Dukes involved in incident in Dominican game

Elijah Dukes apparently hasn't calmed down that much.

The troubled outfielder had been enjoying what Rays officials have said was a seemingly quiet and successful return to the field with the Licey team in the Dominican Republic - until Thursday night.

Dukes reacted angrily after being called out on strikes in the ninth inning and was ejected after going chest-to-chest with the umpire, and had to be restrained by several teammates at different times.

"It got a little ugly,'' said Jesus Campos, VP of baseball operations for the host Gigantes team. "If it wasn't for (teammate) Andy Tracy holding him back, things could have gotten a lot worse. ... It definitely wasn't a safe situation for the umpire because (Dukes) is a big guy.''

(Watch the video of part of the incident here. Scroll ahead to about 5:25.)

Dukes - who had been dropped from the Rays roster in June after a series of off-field and personal problems and confrontations, including accusations he threatened his estranged wife and children  - had a rough night overall.

He had words with the opposing catcher, objected to a strike call in his first at-bat, then was hit by a pitch his next time up and flung his bat to the ground, and on his way to first made a somewhat suggestive gesture to the typically rowdy crowd, which had been jeering him. It's not uncommon for fans at these games to scream and throw bottles on the field while player ejections aren't as rare as in American baseball.

Campos said he wouldn't be surprised if Dukes was suspended for his actions.

"He needs to grow up,'' Campos said. "His body and ability, it looks like it's there. He's a big man, but he has a long way to mature."

Dukes returned to the Licey lineup Thursday for the first time in 12 days. In 18 games he is hitting .236 (13-for-55) with 2 homers and 6 RBIs and 4 steals. He has struck out 21 times and walked 11 times.

Rays officials have said they hadn't decided if Dukes would return to the team next spring, but that he had been doing well. With the trade of RF Delmon Young, Dukes would have a chance for considerable playing time if he was on the team.

Rays officials were not aware of the incident.

"We are not able to properly comment until we have had a chance to speak with Elijah and officials from the Licey ball club,'' Rays spokesman Rick Vaughn said.

Earlier Friday during a media session at Tropicana Field, Rays executive VP Andrew Friedman was asked about Dukes' overall status and said he had been doing well.

"We're doing a lot of work with him and feel like he's made a lot of positive strides,'' Friedman said. "There's still a lot of things that would have to happen from our standpoint for us to count on him, and it's Nov. 30 and there's a lot of off-season to go.''

-- EDUARDO A. ENCINA and MARC TOPKIN, Times Staff Writers

(Photo -- Licey TV, YouTube. Click to enlarge.)

Comments

[jeff]

Dukes a Hazard

[Clark]

While not giving a pass on previous bad behavior, I agree, based on this video, this is less than nothing.
If you're going to scroll ahead to see something interesting, check out the girl's moves at 4:50. Yowza!

[not a big deal]

Getting tossed from a game is not a big deal. But after he got tossed he looked like he wanted to throw down, not like he wanted to argue. Dukes just gets too animated when he is angry. He was over the top when he went off on the radio too. You can't expect anyone to never get angry. Dukes just needs to tone down the anger when he gets angry.

[dave]

ryan,

while i agree, i still disagree. if you watch that video, dukes wasn't even the only player to get ejected from that game for going to chest to chest with an ump, and this is in one game. from what i read, fans routinely throw bottles at players, and are very abrasive. your point that it is the dominican league is taken, but you have it backward. as opposed to this being something not necessary b/c it is a winter league, this type of behavior is actually the norm down there, and is really only news to the sp times, who seem to have it out for dukes for some reason. for gods sake, young threw a bat an ump and now he gets a free pass. dukes can keep this type of behavior up all he wants to as long as he performs on the field...

[James]

The SP Times does seem to pick on Dukes. However, he has become a target because of things he has done in the past. He must be on extra good behavior to make up for his current image.

[Ryan Callahan]

Dave,

I agree that it wasnt anything out of the norm, but it is dominican league baseball, let it go. he just needs to stay out of the papers for any bad PR.

[dave]

umm, what's the big deal? he argued with an ump. so what? happens all the time, not just in the dominican league. we see players AND coaches go chest to chest with umps ALL the time. why is this a big deal? gwo up dukes? umm, no, don't grow up. he didn't hit anyone, didn't throw his bat at anyone, didn't do ANYTHING outside baseball norms, this type of thing happens every day in the mlb, literally every day. why does the sp times have it our for this guy? so he didn't agree with a call, that is HARDLY grounds for a bad behavior article. pathetic sptimes, seriously pathetic.

[CP]

Elijah Dukes is a thug and we do not need this type of player in the (Devil) Rays lineup. We should trade this idiot for anything that we can get for him, even if it's for a few used baseballs.

[Ryan Callahan]

I know this isnt a major thing or anything, BUT ELIJAH GROW UP! This is dominican league baseball for christ sakes. THIS DOSENT EVEN COUNT! He has a perfect chance to get back onto the team with delmon young gone, and if he doesnt grow up, he will not get that chance. I have not given up on dukes yet, but i am pretty close. He is immature, and he needs to hurry up and get mature, or he is going to find himself with no team wanting him. Im telling you, if we find a replacement for young within the organization such as justing ruggiano, dukes is one of the most expendable players in the organization. Like i said, DUKES, GROW UP ALREADY.