By Chico Harlan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 13, 2008

MIAMI, Sept. 12 -- Two days after he spent a game in New York jawing at a Mets pitcher, gesturing at the Shea Stadium crowd and receiving its bile, Nationals right fielder Elijah Dukes apologized for his behavior, calling it "wrong."

Before Friday's game against Florida, Dukes requested the chance to issue a statement to several reporters. He spoke for less than a minute, but used no script. He declined further questions.

"I just wanted to apologize to my teammates and the Nationals organization and the fans for my actions in the game Wednesday," Dukes said. "It was wrong. I basically let my emotions just get the best of me. You know, it was just tough for me to take in what I had to endure, basically, and I just shouldn't have did it and it was wrong. I wanted to apologize about it, because you know, I talked to [General Manager] Jim Bowden and [Manager] Manny Acta and I let them know that I apologize for it, and I'll try not to let it happen again."

Acta appreciated the apology, but spoke with disapproval of Dukes's behavior in the game, saying that "it has no place in baseball."

"It wasn't the right thing to do and it's not going to be tolerated here," Acta said, "because we do need to send a message to the other kids coming up over here that it's not going to be acceptable. We all know that he's working on it, and it's just a good step that he acknowledged that it was wrong."

When the Nationals released Paul Lo Duca on July 31, the catcher left town apologizing for his poor performance -- he hit .230 in 139 at-bats -- and swearing he could still do better. Lo Duca then signed a minor league contract with Florida, retreated for a week to Class AAA Albuquerque and eventually earned another chance in the big leagues. With Florida, Lo Duca is finally healthy and was hitting .267 entering last night.

And retirement is not on his mind.

He wants to find a team for next year. He wants to start at catcher -- a hope some in Washington's organization find implausible.

"I still feel like I can play a couple more years and play at a high level," Lo Duca said. "I will prove that next year. I can promise you that."