You’ve got to love a well played April Fools Day prank…
When you were a kid April 1st was truly a special day. You knew the class clowns were going to have something clever cooked up to get the teacher, you and your mom teamed up to get your dad when he got home from work, there was bound to be a well placed Whoopie-cushion somewhere under a pillow, I mean it was just a great day.
Then you get older and things tend to dissipate quite a bit from those juvenile highs but every now and again someone is able to pull something off that’s so good it’s almost believable and the laughs seem to never end.
Cue the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008.
The last season my team took home the World Series title was also the year a bunch of people got together to pull an all-timer on starting pitcher Kyle Kendrick.
Kendrick was coming off a very solid rookie season where he went 10-4 with a 3.87 ERA, finishing 5th in ROY voting. Expectations were sky-high for the 2003 draft pick, especially because the team itself was an absolute juggernaut.
Lead by Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Pat Burrell on offense with Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, and the ageless wonder Jamie Moyer in the starting rotation with J.C. Romero, Ryan Madson, and Brad “Lights Out” Lidge in the bullpen, the Phils won the NL East with a 92-70 record and absolutely steamrolled the competition in the postseason, losing just 3 total games on their way to eternal adoration from the City of Brotherly Love. (Thanks for taking that walk down memory lane with me… It was probably the greatest year of my life.)
But Kyle Kendrick, for a brief moment, thought he wasn’t going to get to be part of this team that will forever be the favorite in many Phillies fans minds thanks to an April Fools Day prank pulled off by manager Charlie Manuel, soon-to-be general manager Rubén Amaro, and Brett Myers.
Admittedly a little before April 1st, 2008, Kendrick was called into Charlie’s office. There he was told he was part of a trade deal with the Yomiuri Giants of the Japanese Baseball League (Nippon Professional Baseball). He had to report to the airport by 7:05 the next morning to catch a flight to Japan, was handed a copy of the new contract, a travel itinerary, and was brought out for an impromptu press conference with Amaro.
The look of shock on his face was honestly a bit nauseating… Kyle felt betrayed the the organization that drafted and developed him for years at this point and his numbers from the previous season proved he belonged in the Big Leagues.
Watch the entire thing for yourself because me explaining it doesn’t do it justice, especially since his teammates, coaches, and even his agent were in on the whole thing…
On April Fools’ Day, we look back at one of the best pranks in Phillies History, Kyle Kendrick getting “traded” to Japan.pic.twitter.com/ouyDxF5vBV
— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) April 1, 2025
EVERYONE WAS IN ON IT AND THEY STILL PULLED IT OFF?! Truly incredible work…
As you might expect, Kyle was not a fan… At all…
He actually fired his agent not long after and years later was still salty (to put it lightly) about the whole thing. Rubén Amaro later admitted it was probably a mistake and was regretful about it, but Brett Myers (who seems to be the mastermind behind the plan) always stuck by it.
Today, try to do a little something to get a laugh. Maybe don’t tell them you’re sending them on an early morning flight to Japan for the foreseeable future but even a tiny little prank can make someone’s day.
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The post The Philadelphia Phillies Trading Kyle Kendrick To Japan For “Kobayashi” Is Still An All-Time Great Prank first appeared on Whiskey Riff.