FanHouse

Just hours after reading about the prank Adam LaRoche pulled on his former Atlanta teammates, I spotted news of another prankster, this time a fan targeting some players. As spotted on Epic Carnival, several Astros, including starting pitcher Wandy Rodriguez, were the victim of some crank phone calls around four in the morning last Sunday. From the Houston Chronicle:

About 10 hours before he was scheduled to start against the Chicago Cubs, Rodriguez received a message from a man claiming to be a representative of the Astros' organization.

"You have been sent down. Your ERA is too high," Rodriguez remembers the man saying. "Sorry, Wandy. Sorry, Wandy. You have a flight at 6:15 a.m. to Round Rock, so don't miss it."

Unlike most of his teammates, Rodriguez didn't register under an alias. He said he will use one now. Dave Borkowski and Eric Munson also got calls after not using aliases.

"I was so (upset)," Borkowski said. "It was the first time I've ever been called like that. He got a bunch of people."

I know Rodriguez (pictured above, stifling a yawn perhaps?), Borkowski and Munson aren't exactly big league stars, but they've been around the block a few times and should have seen this coming -- I'm shocked they weren't already registering under fake names. Did the early wake-up call knock Rodriguez off track? It's possible: he was rocked for seven earned runs in just three and a third innings before getting the hook.