Kyle Kendrick | Larry Brown Sports

Cliff Lee Hits Home Run, Wins Bet with Kyle Kendrick

Cliff Lee was a one-man show for the Phillies Tuesday night. The southpaw went eight innings of scoreless ball to beat the Dodgers 2-1. He allowed just four hits while striking out 10 before yielding to Ryan Madson who converted the save. Oh yeah, he also provided half of Philadelphia’s offense.

Phifer went deep in the 7th inning to put the Phils up 2-0. It was his second blast of the season, and immediately after hitting the home run he directed his attention to relief pitcher Kyle Kendrick. Why? Because Lee had won a friendly bet by hitting the home run.

The gesture in the picture above is Lee signaling to Kendrick in the bullpen that he needs to pay up like a bank teller. Lee elaborated on the bet after the game. “It’s just a friendly wager,” Lee said. “It’s a little side deal.”

So what are the stakes?

“I think we’re going to keep that between us,” he said. “We can call it dinner or whatever you want to call it.”

Yeah, somehow I don’t think the “breaking bread” signal means you owe me dinner. Let’s just hope Kendrick has enough money to pay off the bet after being robbed recently.

Kyle Kendrick Has World Series Ring Stolen from Home

Unfortunately, it looks like last week was National Rob Baseball Players’ Homes Week. While Evan Longoria, David Price, and Reid Brignac were at the Rays spring training facility in Florida, thieves broke into the home they rent and stole more than $50,000 worth of possessions. They lost things like iPads, watches, and TVs, but none of them lost something as important as what was stolen from the Mount Vernon home of Kyle Kendrick.

According to the Seattle Times, Kendrick had his World Series ring stolen from his home last week while he was away with the Phillies. Based on the amount of stuff that was taken, police estimated the burglars were in the house for several hours. Kendrick also lost an autographed Ken Griffey jersey, computers, clothes, and other electronics. Police are investigating why his house alarm did not go off.

I know a lot of jealous people read stories like this and have a reactions like, “good, baseball players get paid too much anyway,” but you have to feel bad for the guy. Yes, I’m sure he makes plenty of money and can buy new stuff, but you can’t replace a World Series ring. It’s the most significant, tangible keepsake a player gets for winning a championship. If would really suck if he can’t get it back.