‘Muddy Chicken’ laughs last

Dubbed the "Muddy Chicken" last season by fried chicken connoisseur Josh Beckett for his scrappy play, Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia also is a prankster who prompted David Ortiz's profanity-laced tirade over a lost RBI last summer.

Before "Big Papi" went ballistic over a changed scoring decision, Pedroia had told him that owner John Henry and general manager Theo Epstein ordered the official scorer to take away Ortiz's RBI to try to keep his numbers down and hurt his leverage in his next contract negotiation.

But Pedroia was on the receiving end of a prank Wednesday, when Dodgers slugger Andre Ethier -- his best friend and former Arizona State teammate -- called in to a Boston radio show posing as a fan named Andrew who wanted to speak to Pedroia.

Ethier told Pedroia, a former American League Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player, that he "ain't very good" and Boston should trade him and rely instead on infielders Nick Punto and Mike Aviles.

Pedroia's response: "Let me break it down for you, Andrew. I got a couple of pieces of hardware at my house that says I'm pretty damn good. I'm looking to hire somebody to come and spray them down for me. Andrew, you got a job?"

When told by the host he'd been punked by Ethier, Pedroia replied, "Nobody's punking me, trust me. That was some great lines I dropped on him."

The Muddy Chicken got the last chuckle, saying if the Sox ever signed Ethier, "We might have to scoot the fences in for him."

■ CAN'T STUMP THE HUMP -- Las Vegas wiseguys aren't the only ones picking the New York Giants to beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI.

Princess, a biased camel based at New Jersey's Popcorn Park Zoo, also is recommending a play on the Giants.

She correctly has picked the winner of five of the past six Super Bowls and went 14-6 this season to run her lifetime record to 88-51.

A feel player, Princess garners her golden touch from graham crackers.

Zoo manager John Bergmann holds up a cracker in each hand, where he has the name of the opposing teams written. Whichever hand Princess nibbles from is her pick.

This camel needs to leave the swamps of Jersey and relocate to her rightful place in the desert in Las Vegas, the haven for any humpbacked handicapper.

■ TATTOOED FINGERS -- Ever drift into a deep sleep while watching a baseball game -- or pass out after a day of drinking at one -- and dream of former Oakland A's pitcher Rollie Fingers riding a dolphin in front of a rainbow in all his handlebar-mustachioed glory?

Um, neither have we.

But Oakland hurler Dallas Braden apparently has. The aforementioned scene is tattooed on his upper left arm.

If this oddity sounds too good to be true, it is. The inspired tattoo is only temporary and is expected to be featured in a commercial Braden shot Thursday with Fingers.

But we wouldn't be surprised if Braden made the tattoo permanent. He already has a tiny tattoo of Fingers' mustache on the inside of his right index finger.

COMPILED BY TODD DEWEY
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL