Is There a Hugh Jass Here?

by Eric Horowitz, ShakedownSports

For a young left-hander like Wandy Rodriguez, there's a lot to learn about pitching in the big leagues. In a short time he must learn how to pitch inside, how to use his changeup, and perhaps most importantly, how to use an alias at a hotel so he doesn't get prank called at 4 a.m. the night before a start.

About 10 hours before he was scheduled to start against the Chicago Cubs, Rodriguez received a message from a man claiming to be a representative of the Astros' organization.

"You have been sent down. Your ERA is too high," Rodriguez remembers the man saying. "Sorry, Wandy. Sorry, Wandy. You have a flight at 6:15 a.m. to Round Rock, so don't miss it."

Unlike most of his teammates, Rodriguez didn't register under an alias. He said he will use one now.

It's nice that the caller had the decency to give Rodriguez an explanation for being sent down, although he could've be more specific than "your ERA is too high," which I assume is how the Yankees explained to Kei Igawa that they were sending him down.

Fellow Astros Eric Munson and Dave Borkowski also forgot to use aliases and were prank called. And just in case you think this was all a victimless little episode of adolescent hooliganism, Borkowski's in-laws, two innocent bystanders staying at the team hotel, also received early morning phone calls. It's all just more proof that when you're related to the one and only Dave Borkowski, it can be hard to keep the common folk from bothering you.