Relief pitchers have a lot of time on their hands during games — therefore, it should come as no surprise that a crafty set-up guy pulled off one of the better sports-related pranks of April Fools' Day 2014.
Oakland A's pitcher Sean Doolittle has been cultivating one killer bushy red beard during his past two seasons in the Athletics bullpen — and the thought that he may have shaved off that trademark look sent fans into a frenzy when this pic was posted to Doolittle's Twitter feed Tuesday:
After the game last night, I decided it was time for a change. New season, new look! Keepin it clean in 2K14! pic.twitter.com/1xHssTSxH8
— Sean Doolittle (@whatwouldDOOdo) April 1, 2014
What! The beard…gone? Just like that? NOOOOOO!!!….
Ah, but Doolittle had an ace up his sleeve, reported Crave sports site NESN. After the inevitable avalanche of fan response began, Doolittle admitted the clean-shaven pic was snapped in January 2013 — all for the purpose of one killer joke in April 2014. After a couple hours of fan exasperation, Doolittle posted again to let everyone off the hook.
April Fools! I took the previous pic in Jan '13 specifically for this joke! Been setting you guys up this whole time! pic.twitter.com/PvhxWEZvvA
— Sean Doolittle (@whatwouldDOOdo) April 1, 2014
15 months of set-up for a 2-hour joke…never let it be said that Sean Doolittle doesn't plan ahead.
