11/05/24
April 02, 2004
"our thoughts and prayers are with the friends and family of Don Mattingly": An idiot April Fool's Day prank goes too far (there's always one each year) and Don Mattingly's 12 and 16 year old kids are shocked when they hear in school from their classmates that their father has passed away... Mattingly, his wife and their son (a minor league yankee) were all in Japan with the team at the time.
posted by jerseygirl to baseball at 12:21 PM - 6 comments
I have a great sense of humour, but I'm sorry, April Fool's jokes are usually only ways to be cruel.
posted by scully at 01:03 PM on April 02, 2004
"Unfortunately, we did not realize the impact our statements would have on Don's friends and family members," Booker said.Wait, you didn't realize that implying that something horrible had happened to someone would have an impact on their friends and family?! That is just unbelievable.
posted by Jugwine at 01:33 PM on April 02, 2004
You can't imagine how incredibly stupid this was unless you realize how big Don Mattingly is in the Evansville, Indiana, area. Mattingly's son played basketball at one of the high schools I cover a couple months ago, and although no one goes up to Don and makes a big deal about it, having him in the stands was like the Pope showing up. Little kids kept running up to me and asking if it was him, and it was all anyone could talk about. The Mattingly name is also a very common one in southern Indiana, and Don has tons of family in the area. For Booker and Diane to think this wouldn't have a) had impact for all of his relatives and b) gotten quickly back to his immediate family proves how supremely stupid they are. To top it off, here's a line from Booker in the official apology which appears on Assclown Central, otherwise known as WSTO-FM Hot 96. "I have deep respect and admiration for Don Mattingly and wish we could personally apologize." Well, two problems, Booker. The first is you could easily apologize in person to Don by ringing his doorbell, considering he lives well within your listening area. The second is that if you did, I'm pretty sure Donnie would beat your sorry ass into the dirt for scaring his kids. I don't make a habit of listening to these two (pretty juvenile and it's all Top 40 crap), but when you still have a personality named "Franc the Lackey Boy" on your program, I think you can see the level of thought involved. Here's a link to the Evansville Courier & Press's account of the story, which has some more local info.
posted by wfrazerjr at 05:58 PM on April 02, 2004
I believe flaming dog doo on the dj's porches, every hour on the hour is called for here.
posted by lilnemo at 07:32 PM on April 02, 2004
Someone should call their bank, landloard etc.. and close their accounts "because they died."
posted by billsaysthis at 08:00 PM on April 02, 2004
What an ill-advised prank. Almost defines poor taste. Before I clicked on the link at ESPN, I thought it was going to be a "Don Mattingly elected to the Hall of Fame!" fake story. That woulda been bad enough, but this? Sheesh.