Former Nationals outfielder Elijah Dukes has been arrested again. After being pulled over driving his 2011 Chevy Camaro in Tampa, police noticed he had a bag of marijuana on his lap.
He proceeded to try and eat the bag.
As much as I would like to lie to you and say that this is surprising (the attempted ingestion of the bag, not the arrest), I simply cannot. The man has literally been arrested countless times, including charges related to domestic violence, failure to pay child support and marijuana possession. Most of the charges were not prosecuted or were dismissed.
Dukes considers himself to be blackballed by Major League Baseball for coming forward with allegations of fellow players smuggling drugs on chartered airplanes.
Sure, that’s it. It has nothing to do with his arrests and confrontational style in and out of the game.
It truly is a shame to see a player like Dukes just spiraling down. The man, at one time, had pretty solid potential. I’m not labeling him the next Willie Mays, or anything preposterous like that, however, Dukes could have developed into a solid piece of the Nationals outfield.
It is unfortunate that his sample size is so small. Having only played in 240 Major League games, Dukes showed a decent ability to get on base.
Back in 2009, every projection for Dukes was positive. He was slated to be another star in the making in the Tampa Bay Rays system. He was thought of as an elite athlete with the bat to back it up.
His .242 career batting average doesn’t really support that.
It is a shame, the kid had a lot of potential. He is still young enough that if he got his head on straight, perhaps he could have another run in MLB. However, judging from what history tells us, we’ve seen the last of Dukes trolling any Major League diamond.
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