conman1000
02-24-2008, 05:08 PM
Starter Kyle Kendrick traded to the Yomiuri Giants for Kobayashi Iwamura? A prank pulled right from the Phillies' archives.
The club created an official-looking document on its letterhead to help convince Kendrick, 23, that he was bound for Japan (granted, major leaguers cannot be traded to Japan, but Kendrick signed the papers in triplicate, according to the Phildelphia Inquirer). Flight info: 7:05 a.m. Sunday, Delta connection in Atlanta, then more than 14 hours in the air to Tokyo. "I don't know what to think right now," a stunned Kendrick told reporters inside the clubhouse in Clearwater, Fla.
Those in on the ruse included assistant GM Ruben Amaro Jr.; manager Charlie Manuel; pitcher Brett Myers;, Kendrick's agent, Joe Urbon; and Frank Coppenbarger, the Phillies' director of team travel and clubhouse service. The Inquirer said the chat with Kendrick took place in Manuel's office, with the manager and Myers miked by Comcast.
"They got me," Kendrick said. "I thought it was a done deal. I thought it really happened. Gosh, good thing it didn't." Phillies broadcaster Larry Andersen once pulled the same prank on former pitcher Wayne Gomes, the Inquirer said.
That's funny, they pranked him saying he was going to Japan.
The club created an official-looking document on its letterhead to help convince Kendrick, 23, that he was bound for Japan (granted, major leaguers cannot be traded to Japan, but Kendrick signed the papers in triplicate, according to the Phildelphia Inquirer). Flight info: 7:05 a.m. Sunday, Delta connection in Atlanta, then more than 14 hours in the air to Tokyo. "I don't know what to think right now," a stunned Kendrick told reporters inside the clubhouse in Clearwater, Fla.
Those in on the ruse included assistant GM Ruben Amaro Jr.; manager Charlie Manuel; pitcher Brett Myers;, Kendrick's agent, Joe Urbon; and Frank Coppenbarger, the Phillies' director of team travel and clubhouse service. The Inquirer said the chat with Kendrick took place in Manuel's office, with the manager and Myers miked by Comcast.
"They got me," Kendrick said. "I thought it was a done deal. I thought it really happened. Gosh, good thing it didn't." Phillies broadcaster Larry Andersen once pulled the same prank on former pitcher Wayne Gomes, the Inquirer said.
That's funny, they pranked him saying he was going to Japan.