An epic prank pulled by Joe Carter on former teammate Derek Bell has gone viral this week, and Carter shared the great story behind it.
On October 4, 1992, the Toronto Blue Jays were playing their last game of the regular season and celebrated “Fan Appreciation Day.” Bell was a 23-year-old outfielder with the team that year, and since the Jays had already clinched the AL East, the youngster got the start in the game.
So Carter, who was the star of the team, decided to mess with Bell by driving the youngster’s car onto the field as part of a mock raffle to give away the car to a fan. The entire thing, including Bell’s reaction, is fantastic.
Despite being 27 years old, the video went viral this week, so MLB Network had Carter on as a guest to tell the story of the prank.
“In Toronto, they gave us cars. Honda was a sponsor, so everyone had the same car. But Derek decided to drive his car. And he loved his Jeep. And he talked about his sound system — the sound system cost more than the car itself!” Carter said.
“We knew that [Bell] was going to play. I’m sitting in the clubhouse the day before, I said ‘Derek’s playing tomorrow because we’ve already clinched. It’s fan appreciation day, we’re going to get his Jeep.”
Carter said he had the clubhouse guy get the car cleaned. Then when Carter took the car onto the field, he played a Blue Jays rap song through Bell’s famed sound system. But before he was able to drive the car, he hit a snag — he was having trouble starting the car due to a special ignition system.
What a great story.
The Jays went on to win the World Series that year and repeated the following year.
We’ve seen some other funny baseball pranks, even one involving a car as well. But nothing tops this one. What a classic.
