 PM  

    • NO.

      They'd want a catcher, cause they're set in most other places, and they'd ask for Flores. And I'd rather they didn't do that.

      By Blogger (j)on, at 6/11/2007 10:07 PM  

    • Here is the only relevant question (because Dukes can play):

      Has Elijah laid his hands in anger on any woman?

      I do not know the answer. If the answer is yes, that is one thing, but if the answer is no . . .

      Da' Meathook, whom I have loved since freezing my a$$ off in the Diamondback series at RFK in April, and Wil Cordero have.

      We need to be consistent on this position.

      Death threats aren't right, ever. But, if she really took the bank account to zero for sport and wants his entire monthly paycheck for support, as Chris Rock said, "I ain't sayin' its right . . . but I understand."

      By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6/11/2007 11:04 PM  

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