Ok... I know it's not good to be late for your own baseball game... but being fined $500 for reporting to the game 5 minutes later than usual is somewhat ridiculous... especially when the player was doing charity work.  Yes, let me repeat that: charity work.  Washington Nationals outfielder Elijah Dukes was fined $500 dollars for being 5 minutes late of the report time, was benched, and was threatened to be demoted to the minor leagues-- all because he was late from volunteering his time at a nearby little league team.  Here you have a guy who is trying to get his life back together after making some poor decisions in the past, and had been one of the only Washington players to get off to a good start this season with a batting average of .323 with 2 home run hits and six RBI in nine games.  

This to me is ridiculous.  It's not like he was doing anything bad or being lazy: he was doing charity and volunteer work! For his own teams' little league!   Manny Acta's response for the punishment was, 

"He was late for work, he broke a team rule, and we are going to change the culture here — regardless of how well a guy is playing," Acta said. "And it was a bizarre situation, because he was doing something that we encourage our players to do: He was out in the community doing something for some Little League program and just showed up late to work. He was very remorseful about it. He felt bad, but we have to lay the law on whoever."

I understand that rules are rules, but come on.  I think this guy needs a break.  Pick on someone breaking rules that actually matter instead of someone making an effort for the community.  

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Nationals-bench-Dukes-after-Little-League-relate;_ylt=AkA._D9Ffww3JkDZ8HeYdKsSzJV4?urn=mlb,157410