truebluefan

During a 10-hour drive from Durham home to Tampa on Tuesday - the solitude of the highway his only companion - Devil Rays prospect Elijah Dukes had plenty of time to think about his baseball future.

When the phone rang at 8:30 that morning, the Durham outfielder figured Rays minor-league director Mitch Lukevics wasn't on the line bearing good news. He was right.

Lukevics told Dukes the organization was suspending him indefinitely for the second time this season - this time pending review of his ejection that stemmed from arguing balls and strikes with an umpire in a July 25 game. He had just finished serving a five-game suspension handed down from the International League.

The Hillsborough High graduate drove his Dodge Charger back to his home in Brandon, to his wife and four young kids, not knowing when he'd play his next professional game and not without questioning whether he wanted to return to baseball at all.

"A lot of things popped into my head that I've never really thought about," Dukes said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "A 10-hour drive gives you a lot of time to get things right in your head. I thought to myself, if someone like Josh Hamilton could fight through it, I can too."

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