Jeff Francoeur is a 30-year-old outfielder that has played nine major league seasons for five teams. He entered the majors as a highly-touted prospect with the Atlanta Braves, and lived up to the hype in his first few seasons. Francoeur batted .300 with an .884 OPS in his rookie year, and followed that up with driving in over 100 runs for two consecutive seasons. He even won a Gold Glove in 2007 for his terrific defensive work (particularly his cannon arm) in right field.
Since, “Frenchy” has had an up and down career, and now the veteran outfielder is playing for the San Diego Padres’ Triple-A affiliate, the El Paso Chihuahuas. Well, also on the Chihuahuas is pitcher Jorge Reyes, and the entire Chihuahuas team/coaching staff pulled a prank convincing Francoeur that Reyes is deaf.
The video above captures the Chihuahuas’ players and staff describing the prank, while also mocking Francoeur’s inability to pick up on it. At the end of the video, we see the entire team watching these same interviews with Francoeur in the clubhouse, to finally show Francoeur that Reyes is definitely not deaf.
And watching that video immediately brings back memories of the Philadelphia Phillies making pitcher Kyle Kendrick believe that he had been traded to Japan several years ago:
