By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
CLEARWATER, Fla. — One of the best features of the Philadelphia Phillies' 2008 championship team was their camaraderie on and off the field.
Right from the onset of spring training, the clubhouse atmosphere "loose," a term frequently attributed thanks in part to the managerial style of Charlie Manuel, who was entering his fourth season as the 51st skipper in franchise history.
The club was just coming off of their first postseason appearance since 1993, having been swept by the Clint Hurdle-led Colorado Rockies in the National League Division series. The overall club morale heading into the 2008 season was optimistic and determined to get to the next step and achieve the ultimate prize. Every player believed in themselves and the team as a whole.
Bonds and friendships grew, and ultimately eight months later the team would succeed by defeating the Tampa Bay Rays in five games to capture the World Series championship. With those close ties, time for joking and pranking other teammates often arose for the 2008 Phillies, and that surely showed on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008 for the pranked 23-year-old RHP Kyle Kendrick.
Kendrick was entering his second season in the majors, after finishing his rookie year with a respectable 10-4 record, 3.87 ERA and 1.273 WHIP through 20 starts. In fact, he finished fifth for the National League Rookie of the Year Award, which ultimately would be awarded to Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun. Troy Tulowitzki (Rockies), eventual-Phillie Hunter Pence (Houston Astros), and Chris Young (Arizona Diamondbacks) also finished above Kendrick.
Thanks to the efforts of Phillies RHP Brett Myers, for nearly 30 minutes that Saturday afternoon, Kendrick wholeheartedly believed he was dealt to Yomiuri Giants, a professional baseball team in Japan. Kendrick was called into the office, where Manuel and assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. broke the "news."
As David Murphy of philly.com wrote in 2008, Kendrick was then "handed an official termination letter that stated he had been swapped for a player named Kobayashi Iwamura and $1.5 million in cash." Soon after, Kendrick began saying his goodbyes to his teammates, including outfielder Pat Burrell in the batting cages.
Myers waited just long enough before finally breaking the news to the Phillies' right-hander as he was being interviewed in the clubhouse by media. Myers shouted, "You just got Punk'd!"
Relieved, Kendrick followed by saying, "I've never seriously been so happy in my entire life."
Ten years later, this prank on Kendrick remains perhaps one of the Phillies' more memorable clubhouse moments in recent history. In retrospect, we can identify this as just the beginning of what would turn out to be a memory-filled season, which would ultimately result in a championship parade down Broad Street.
