Elijah Dukes’ Fine To Be Paid By Local Little League
April 23, 2009 – 8:45 am by Michael Bean
For awhile there, it looked like the Elijah Dukes story was not going to have a happy ending. He’s been arrested three times since 1997, gone to anger management counseling to curb a notoriously bad temper, and on the field, has had trouble staying healthy. It’s probably not the greatest thing that he’s on the Washington Nationals, who are almost assuredly headed for a painfully long and frustrating season of losing.
One of the many great things about this country is the ability for people to bounce back from mistakes after getting second chances. We’ll just have to wait and see if that’s the case for Dukes, but to his credit, he has stayed out of trouble thus far in the nation’s capital. In fact, he’s been trying to do a little bit of good in between focusing on staying healthy, out of trouble and producing for his team. This past weekend, Dukes was at a Little League baseball game signing autographs and greeting kids prior to his team’s game that evening. After the singing of the National Anthem at the game, Dukes raced over to the park. He didn’t quite make it in time, arriving five minutes late. He was benched and fined for his actions by the Nationals. When Great Falls Little League organizers found out about the $500 fine, they offered to pay it for Dukes, knowing how much his appearance had meant to the kids who got a chance to meet him. Seems a little ridiculous to me for a Major Leaguer to accept such an offer given how much money they make, but who am I to say too much that is negative about a story that’s generally a good one for all involved.Jim Mraz, Great Falls Little League President joined ESPN Radio Washington D.C. to talk about last weekend’s incident.
On how the League plans to raise the money to pay the fine for Dukes:
“We’re in the process of that right now. We have games at the park every night and we have jars out there that are labeled The Elijah Fund. I think we’ll get there. Since this story broke, I’ve had people emailing me from other states wanting to send me money. So the response has been pretty positive.”
Mraz on how the little league got in contact with Elijah Dukes in the first place, on Dukes’ criminal past, and the full interview after the jump.
On how the event with Dukes was set up in the first place:
“Elijah met a friend of mine in the league who we coach with and had met him at another clinic. He noticed how good he was with the kids. And I don’t know exactly when it was, but Elijah had worked with this friend of mine and said hey, if you ever need anything for your kids, just let me know.”
But did it not matter that he had a criminal past?
“You know that’s a great question. I didn’t know that. I wasn’t aware of Elijah’s past. I knew there was a past, just not the details of it. Only until later I found out that. What had happened was I only knew how great Elijah was when he worked with the kids.”
Listen here to Jim Mraz on ESPN Radio Washington D.C.
Tags: Elijah Dukes, ESPN Radio Washington D.C, Great Falls Little League pays fine of Elijah Dukes, Jim Mraz
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