Rubber Chicken Man

Hugh Kaufman (born January 14, 1943), better known as the Rubber Chicken Man, is a Washington Nationals baseball fan who can be seen at most games at Nationals Park waving a rubber chicken over the Nationals dugout to ward off bad "juju" or bad luck. Sports reporters writing for The Washington Post have written about his giving chicken soup to struggling Nats players to improve their play and that his ritual "sacrificing" of chickens often seems to precede turnarounds in the Nationals' performance. including matters relating to the Rita Lavelle convictions and the post-9-11 cleanup of Ground Zero.

Early life Kaufman was born January 14, 1943, in Washington, D.C., to Milton and Lillie Kaufman. There, he became a fan of the old Washington Senators. His father was a mathematician in the Department of Commerce. He continues his father's tradition of keeping box score statistics of each game.

Kaufman got a master's degree in engineering administration from George Washington University.

Kaufman served in the Air Force from 1965 to 1971, leaving as a captain.

Rita Lavelle ordered an investigation of Kaufman in order to get him fired.

She stated in a December 16, 1983 Senate hearing that she never ordered an investigation nor stated a desire to fire Kaufman. However, this was contradicted by other documents produced. She was later found guilty of perjury. Kaufman testified against Lavelle in her trial.

"I feel her sentence was fair for the crimes charged, but I also feel she was made the scapegoat," stated Kaufman. "She was the lowest-level official involved and it was done to deflect attention away from the real issues and real crimes."

Kaufman "suggested" that the Bush Administration was putting pressure on the EPA to not release information about the environmental impacts of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina.

He also claimed that lax enforcement of environmental precautions led to extremely toxic floodwater.

Additionally, he criticized the lack of personal protective equipment and training for workers and citizens, due to the high levels of mold and asbestos; he believed that many would get cancer as a result. He stated that this was occurring due to incompetence and a disconnect between decision-makers and experts.

Use of Corexit to clean Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Kaufman claimed that the use of Corexit to clean up the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill was known to the EPA to be dangerous; Corexit has been found to have more negative effects on marine life than oil and to cause adverse health effects in humans. He claimed that the EPA is attempting to both claim that Corexit is safer than oil and that they don't know enough about Corexit to regulate it.

"What's going on in the Gulf is the same cover up that was going with the 9/11 environmental issue," said Kaufman.

That same year, Nats slugger José Guillén was struggling and apparently needed surgery. Kaufman gave him a serving of his Jewish grandmother's chicken soup from a 19th century Hungarian recipe. "By the 7th or 8th inning, he was feeling better," Kaufman recalled to a Washington Post reporter. "He went in the game, and he scored the winning run."

Kaufman answered Johnson's call by sacrificing a rubber chicken outside the stadium, as he had done numerous times over the previous ten years. "I think Davey has recognized the whole history of baseball Voodoo," he told a local baseball blogger.