The Bubble Gum Hat: A Lost Art

After beating the Phillies in the first game of a double-header on Friday, the Mets were up 5-1 on the Phils in the top of the 9th. Everybody in the dugout was clearly happy, as they were about to complete a twin bill sweep of their NL East rivals, but one player in particular looked especially happy. His name: David Wright.

introducing the devilishly clever, david wright

We all know Wright is one of the team's leaders, both in the clubhouse and on the field. We also know that Wright has a mischievous side, one he chose to use in the top of the 9th inning. How many times did Roger McDowell and the rest of the 1986 Mets play pranks on each other? Pretty often. And now-a-days, you'd be hard pressed to find someone playing a prank on another teammate, unless its the shaving cream pie to the face during an interview after the game. That's like switching everyone's name in a class when you have a substitute teacher. Amateur.

Well Wright brought back an old classic in the top half of the inning, the bubble gum on the hat. Only this one had a twist. The victim: Ramon Castro. How easy of a target is he though? He's got a head like a bucket (hence the name bucket head) and was spacing out more than Ozzy Osbourne during... well, every moment of his life, through out the entire game. Big deal right? Someone pulled a prank, why am I not talking about the game? Because everyone else will talk about the game, I'm hear as an expert on the art of a prank to bring you a step-by-step analysis of how David pulled it off. Let's begin.

Step 1) : Normally, this step would just be to find some bubble game, but instead Wright threw in a twist that was less expected than the Sopranos ending. He grabbed a cup, and at the top of the cup, he stretched out chewed bubble game over the opening. This made it so that he could stick the cup on top of Castro's hat. Simply genious.

note the placement of the cup

Step 2) : Wright got another piece of bubble gum, blew a bubble and stuck it on top of the cup that was already on Castro's head. The cup was green, so the bubble sort of served as a star on top of a Christmas tree. The only thing is Castro's head dwarfed the cup so badly that it may not have been a bad idea to get an actual christmas tree, stick some pine tar to the bottom and plop it right on top of the Ramon's bucket.

look at that form

Everyone in the clubhouse was in hysterics after Wright pulled off the unthinkable. Carlos Beltran who was chatting with Castro keeping him distracted almost had an outburst of laughter too many times. It was a close call and would've ruined the prank. I never would have forgave him. But when Castro did find out about the make-shift christmas tree sitting on his head, he couldn't figure out who did it, because everyone was laughing at him. Finally Wright owned up, and Castro looked a little annoyed, and by a little annoyed I mean his face turned red and he looked like he was gonna go "running of the bulls" all over Wright. I'm sure they kissed and made up.

This was definitley an original technique for this prank that David used. It just goes to show why he is the best young 3rd baseman in the NL. Yeah, you could argue that Miguel Cabrera has better numbers and is a better hitter, but what about the prank factor? Give the nod to D-Wright over anybody in that category. That prank alone should solidify his spart on the All-Star roster. And if it doesn't, stay tuned because the cigarette fire on the cleat may be up next. We'll have to bring in McDowell to disect that one though. For he is, the Jesus of all baseball pranks.

He could even prank Jesus himself.

(thanks to Pick Me Up Some Mets! for the pics)