Kangaroo Court

Did the TV guys talk about a Kangaroo Court last night? Why, why WHY is that stuck in my head? Maybe I read something somewhere recently.

I can't imagine who would earn the title of "judge" in the Nats' clubhouse. But I do have a list of suggested fines:

*$200 to Dunn for missing second base. They won so they can laugh about it. I hope someone got the actual base and stuck it in his locker.
*Another $200 to Dunn for adversely affecting Bard's batting average, costing him a hit by missing second base.
*$200 to Bard for the can of corn that ended the streak of three straight home runs. I think he would have hit it out if he wasn't playing with an injury, so another $100 for that. Dunn, however, must pay both fines. He owes Bard big.

Years ago, the Richmond Braves used to post their "fines" on the bulletin board in the clubhouse, available to everyone's eyes. They were small fines, a buck, two bucks, five bucks. One day, someone wrote in $200 for manager Jeff Cox. Under "crime," they wrote, "Being an asshole."

Real fines, imposed by the manager, go to charity, I think. Kangaroo Court fines used to go to a team party at the end of the season. Not sure that's still the case. Maybe charity benefits here, too, since the money has escalated so much. Two hundred bucks to these guys is like two bucks to most of us.

Who should be the Nats' judge? I don't know enough about their personalities.

Unrelated (though maybe worthy of a fine), thanks to former Nats blogger (my blogging here) Chris Needham for posting this link on his Twitter feed. The Pirates were in earlier in the week before the Nats arrived. I hope it was a Pirate rather than a Nat being stupid. There are a number of pro athletes who can preach to the perils of showing up out of the blue on someone's Facebook page.