The Washington Nationals have not had a lot to cheer about this year being an astounding 2-10. However, Nationals outfielder Elijah Dukes was doing something good for his community by attending a little league charity event and speaking some encouraging words to the kids.
This issue with that was this charity event made him late to the Washington Nationals game against the Florida Marlins by an astounding five minutes. So what did the Washington Nationals and manager Manny Acta do, they fined him $500 and benched for the game.
Once the little league parents got word of this they decided to raise the money to pay Dukes’s fine. Here is more of the story from the Washington Post:
"The next day we're reading the paper, and we're hearing he was [fined and] benched," said Leslie McClain, mother of 11-year-old Luke. "We were just really horrified by that, so our first thought was we want to raise the money in the community to pay that fine. We just think it's appalling."
And so began the story of what is surely the most unusual fundraiser in the history of the Great Falls Little League. It started with a flurry of e-mails between incredulous parents and league organizers, and will end later this week when Mraz delivers exactly $501--the extra $1 covering any "administrative expenses," he said -- to the Nationals for the purpose of paying off Dukes's fine. Every dollar they get above that mark will be donated to a Southeast D.C. Little League in Dukes's name.
"The point is, this guy gave back to our community, and now he's in a hard spot. We need to help him," said Mraz, who emphasized he was looking to support Dukes and not criticize the Nationals. "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."
It’s nice to see in such a trying economic time that people are still doing the right thing even if the individual was fined could afford it and paid for his appearance at the charity event. Shame on the Washington Nationals for continuing to keep up their crappy name by fining Dukes for attending a community event, also I do not buy that since it was not a team-sponsored event that he should not attend it.
Nationals manager Manny Acta was later quoted regarding the fine,
"We don't care how the money comes to us, because we don't keep the money," he said. "We give it to the clubhouse kids who are needy, or the extra coaches to help with their housing. It's not something [where] we're going to go out for wings and beers."
That might have been possible digging a bigger hole for the Washington Nationals since just makes it look like the organization is just, “cheap.”
Viva Los Expos! Long Live Youppi!
Stay Classy, Washington Nationals
