I would like to introduce Steve to everyone. He is a frequent commenter here at SOX & Dawgs and will be contributing articles to the site occasionally too.
Great feature on This Week in Baseball on practical jokes
In this past weekend’s edition of This Week in Baseball they had a great feature on practical jokes. Baseball is known for it’s practical jokes and jokers as much as anything else. It’s part of the rich history and lore. TWIB followed a few players around as they played jokes on teammates during Spring Training.
And here’s what they found:
Milwaukee’s Bill Hall bought a sprinter’s uniform off of Ebay and wore it under his regular uniform. When it came time for him to be timed in the 60-yard dash he pulled his baseball uniform off revealing the sprinters wear. Bill said he wanted to lighten the mood but also show everyone that no one was going to beat him in the dash.
Chicago closer Ryan Dempster and some other Cubs were seen putting another teammates Escalade up on blocks and putting the tires all over the stadium so he’d find them as he went into the locker room, men’s room, bullpen etc. Much to the chagrin of the Escalade owner. The classic was when he walked into the bullpen to see one of his custom rims and tires leaning against the tarp.
And finally Atlanta’s Tim Hudson dressing as the ‘ghost’ from Scary movie and hiding in Eddie Perez’ hotel room closet and jumping out when Eddie came in the room. Needless to say Eddie was a little freaked and about a half dozen teammates really loved it.
It was a great feature by TWIB and I hope they do follow ups through the season. If you want to read a good book that talks about life in a clubhouse and tells about a lot of the practical jokes that happen, go to your local store and get a copy of ‘The Bronx Zoo’ by Sparky Lyle and Peter Golenbock. It’s a classic about the 1978 New York Yankees and all the characters in the clubhouse. I know it’s still in print because I just saw it in my local Barnes and Noble in the baseball section.
[TWIB can be accessed by clicking here]
