Francoeur prank

Jeff Francoeur and his teammates watch the video highlighting their prank.

(Antihero Baseball/Daylight Films)

DETROIT, Mich. -- Only Frenchy.

On the bus ride to U.S. Cellular Field on Sunday morning, most of the players on the Indians roster watched the now-infamous video of an elaborate prank executed by the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas. Some of the players viewed the video a second and third time.

Between lengthy bouts of laughter, many of the players came away with one conclusion: Only Jeff Francoeur, the veteran outfielder nicknamed "Frenchy" who spent the majority of spring training with the Indians, could fall for such a complex gag.

"He's always been such an easy-going, fun-loving guy," said right fielder David Murphy. "For him to be right in the middle of that made it even funnier."

The Indians parted ways with Francoeur on March 22, about a week before the start of the regular season. He landed on his feet three days later with the Padres, who assigned him to El Paso.

His new teammates quickly convinced him that pitcher Jorge Reyes was deaf. Francoeur didn't question the ruse; his teammates revealed the truth last week in a documentary they filmed.

"It's almost like, 'How could he fall for it?'" said infielder Mike Aviles. "He's one of the nicest guys, but he's also very alert. He's not a dumb guy. He's very smart. It's like, 'How did you get this by him for so long?' A couple days, all right. But a [few weeks]? That's impressive.

"That's a good team out there, I'll tell you that much, because there were a lot of people involved in that one prank and that shows you what a team is."

Corey Kluber approached Aviles on the bus ride on Sunday morning and suggested he watch the video. At that moment, Aviles already had it loading. Aviles said he watched it "a couple times and couldn't stop laughing." Murphy, who played with Francoeur in Texas in 2010, watched it a second time with his wife.

"Sooner or later, things have to click here or there," Murphy said. "You can't really speculate unless you're in his shoes and you're in the middle of his situation and you see what's going on on a daily basis, but it was pretty funny. I'm sure a lot of players out there are going to get a kick out of it."

Justin Masterson lauded Reyes' acting performance, as the hurler resisted the urge to listen to music on trips and in the clubhouse. He said Francoeur embodied the ideal target because "he's just a caring individual."

"They're all having some fun with it and he's a guy who is in a new situation, so it's kind of hard," Masterson said. "You don't really know what's going on. He didn't really take the time to get to know his teammates, but that's all right."

The Indians teased Francoeur often during his six-week stint in Goodyear, Ariz. Each day, teammates changed his name on the lineup card to "Frenchy Frazz."

"He wore it a little bit in spring training with us and then to go there and it continues," Masterson said, "it's a different time for old Mr. Francoeur, because he's not used to being at that end of the razzing. He's fine. He takes it well."

Reliever Cody Allen couldn't believe the pranksters hid their agenda for so long.

"He thinks the best of everybody," Allen said. "He's always just going with the flow. He's a social butterfly type of guy. They got him. He seems pretty gullible."

Little high jinks are commonplace in locker rooms. What Francoeur fell for, however, is a more elaborate practical joke than many have witnessed.

"Usually when you go out to dinner, you fake that the rookie has to pay for it," Aviles said. "They get kind of nervous when they see a big bill for about 15 guys at a steakhouse. They start thinking, 'How am I going to explain this to my wife? How do I explain a $4,000 charge for dinner?'

"Those are the ones that always crack me up. But that prank with Frenchy, that's definitely original. That's something that you don't see everyday."