"There is no man, however wise, who has not at some period of his youth said things, or lived in a way the consciousness of which is so unpleasant to him in later life that he would gladly, if he could, expunge it from his memory."

                                                                                          - Marcel Proust

...Leading off ESPN.com writer Chris Jones' article on Elijah Dukes entitled,"TICK TICK TICK", there is a picture of Elijah Dukes standing on the top stair of the dugout in Nationals Park with the camera shooting from below up at Dukes, who has his arms straight down at his sides with his back to the enormous scoreboard, and is staring straight ahead, wearing the home whites of the Washington Nationals, as the sun lights his face and the front of his #34 Nationals jersey. That's the photo included in the online edition...In the print edition of the article featured in ESPN the Magazine, the actual words "TICK TICK  TICK TICK" of the title are superimposed on the empty sky of the original photo, with the photo cropped closer to Dukes, whose expression is something just short of a smile...

I wonder if Elijah Dukes knew that the image would be used to (subtly) visually portray him in the same light Mr. Jones' article seeks to...as a ticking time bomb...counting and building to an inevitable explosion? Or that Mr. Jones would begin the article by teasing:

"Elijah Dukes Has Bumped Umps, Choked A Teammate And Threatened To Kill His Wife And Kids, If Only The Most Menacing Player In Baseball Weren't Also One Of The Most Talented."

Which would seem to promise that Mr. Jones was going to set about once again examining just how much trouble a professional franchise was willing to put up with from a player in his personal life, if he continues to be a success on the field of play, and Mr. Jones does do that to some extent, but by the end of the first paragraph the sensational aim of the article becomes more apparent, as Mr. Jones describes seeing Dukes at batting practice ...

"Even now, as he quietly watches the pitches come in, there's a feeling he's about to burst."

...and Mr. Jones goes on to describe the "menacing" Dukes, with "inked-up hands", and forearms, "covered in ink," with the voice of, " a man prone to coming unglued," who is the subject of much discussion amongst:

"....fans and reporters and opposing players (who) talk about what's possible for Dukes, (and) the conversation often turns to what crime he will commit to join his father in prison."

Mr. Jones recounts Dukes' sordid personal history, the troubled lives of Dukes' parents, the phone message threat Dukes made to his wife and children with an image of a gun attached, the time Dukes attacked a hitting coach, and the time he choked minor league teammate (and roommate at the time) Ryan Knox, and Mr. Jones then writes melodramatically about the beginning of the interview with Dukes, that the young outfielder:

"...consents to talk, extending a hand, the same one that nearly choked the life out of Ryan Knox."

But surely Mr. Jones would not consider it melodrama, "After all," he writes that he's just telling us the truth:

"...he (Dukes) looks every bit the awful stereotype of the angry black man, the guy many people cross the street to avoid, whether they're honest enough to admit it or not."

...and Elijah Dukes has an unsettling prescence in the locker room as well, Mr. Jones writes, "It's almost comical watching teammates, staffers and reporters approach Dukes...,":

"Some tiptoe across an invisible line around him. Others try too hard to act casual. Most keep their distance and stay on the balls of their feet, literally, ready to run."

The Elijah Dukes portrayed in Mr. Jones' writing is present nowhere in the article, except in the quotes Mr. Jones rehashes, or what Mr. Jones intuits in other people's reactions, or as he accuses, their lack of reaction to what is plainly clear, and Mr. Jones claims we're not "honest enough to acknowledge," about Mr. Dukes. But, Mr. Jones also seems to be claiming, in an article published after the original piece entitled, "Behind The Story: Elijah Dukes", that the reason for the "real" Dukes absence from the article is the lack of access the press is being granted to Mr. Dukes by the Nationals. 

In the original article, Dukes' voice first appears in a quote from the infamous threatening message to his estranged wife, and after that Dukes is quoted stating that he doesn't notice everyone's eyes on him while he's taking batting practice...describing the ex-cop who acts, in Dukes' words, as a "Supernanny", ...that second father that everybody needs in their life,"...and then that calm is contrasted by Mr. Jones, with the Dukes who is captured screaming "Knox, I'm not done with you," as he turns on and chokes his teammate Ryan Knox.

Elsewhere Dukes ponders the his decision earlier in his life decision to play baseball instead of football, thanks Barry Larkin and Dmitri Young because in Dukes words', "I was in a shell, and they forced me to get out," and in Young, Dukes says, "You got my big brother here...He's always talking to me, keeping me calm," and Dukes is last heard in the article exclaiming, as Mr. Jones writes:

"'This is important,' he (Dukes) says of his lifeline with the Nats. 'This is it, right here.'"

What Dukes seems to be finding comfort in, the friendships, guidance and support provided to him by the Nationals, Mr. Jones sees, as he writes in the follow-up article, "Behind the Story: Elijah Dukes", as, "All of these walls (that) have gone up around Dukes...the PR guy standing there..." during interviews, the "Supernanny" and the counseling, (which Mr. Jones claims, is, "...a subject so sensitive, no one on the Nats will talk about exactly what it entails,") which has left Mr. Jones feeling even more troubled, because:

"...here's the strange thing: Some small part of me still feels sorry for him. Not for what he's done—his mistakes are his and his alone—and not for his lost childhood—although it was almost unimaginably tragic, I don't believe you're bound by the sins of your father—but for how he's being treated today."

But, finally, I'm afraid that after having read the original article and the follow-up, and recognized, in my opinion, the intentional perpetuation of the portrayal, both in writing and visually, of Dukes as, "...The Most Menacing Player in Baseball," and "...the awful stereotype of the angry black man," I'm left with the impression that Mr. Jones ends up once again presenting Dukes in this manner because of the lack of access he was granted to Dukes due of the "walls" that Washington has placed around the outfielder, and I can't help but wondering why Mr. Jones is so displeased with the franchises actions on Dukes' behalf? Is it simply because it limited his desire for unfettered access to the subject of his story?

(ed. note - "By sheer coincidence, truly, the ESPN the Magazine article by Mr. Jones appears on newstands the same day that Elijah Dukes has been called back to DC along with catcher Jesus Flores, after both C Paul Lo Duca and C Johnny Estrada were placed on the DL.")