For as much of a businesslike approach to the game that the Los Angeles Dodgers have taken under manager Dave Roberts, their clubhouse has still kept matters light and found ways to break up the grueling demands of a 162-game season.
Perhaps no player embodies that more than Kiké Hernandez, who memorably dressed himself in a banana suit and returned to the dugout during an extra innings game in 2015. That was at the behest of Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, as he initially found Hernandez in the clubhouse and told him to head to the dugout.
Friedman assured Hernandez he would pay a possible fine.
Three years later the Dodgers’ super utility player was at the center of another lighthearted moment that came to light when Ross Stripling and Cooper Surles hosted a live recording of their “Big Swing Podcast” at the Baseballism store in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Wasn’t an April fools joke, but now seems like a good time to share @RossStripling recalling @kikehndez pulling a prank on Ryan Madson. pic.twitter.com/ct8ou0QqVK
— Matthew Moreno (@MMoreno1015) April 1, 2020
“He played this off for weeks,” Stripling began to tell the audience of how Hernandez fooled former teammate Ryan Madson.
“Madson thought he only spoke Spanish, and then we clinch the division and we’re all huddled up. Kiké goes up to Madson and just speaks to him in perfect English. Just like, ‘Man, this was great!’
“And Madson was like, ‘What the heck just happened?’ He really played the long game with that one. I can’t keep a straight face, as you guys can tell in the 30 minutes we’ve been here. I can’t play a joke for longer than 10 seconds. He did it literally for three weeks.”
The Dodgers acquired Madson in August 2018, trading Andrew Istler to the Washington Nationals. Madson struggled in nine appearances with L.A. during the final month of the regular season but had a better showing in the playoffs — until allowing a home run in Game 4 of the World Series.
Hernandez’s prank was not an April Fools’ Day joke, but April 1 seemed as good of time as any to reflect on it. Particularly as the wait for the 2020 Major League Baseball season continues.
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