I'm sick and tired of these athletes like Elijah Dukes and Albert Belle barging into middle school classrooms and threatening to kill children.

Jeez. I thought he was just spirited, not a crazy a##hole.

dukes is a scary bad guy. always has been. he makes a guy like milton bradley look like a choir boy.

Isn't his a pops in prison or at least a recent guest at the blue-bar hotel?

What is with Tampa prospects, anyway? Lord, do they have more than their share of personality problems.

Anyway, Dukes sounds like a real nice fella.

Isn't his a pops in prison or at least a recent guest at the blue-bar hotel?

His father is in prison for killing a man who sold bunk crack to Elijah's mother.

did he kill him for selling her crack? Of was it because it was bunk crack?

Let me be a little controversial: every two weeks or so, we get an article bemoaning the fact that the African-American population is no longer playing baseball (or at least isn't as interested as before).

Does it not stand to reason that the more African-American players there are in baseball (as its the case in other sports), the more problems prevalent in parts of the African-American community will be brought into the baseball limelight?

Don't misunderstand me: I'm not saying blacks are the only people who have family violence issues. Far from it.

What I am saying is that it stands to reason that such problems as bemoan parts of the African American community (or by the same token, the Dominican, or Latin-U.S. or Venezuelan - think Urbina - community) are inevitably going to be noticed and noticed more if there are more African-American players.....

Dukes would seem to be someone who comes from a very underprivileged background. It's not extremely noteworthy that someone from that background acts in ways which are consistent with it.

Conversely, you have someone like Ryan Howard, who comes from a rock solid middle-class African American family, who doesn't get into these situations.....

What is with Tampa prospects, anyway? Lord, do they have more than their share of personality problems.

Axis II personality disorders: the new market inefficiency.

Dukes would seem to be someone who comes from a very underprivileged background. It's not extremely noteworthy that someone from that background acts in ways which are consistent with it.

Conversely, you have someone like Ryan Howard, who comes from a rock solid middle-class African American family, who doesn't get into these situations.....

those last two paragraphs should tell you that race has nothing to do with it. It has more to do with economics and upbringing. Not race.

as for the rest of your proclamation, you might as well have said, if we allow more Hispanics into baseball peoples wallets are going to start showing up missing. It really was that sterotypical.

If Dukes is guilty of this B.S. he should be put on a street corner in Harlem at midnight clad in nothing but a pink Victoria Secrets thong, a KKK hood and rubber gloves holding a sign that advertises free "Handless Prostate Exams" while singing "I Touch Myself" with a megaphone. If he survives that, he should be force-fed three bars of chocolate Ex Lax, two boxes of All Bran and four pints of prune juice. Six hours later, bind him at the wrists, roll him in a mixture of pine-tar, itching powder and pig manure. Then you put a clamp on his nose, wrap him up in pink fiberglass insulation, put him inside a cat-urine soaked sleeping bag and hung upside down inside a musty closet with a humidifier going full blast while being spun around non stop with nothing but Hanson and Hillary Duff tunes being played full blast for a period of time no less than 72 hours.

Then you take him down, soak his chest with saline, attach jumper cables to his nipples, and attach the other end to a car battery and seat him on a work bench with his balls in a serrated vice coated with Dettol and slowly turn the vice while turning over the car.

Film it for posterity and make it mandatory for anyone involved in spousal abuse/child abuse to view it several times with the warning: Do it again and you're next. I know it's hardly a 'Christian' thing to think of doing but at least it might make a great deterrant for sphincterically-inclined, Oedipus-complexing hell spawn of unmarried canine parents.

God, I hate slimeballs like that.

Best Regards

John

What is with Tampa prospects, anyway? Lord, do they have more than their share of personality problems.

To some extent, I think that Upton, Dukes, and Young may reinforce each other's feelings of frustration. I believe that they were the trio who went on record last year about how poorly the D-Rays farm system is run and inept the organization's management.

Upton seems to be fine now that he's got an everyday job in the majors. I suspect that the same would be true with Young. Dukes has always been the most volatile (IMHO), but he also possibly has the most talent of the three.

Alas, the legacy of Josh Hamilton (immediately finding success in another organization after getting cut) will probably be reluctance on Tampa's part to let any young, troubled talent go. Even if doing so would probably be in the best interests of both the player and the team.

Amen, John.

Best Regards

I know this is how you always close your posts, but this was particularly hilaripus after that rant.

It's extremely disheartening in this era of increased vigilance and security that we should all observe to protect the national interest that John has been able to easily get a hold of some of our more effective interrogation techniques. Getting that information out can only harm our efforts in the war on terror.

To some extent, I think that Upton, Dukes, and Young may reinforce each other's feelings of frustration. I believe that they were the trio who went on record last year about how poorly the D-Rays farm system is run and inept the organization's management.

Upton seems to be fine now that he's got an everyday job in the majors. I suspect that the same would be true with Young. Dukes has always been the most volatile (IMHO), but he also possibly has the most talent of the three.

Alas, the legacy of Josh Hamilton (immediately finding success in another organization after getting cut) will probably be reluctance on Tampa's part to let any young, troubled talent go. Even if doing so would probably be in the best interests of both the player and the team.

Don't forget the Legend of Toe Nash.

hilaripus

I know this is just a typo, but this needs to be a word. We should move this to the A-Rod and Pedroia thread. It can mean "an act intended to portray intended toughness but instead comes across as girlish." Hilaripus. I actually like it.

as for the rest of your proclamation, you might as well have said, if we allow more Hispanics into baseball peoples wallets are going to start showing up missing. It really was that sterotypical.

If teams sign more Japanese players, their math scores will go up.

If teams sign more Japanese players, their math scores will go up.

Thank you, Reggie White

I know this is just a typo, but this needs to be a word.

You're in luck, my friend.

I know this is just a typo, but this needs to be a word.
You're in luck, my friend.

Dammit. Like Avon Barksdale says, "How you never gonna be a little slow? How you never gonna be a little late?"

To some extent, I think that Upton, Dukes, and Young may reinforce each other's feelings of frustration. I believe that they were the trio who went on record last year about how poorly the D-Rays farm system is run and inept the organization's management.

Whatever. There are a lot of organizations that do a lousy job developing talent; that doesn't cause said talent to throw bats, threaten their spouses, etc. I don't know that there's anything the Rays are or aren't doing that's enabling this behavior from their top prospects, but it is kind of striking how many of them seem to be problem children. (And for the record, I think Dukes is a breed apart from the rest of the Tampa prospects in terms of misconduct, and that his conduct in particular is completely disconnected from the stupidity of the Rays' front office.)

I mean, I don't dispute that the Rays have been run by a bunch of numbnuts for most (if not all) of their history, but come on. They could just as easily argue (rightfully) that they'd prefer not to rush players who show serious maturity issues up to and including thuggish (or even criminal) behavior.

Geez--Hamilton, too. And I'd forgotten all about Toe Nash.

There are two sides to the pathological behavior here. Athletes as a group are well-known to spread their seed far and wide, but groupies are also well-known to spread their legs far and wide for these athletes. And popping out a baby by a rich athlete certainly has its financial rewards.

Dukes' wife has also been arrested for violence against him.

Two-way street -- women have to start taking responsibility for themselves and their behavior in these relationships.

Two-way street -- women have to start taking responsibility for themselves and their behavior in these relationships.

Sure, but geez, a middle school? That ain't right.

Why is Upton getting lumped in with two pyschopaths?

mean, I don't dispute that the Rays have been run by a bunch of numbnuts for most (if not all) of their history, but come on.

I have little reason to believe the current TBD front office isn't solid, or maybe better. I think we need to wait in see, certainly the previous administrations had their heads up their asses.

Why is Upton getting lumped in with two pyschopaths?

The people who had season tickets behind the 1B dugout in Durham the last few years think Upton is a psychopath.

Dukes certainly looks like the ballplayer most likely to end up in prison -- he's got Albert Belle's temperment, but not the intelligence.

"The people who had season tickets behind the 1B dugout in Durham the last few years think Upton is a psychopath."

I must have missed/forgotten this, what did he do?

ubber gloves holding a sign that advertises free "Handless Prostate Exams"

If they are handless, why the need for gloves?

I don't know that there's anything the Rays are or aren't doing that's enabling this behavior from their top prospects, but it is kind of striking how many of them seem to be problem children.

That's why they were willing to take the risk and trade a player as good as Victor Zambrano for "clubhouse cancer" Scott Kazmir.

Why do I rub salt into my own wounds like this?

TB should just drop 'Rays'.

Elijah Dukes belongs in a Harry Crews novel.

I must have missed/forgotten this, what did he do?

Threw about 50 baseballs per year at them instead of to the first baseman.

Elijah Dukes should have all those middle school children taken away from him.

"The people who had season tickets behind the 1B dugout in Durham the last few years think Upton is a psychopath."

I must have missed/forgotten this, what did he do?

Remember the old saying: "Never attribute to inaccuracy what can adequately be explained by malice"

I have little reason to believe the current TBD front office isn't solid, or maybe better.

Hence my equivocation.

Not a very bright move by Dukes if it happened as described here. I'd still take a shot on him though. A's have had pretty good luck with Bradley except for his injuries. Dukes sounds like has anger management issues but I don't recall anyone saying he's a sociopath.

Dukes sounds like has anger management issues but I don't recall anyone saying he's a sociopath.

Well, no one really wants to go on record calling a sociopath a sociopath.

Seriously - at what point do you start blaming the organization? If only for a crappy PR department that can't keep a lid on these things.

Prisons are full of folks with anger management issues.

"Seriously - at what point do you start blaming the organization? If only for a crappy PR department that can't keep a lid on these things."

Surely, you jest. Pro athlete/death threat/children? This story hits all of the hot buttons. I would bet there are a bunch of reporters in St. Pete right now, walking around with hard-ons, just thinking about where this story might go from here.

did he kill him for selling her crack? Of was it because it was bunk crack?

She got ripped off when purchasing $100 worth of crack, supposedly. Not sure the details.

Remember the old saying: "Never attribute to inaccuracy what can adequately be explained by malice"

I thought the saying went: "Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by incompetence."?

Whatever. YMMV.

Surely, you jest. Pro athlete/death threat/children? This story hits all of the hot buttons.

I don't mean this story per se, I'm looking at the whole Tampa organization. The stories just keep falling out every other month. I also don't mean PR to cover things up but to help explain to players what their actions mean to the team and their careers THEN working with the press. (All PR isn't evil.)

If he's such an asshat, why do women keep having babies with him?

(I'm not denying the fact that he might be an asshat, but questioning why women are having babies with asshats)

Upton had a DUI in Chapel Hill last year.

Most of the time that Upton, Dukes, and Young were in Durham last year, they hung together with Darnell McDonald. Granted, that's probably a "comfort" thing: there were no other African-American players on the team. But what struck me was that there was almost no communication between those four players and the rest of the team; it wasn't just that the African-Americans were in one group and the whites in another, but that no one even bothered to *try* to bridge the gap.

-- MWE

If teams sign more Japanese players, their math scores will go up.

BUT AVERAGE PENIS SIZE WILL DECREASE!!!

Does it not stand to reason that the more African-American players there are in baseball (as its the case in other sports), the more problems prevalent in parts of the African-American community will be brought into the baseball limelight?

I would change African-American in this question to 'kids who grow up in high-crime neighborhoods with broken or weak family structures.'

My observation -- never validated by any studies, as I don't think any have been done -- is that the vast majority of African-American players now in the majors grew up in intact families in the suburbs or in middle-class or higher neighborhoods. In other words, their home lives were not materially different from most white American players now in the majors. By contrast, my observation -- also not proven -- is that African-American players now in the NFL and in the NBA were more likely than their MLB counterparts to have grown up in single-parent households in poorer circumstances.

Therefore, if my assumptions are true, MLB could greatly increase the numbers of African-American players and the social and criminal problems you refer to would not go up at all, as long as the additional African-American players came from backgrounds much like the black American players already on MLB rosters.

To add a needless example, you don't often see situations like that of a Pacman Jones or Elijah Dukes with people like Jermaine Dye and CC Sabathia. The difference is not their race -- all being black Americans -- the difference is that Dye and Sabathia grew up in the suburbs in middle class homes with their fathers at home, Jones and (I presume) Dukes did not.

I really hope they release Dukes now, he has gotten more chances than he deserves already and is really a lunatic.

I don't think it's accurate to say that personality issues are running or have run rampant in the Rays farm system. Yeah, Young is somewhat of a prick and always has been but the bat-throwing thing was pretty out of character for him, generally he's your standard mostly harmless jerk. Upton doesn't have personality issues really but gets unfairly lumped in with his two Durham teammates, I believe in that USA Today article last year he didn't even say anything bad but because Dukes and Young did in the same one Upton got criticized too. Nobody else is recent years has had any real problems, it's just that the huge spotlight shone on the recent issues makes it seem like it's a lot worse than it is. Dukes and Young have been the only problem children for the team.

Axis II personality disorders: the new market inefficiency.

ACTUALLY, when they drafted him, they knew exactly what they were getting. They were taking a chance on a top-10 talent with an undrafted head and a bad background. It's basically come to fruition without too much change, unfortunately. This might be the least surprising baseball news of the year, other than Kei Igawa sucking.

I must have missed/forgotten this, what did he do?

Threw about 50 baseballs per year at them instead of to the first baseman.

That almost made me crap my pants. Best line ever.

as for the rest of your proclamation, you might as well have said, if we allow more Hispanics into baseball peoples wallets are going to start showing up missing. It really was that sterotypical.

Sadly, my fellow country man (Ruben Rivera) DID steal some bats and stuff from Derek Jeter a few years back. It's not something that I'm proud of that....

In late April, Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfielder Elijah Dukes barged into his wife’s middle school classroom

This sentence would have a very different meaning if the athlete in question were Lastings Milledge. Or Paul LoDuca.

This sentence would have a very different meaning if the athlete in question were Lastings Milledge

Forgive me for letting facts get in the way of a zingfest, but wasn't Lastings guilty of sleeping with a girl that was only 2 or 3 years younger than him?

43. IronChef Chris Wok Posted: May 23, 2007 at 01:39 PM (#2375998)
If he's such an asshat, why do women keep having babies with him?

And:

45. IronChef Chris Wok Posted: May 23, 2007 at 01:42 PM (#2376004)
If teams sign more Japanese players, their math scores will go up.

BUT AVERAGE PENIS SIZE WILL DECREASE!!!

There. You answered your own question.

Rich Rifkin Posted: May 23, 2007 at 01:42 PM (#2376005)

Does it not stand to reason that the more African-American players there are in baseball (as its the case in other sports), the more problems prevalent in parts of the African-American community will be brought into the baseball limelight?
I would change African-American in this question to 'kids who grow up in high-crime neighborhoods with broken or weak family structures.'

- kids who grow up in high crime neighborhoods are not playing baseball
- as for broken or weak family strctures - i am guessing you mean no father around - the only Black players i can think of are gary sheffield and dontrelle willis and i think torii hunter (not positive)

My observation -- never validated by any studies, as I don't think any have been done -- is that the vast majority of African-American players now in the majors grew up in intact families in the suburbs or in middle-class or higher neighborhoods. In other words, their home lives were not materially different from most white American players now in the majors. By contrast, my observation -- also not proven -- is that African-American players now in the NFL and in the NBA were more likely than their MLB counterparts to have grown up in single-parent households in poorer circumstances.

- agree

Therefore, if my assumptions are true, MLB could greatly increase the numbers of African-American players and the social and criminal problems you refer to would not go up at all, as long as the additional African-American players came from backgrounds much like the black American players already on MLB rosters.

To add a needless example, you don't often see situations like that of a Pacman Jones or Elijah Dukes with people like Jermaine Dye and CC Sabathia. The difference is not their race -- all being black Americans -- the difference is that Dye and Sabathia grew up in the suburbs in middle class homes with their fathers at home, Jones and (I presume) Dukes did not.

- well dukes WAS around his dad which might could have been a lot of the problem. it is the growing up in a high crime area/family that is the problem

I'm surprised no one has mentioned these lines from the ESPN.com story...

"When approached by the newspaper before Tuesday night's game, Dukes declined to comment on Gilbert's allegations.
"I'm just going to play ball, that's it," Dukes told the newspaper. "I've got to go. I've got a video game to finish.""

I'm as pro civil liberties as anyone, so I'd like to be assured that this voicemail is legit before I call for his tarring and feathering but if it is I don't see how anyone can defend him. I'm sure some will, but if he said those things its proof hes nothing but an evil man.

And I don't even mean that like I think he was GOING to do it. I'd bet 5 bucks that he never would have gone through with the threats even if no intervention was made - it was probably a threat just to make a threat - but its still evil.

If the voicemail is authentic, even if he is convicted of nothing, I'd want him suspended from baseball til at least April 2009.

If Josh Hamilton got 3 years or more for smack or coke or whatever a year and a half for Elijah is pretty generous

did he kill him for selling her crack? Of was it because it was bunk crack?

She got ripped off when purchasing $100 worth of crack, supposedly. Not sure the details.

It was definately something relating to his anger about the bunkness or otherwise being ripped off. He wasnt morally outraged that someone sold his wife crack, he was upset that it was bad crack or she was overcharged.

He wasn't taking "how dare you sell my wife an addictive, deadly, illegal drug" high ground, thats for sure

but if he said those things its proof hes nothing but an evil man.

well if he did those things he is an evil man... just saying them, well its certainly evidence he may be evil... but I wouldn't say proof.

"just saying them, well its certainly evidence he may be evil... but I wouldn't say proof."

I don't know, threatening to kill a woman's child is pretty evil. It's like movie villain evil. Granted, he didn't kidnap the kid and have him in his secret lair while threatening the, but still.

Remember the old saying: "Never attribute to inaccuracy what can adequately be explained by malice"

Malice, inaccuracy, do the fans really have time to ponder that when they are ducking for cover?

Cowboy Popup Posted: May 23, 2007 at 04:22 PM (#2376190)

I don't know, threatening to kill a woman's child is pretty evil.

especially seeing as how they HIS OWN CHILDREN

If he's such an asshat, why do women keep having babies with him?

(I'm not denying the fact that he might be an asshat, but questioning why women are having babies with asshats)

Women sleeping with asshats (especially asshats who happen to be jocks)?! Unprecedented, I tell you!!

"especially seeing as how they HIS OWN CHILDREN"

Won't someone other then Elijah Dukes think of the children?!?

How stupid are a person who delivers his death threats on voice mail? Kinda easy for the police to get hard evidence that way.

No one has ever accused Mr. Dukes of being a Mensa candidate.

How stupid are a person who delivers his death threats on voice mail?

If true, he'd definitely be a first ballot Voice Mail Hall of Famer alongside Alec Baldwin and Pat O'Brien.

In late April, Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfielder Elijah Dukes barged into his wife’s middle school classroom at lunchtime.

This sentence would have a very different meaning if... Elijah Dukes owned a barge and was really barging into his wife's middle school classroom.

What grade is she in? Seriously.

For those who don't want to read the whole article, here are a few lowlights:

Four women have gone to court seeking child support from Dukes. In all four cases, the court found Dukes was the father, meaning he has at least five children by four women. Two of those women were pregnant at the same time, giving birth in 2003 within eight days of each other.

Gilbert met Dukes when she was a student in 2003 at the University of South Florida. She filed for child support in March 2004 after the couple's first child was born. He was ordered to pay $222.26 a month.

During her second pregnancy, she sought and won a yearlong restraining order against him. A judge ordered him to attend a certified batterers' intervention program and substance abuse evaluation.

and

Before he moved up to the major leagues, Dukes had on-field confrontations last season with a coach and a teammate while with Devil Rays' Triple-A affiliate Durham. He was suspended for 30 games.

Dukes was charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession during a traffic stop on Jan. 15. A hearing is scheduled for June 4.

And the team's response:

"He has made a lot of strides, but obviously this is something that certainly requires our attention," [Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Andrew] Friedman, of the Rays, said.

Gee, Andy, ya think?

Gee, Andy, ya think?

He said so. What do you want him to do? Punish him? Get him counseling? I suspect they are working with him, but regardless what do you think they should do.

Upton had a DUI in Chapel Hill last year.

Most of the time that Upton, Dukes, and Young were in Durham last year, they hung together with Darnell McDonald. Granted, that's probably a "comfort" thing: there were no other African-American players on the team. But what struck me was that there was almost no communication between those four players and the rest of the team; it wasn't just that the African-Americans were in one group and the whites in another, but that no one even bothered to *try* to bridge the gap.

-- MWE

Why would this be surprising? The same thing happens everywhere I've been in my life.

A picture of the gun picture Dukes allegedly sent to her phone is on this page...

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/23/Tampabay/Ballplayer_s_wife__He.shtml

or a direct link to the jpg

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/23/images/large/dukes_cellphone_300.jpg

"Dukes would seem to be someone who comes from a very underprivileged background. It's not extremely noteworthy that someone from that background acts in ways which are consistent with it."

Those poor black people, just completely out of control. Why, I suppose black women should just consider themselves lucky that their husbands don't kill them and their children.

The full voicemail:
"Hey, dawg. It's on, dawg. You dead, dawg. I ain't even bullshtting. Your kids too, dawg. It don't even matter to me who is in the car with you. N--ga, all I know is, n--ga, when I see your motherfkking a$s riding, dawg, it's on. As a matter of fact, I'm coming to your motherfkking house."

More details on Dukes female relations:

In October 2005, another Tampa woman, Carla Bryant, the mother of Dukes' oldest child, filed for a domestic violence restraining order against Dukes. A judge ordered that he stay away from her for a year. Bryant claimed Dukes threatened her over the phone.

Dukes was ordered to attend an anger management course.

Reached Tuesday, Bryant declined to say why she filed for protection. She said she was "going through complicated issues" at the time. Her grandfather was ailing. Dukes was trying to be more involved in their daughter's life.

"We've resolved an issue that we probably could have dealt with ourselves," Bryant said. "As far as anything domestic, I haven't had any altercations with him recently, and anything in the past, I'd like to leave it there."

The pair have a daughter. Bryant had no complaints about Dukes' treatment of the child.

Four women have gone to court seeking child support from Dukes. In all four cases, the court found Dukes was the father, meaning he has at least five children by four women. Two of those women were pregnant at the same time, giving birth in 2003 within eight days of each other.

but regardless what do you think they should do.

Obviously he's too good a baseball player to make the Rays go all moral and release him. So the best way forward is probably to give him a raise so he can hire some muscle to do the dirty work for him, thus keeping him away from trouble.

I don't know, threatening to kill a woman's child is pretty evil. It's like movie villain evil. Granted, he didn't kidnap the kid and have him in his secret lair while threatening the, but still.

Yes. When he did that, he crossed that line between everyday villainy and cartoonish super-villainy.

what do you think they should do

He is a total embarrassment to the organization, and if you think he is going to just suddenly start acting better, you need to re-think. He has exhibited zero impulse control. Four or five kids out wedlock. Arrests. Suspensions. Restraining orders. Striding into a middle school and making threats. Leaving threat messages on voice mail.

I don't care how talented he is, this MLB, not the Cincinnati Bengals. If they don't release him, they should suspend him and put him counseling today, if they really think it might do some good.

Whatever they do, it requires a lot more than just their "attention."

(I'm not denying the fact that he might be an asshat, but questioning why women are having babies with asshats)

Are you new to the planet?

If they don't release him, they should suspend him and put him counseling today, if they really think it might do some good.

Not disagreeing with you, but if they released him, what would he fetch on the open market? Surely someone's willing to give him a million per, at least.

You know, I didn't realize that he had such a long history of domestic violence, threats, etc. I thought he was just another immature malcontent.

IMHO, he's beyond probation with mandatory counseling; the guy needs to see the inside of a jail cell, even if only for a few months. From the newspaper excerpts on this page, it seems like these incidents are increasing in frequency and intensity. Left unchecked, it's only a matter of time before something very tragic happens.

Which is a shame, because he is so incredibly talented and should be striking fear of god into opposing pitchers rather than former mistresses.

Not disagreeing with you, but if they released him, what would he fetch on the open market? Surely someone's willing to give him a million per, at least.

It's an interesting question. The sticking point may not be the annual salary, but whether or not Dukes would insist on being on the 25 man roster (so a de facto Rule 5 player, albeit highly talented).

Ironically, it was of course the D-Rays made out like bandits when they gave Julio Lugo a shot after he was cut by the Astros. My guess is that given the success Josh Hamilton is having with the Reds, the D-Rays are not going to get rid of another elite talent just to make a statement. They're really in a no-win situation.

Ye Gods! I see now he's from Homestead. That explains a lot*.

*It's the humidity. Makes people cranky.

Tampa Bay rookie Elijah Dukes was held out of the lineup Wednesday night against Seattle following a published report that his estranged wife sought a restraining order after being threatened by the 22-year-old outfielder.
...
The Devil Rays said they were aware Dukes' marriage was ending, but that the allegations detailed in the story caught the team by surprise.

Manager Joe Maddon said he made the decision to sit Dukes Wednesday night, although the young center fielder was in uniform and available to play if needed.

"It was my decision to not play him," Maddon said after he and Devil Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman met with Dukes before the game.

"In visiting with him, I can see he's pretty much upset. I anticipated that, so I thought the wise thing to do would be to not start him tonight and more than likely play him tomorrow."

AP

Women sleeping with asshats (especially asshats who happen to be jocks)?! Unprecedented, I tell you!!

Or, what Blackhawk said in post 77.

It's extremely disheartening in this era of increased vigilance and security that we should all observe to protect the national interest that John has been able to easily get a hold of some of our more effective interrogation techniques. Getting that information out can only harm our efforts in the war on terror

Psss: It's not torture anymore, it's "enhanced interrogation techniques." Rudy Guiliani told us so, remember? It was right when he was on stage next to John McCain.

IMHO, he's beyond probation with mandatory counseling; the guy needs to see the inside of a jail cell, even if only for a few months.

Perhaps the lawyers around here can answer this, but aren't there laws that would make the threat, in and of itself, a crime? If it is, then with the saved voice mail and the saved picture of the handgun, the evidence would be unsually solid for that sort of case.

I suspect they are working with him, but regardless what do you think they should do.

I have some suggestions....

Best Regards

John