26 Joker's Wild

Watch out for practical jokes. They'll do almost anything for a laugh. One such prankster was Moe Drabowsky. He was a baseball relief pitcher. Relief pitchers are standby players who replace the starting pitcher in a game if he is pitching badly. If the starting pitcher is throwing well, relief pitchers have nothing to do. They just sit around in the bullpen and hope the manager calls them to play.

Waiting around in the bullpen gave Moe lots of time to think up jokes. But his best joke was played after he retired from baseball. It would have been a boring game for him. He had still been on the team. The starting pitcher was doing great. He hadn't given up a single run. The relief pitchers wouldn't be likely to play in this game. The thought of the thing they'd expect would be a call from the manager. The thought gave Moe a mischievous idea. He still remembered the bullpen phone number. Moe dialed it from his living room. A startled relief pitcher answered. Using a voice that sounded like the manager's, Moe growled, "Warm up and get ready to play." The star pitcher gasped at the man in the bullpen who was getting ready to pitch. Everyone stared at the manager in disbelief. The poor manager could only scratch his head. A thousand miles away, Moe Drabowsky sat in his living room watching the event on TV and laughing.

小心恶作剧。他们几乎会为了博人一笑做任何事。莫伊·德拉博夫斯基就是这样一个爱搞恶作剧的人。他曾是一名棒球救援投手。救援投手是替补球员，要是先发投手投得不好，他们就会在比赛中替换先发投手。如果先发投手投得不错，救援投手就无事可做。他们只是坐在牛棚里，盼着教练叫他们上场。

在牛棚里闲坐的时光给了莫伊很多时间去琢磨笑话。但他最棒的笑话是在他从棒球界退役后上演的。那场比赛对他来说本该很无聊。当时他还在队里。先发投手表现出色，一分未失。救援投手们不太可能在这场比赛中上场。一想到他们原本会期待的事——接到教练的电话，莫伊就有了个鬼点子。他还记得牛棚的电话号码，于是从自己的客厅拨通了这个号码。一名受惊的救援投手接了电话。莫伊用听起来像教练的声音咆哮道：“热身，准备上场。”那位明星投手看到牛棚里那个正准备投球的人，倒吸了一口凉气。所有人都难以置信地盯着教练，可怜的教练只能挠挠头。千里之外，莫伊·德拉博夫斯基正坐在自己的客厅里，看着电视上的这一幕，哈哈大笑。