It was a regular off day at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees had just previously finished a series with the Texas Rangers and they were enjoying a simple day off before they had to face the Baltimore Orioles in Camden Yards. Some of the Yankees were packing up their belongings, some were busy with trying to figure out how they were going to approach the pitchers during the three game series and some of them were busy trying to figure out how to lighten the mood on this rainy gloomy day.
Nick Swisher sat by his locker, fiddling with his phone, trying to figure out ways to entertain his teammates in the clubhouse. No one had said a word and all he could hear was shoes clicking on the ground & hangers coming on and off the poles. Nick hated the silence, but that was what he was going to get unless he figured something out.
“All done.” David Robertson put the duffle bag to the side with a smile.
“What did you do now?” Boone Logan asked from his locker. David gave Boone a smile as he started to look for his phone.
“I finished packing for the trip to Camden Yards…like everyone else should be doing.” David smiled.
“Great.” Nick muttered under his breath. He looked at his bags as he let out a sigh. He wished that he had thought of something to do.
“What’s wrong Swish?” David wondered, raising an eyebrow.
“I was just thinking of what we can do right now.” Nick said. “I mean we are so bored.”
“I know what you mean.” Boone said. “It’s always boring and gloomy here every time it rains.”
“So what do you suggest we do?” David wondered.
“I have an idea.” Nick smiled mischievously. He motioned for Boone and David to come over to him so that he could unveil his plan.
“What is it?” Boone wondered.
“We are going to make a little phone call.” Nick smiled. He looked through the contacts of the phone until he found the one he wanted. He peered over to the other end of the clubhouse where he noticed A.J Burnett was engaging in conversation with Curtis Granderson. Apparently they were in a debate about what pitch A.J should have used vs. Josh Hamilton that wouldn’t have gone out of the park. A.J just blamed Grandy for missing the ball at the wall and allowing it to go over the fence. A.J looked shocked as his phone rang in his pocket. He looked at the caller ID and noticed that it was a bit odd that a blocked number was calling him. A.J then shrugged off his suspicion and picked up the phone.
“Hello?” A.J spoke into the phone.
“Hello, is this Mr. Burnett?” The voice said on the phone. A.J raised his eyebrows at the question.
“Yes that’s me. How can I help you?” A.J asked.
“This is Buck Showalter, manager of the Baltimore Orioles. We have just had word that you have been traded to our team. We enjoy having you.” The call then hung up as A.J’s heart started to beat fast.
“A.J? Are you okay?” Curtis wondered.
“I’VE BEEN TRADED TO THE ORIOLES!!!” A.J yelled as loud as he could. Curtis didn’t know what to say to his friend. He wished that he could have helped him, but he didn’t know how. Curtis tried to console A.J when little did they know, Nick was actually the one that sent the prank call to A.J. David and Boone laughed at A.J’s reaction and decided that they wanted a turn.
“Let me try.” David said. David grabbed the phone as he skimmed through the numbers. There was a number that was to his liking.
Coming into the clubhouse, Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter had just finished working on their fielding when Mark’s phone went off. Derek gave Mark a look of annoyance while Mark went to shut off the phone but when he saw the blocked number, he became interested.
“Give me a minute.” Mark motioned to Derek. Mark picked up the phone and held it to his ear. “Hello?”
“Mr. Teixeira. This is the Rawlings Gold Glove committee. I’m afraid that we have some bad news.” The voice on the other line said.
“What? What is it?” Mark asked.
“I’m afraid that there was a miscalculation with the voting and you’ve been ousted by someone else for the first base Gold Glove.” The voice tried to sound consoling. Mark couldn’t believe his ears.
“There must be some mistake! I have been almost perfect at first base! Who could have won the award instead of me?!” Mark sounded a bit outraged.
“I’m afraid that it was Adrian Gonzalez.” The voice said. Mark wanted to smash the phone against the wall, but he calmly thought against it and ended the call.
“What’s wrong?” Derek wondered.
“That little punk from Boston won my award! That award was mine! I had it in the bag! I had better numbers than him!” Derek knew that Mark sounded a bit agitated, and he knew how not to mess with Mark when he got agitated.
Nick, David and Boone noticed Mark enter the clubhouse with an angry expression on his face as he ran towards the parking lot to his car. Apparently Mark was going to have the last word.
“My turn!” Boone smiled. He took the phone in his hands as he started to dial a number. Nick and David looked at each other and hoped that Boone could give them a laugh. “Hello, yes this is the commissioner of baseball. I would like to tell you that you’re fired. Okay. thanks.” Boone hung up the phone but David and Nick were a little confused.
“Boone? Who did you call?” Nick asked.
“Oh, I called Brian Cashman.” Boone said with a smile on his face. David and Nick’s face dropped at the name. He called Brian Cashman, their boss on Nick’s phone? Nick hoped that Boone had at least blocked the number. He could have done that!
“Did you block the number?!” Nick wondered.
“Wait…I was supposed to block the number?” Boone wondered. Nick and David’s face turned stone cold at Boone’s face. They were in big trouble. 5 minutes later, Brian walked into the clubhouse looking as if he was going to feed someone to the wolves. He saw David, Nick and Boone has he slowly walked towards them. They knew that they were going to be in trouble, they just knew it.
“Hello boys.” Brian Cashman said with a smile. The 3 players looked at one another with confusion. Brian didn’t know that it was them that sent the phone call?
“Hey Brian.” They chimed nervously. Brian continued keeping a smile on his face.
“I wanted to ask if you have seen Mark? I was looking for him.” Brian said.
“Oh, Mark? He’s in his car.” Nick said.
“Crying.” Boone added.
“Why is Mark crying in his car?” Brian asked.
“Because the Red Sox took away his glove during a game.” David lied.
“Oh, that’s all. Okay then. I am off to my office.” Brian started to head towards the stairs but turned back to Boone. “Oh and Boone?”
Yes sir?” Boone asked.
“The commissioner of baseball is 78 years old, not 30. And you forgot to block the call when you called me.” Brian spoke casually.
“Really?! I thought he was 45?” Boone shrugged his shoulders.
“You might also want to tell A.J that he’s not getting traded and Mark that he still has the Gold Glove for first base.” Brian raised an eyebrow.
“Wait, how you knew that?!” Nick wondered.
“I’m Brian Cashman. I know everything.” With that, Brian headed up the stairs straight to his office. Nick, David and Boone noticed that A.J was still crying in the corner and that they had left Mark in his car thinking to himself. They turned to one another with a shrug.
“I’ll take Mark.” David and Nick quickly yelled before running towards the Yankees parking lot. Boone took a look at A.J with a sigh.
“Why do I always get the crying A.J?” Boone asked out loud as he went to go tell A.J that he wasn’t getting traded. At least, not for real…