In our 20th anniversary series, we will cover the slugger who couldn’t stay out of his own way
Elijah Dukes had all the talent in the world. Legendary manager Joe Maddon once compared him to Albert Pujols. However, there was a problem, Dukes was a total head case. That was how he got to the Nationals in the first place. In a Vice article, he was dubbed the Mozart of assholes. The Rays had enough of him, and dumped him to the Nationals for a low level prospect. It was time for Nats fans to buckle up for one heck of a ride.
With his dad in jail, and his mom addicted to drugs, Dukes did not get the guidance he needed as a child, and that showed itself in his adult life. When he wasn’t getting in trouble, he was one of the best prospects in baseball. That is why the Nationals took the drastic step of hiring a former police officer to look after the young slugger.
In 2008, Dukes was actually quite productive when he was healthy. The mercurial slugger posted an .864 OPS and 13 home runs in just 81 games. Other than Ryan Zimmerman, there was an argument that Dukes was the best player on the 2008 team. It looked like the Nationals had found something.
However, after declining production and an incident with Nationals manager Manny Acta, Dukes was let go following the 2009 season. After the Nats, Dukes fell back into old habits and had a number of run ins with the law, including when he tried to eat marijuana after being caught by the cops possessing it.
While Dukes gave off loose cannon vibes in DC, we actually got the least crazy version of Dukes. As we celebrate the Nationals 20th anniversery, we will look back at some of the more colorful characters in Nationals history. It only felt right to start off with the head case that was Elijah Dukes.