Throwback Thursday x April Fool's

From Philly to Tokyo - Given it's April 1st and it's a Thursday, I thought what better way to pay homage to both a Throwback Thursday and the holiday (if that's what you wanna call it) we all love to hate, all at once. Prior to the start of the 2008 MLB season, the Philadelphia Phillies prepared for the season ahead by working out and practicing at their spring training facility, like every other ball club. And with a young pitcher in only his second big league season, Phillies right-hander Kyle Kendrick proved to be gullible. After making a name for himself when being called up in the 2007 season to fill in for an injured Freddy Garcia, Kendrick was informed of a trade that would send him to play ball halfway across the globe.

Courtesy of Philly teammate Brett Myers, the team played a prank on Kyle. A prank that even Kendrick's agent and 66-year old skipper Charlie Manuel was in on. One normal afternoon after daily workouts, Kendrick was asked to meet up in the manager's office where he was informed of a trade that would deal him to Japan to play for the Yomiuri Giants, in exchange for a Japanese player named Kobayashi Iwamura. Without any say in the trade, Kendrick stood with a stunned look on his face, as he began bidding farewells to all of his Philly teammates, letting them know that he was traded for a Japanese pitcher and was less than 24-hours away from boarding a plane to embark on his new journey.

After filling out paperwork and addressing the media right before cleaning out his locker, Kendrick talked in front of dozens of reporters and cameras. The startled righty joked around asking, "Do they have good food in Japan?" with a smile on his face. With everyone in on the prank, including the media, who asked Kyle what he thought about the trade, Brett Myers interrupted the conversation by adding, "You know what I say?, you just got punk'd!" Referring to the then popular MTV show -- Punk'd. With everyone including reporters busting up laughing, Kendrick took a deep breath of relief after being told it was all a joke. It's things like this that make us enjoy April Fool's day. That's unless you're the one being fooled. Like many, I despise this day and refuse to believe anything I see on T.V., hear on the radio or am told on April 1st.

The funniest thing about the entire prank, was that the team combined both names of then Tampa Bay Rays infielder Akinori Iwamura and hot-dog eating champion Takeru Kobayashi. Hats off to everyone for keeping a straight face. Here's the video of the prank, enjoy!