Cubs brass saves best prank for last in battle with Tommy La Stella

Don’t mess with the brass.

That’s the lesson Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer attempted to teach reserve infielder Tommy La Stella on Friday after the two sides spent the entire spring engaged in a prank war.

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We’d say they succeeded, too.

With help from first baseman Anthony Rizzo, the Cubs took over the left field scoreboard at Sloan Park to offer La Stella a truce while he attempted to play against the Milwaukee Brewers. Along the way, they landed some final jabs that focused on La Stella’s dating life, hygiene and his status as a major leaguer.

Here’s the video courtesy of the Cubs’ Twitter account.

Down goes La Stella. It’s over. It’s all over.

The battle has been escalating all spring, beginning with La Stella parking in both Epstein and Hoyer’s parking spaces at the Cubs spring training facility. The Cubs generals struck back by stealing La Stella’s uniform, which forced him to practice in street clothes. Then La Stella rented a bouncy castle and had it placed in their parking spaces.

It seemed like that would be impossible to beat, but when you’re the front office that helped end the Cubs 108-year World Series drought, you simply have better connections. Epstein and Hoyer clearly took advantage of that on Friday.

Iowa, of course, is where the Cubs’ Triple A team resides.

Despite the joke, La Stella won’t have to worry about a demotion. The veteran infielder is expected to be Joe Maddon’s top left-handed bat off the bench. If he keeps pranking Epstein and Hoyer, though, all bets are off.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Yahoo Sports Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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