Freed alleged spy Ilan Grapel gets told cruel joke, ‘Mets win 2011 World Series’
Oct 29, 2011, 5:14 PM EDT
The past five months for alleged American spy Ilan Grapel (pictured in blue shirt) haven’t been the greatest moments of his life, he spent time in an Egyptian jail and when he was finally released, he was forced to endure the cruelest of all jokes.
He was told upon release that the Mets had won the 2011 World Series when they hadn’t:
Grapel, expected to fly home to Queens today from Israel, was celebrating his release at a press conference in Tel Aviv, flanked by his mother Irene and Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Queens), when he was pranked.
Ackerman interjected, “We told him the Mets won the World Series.”
Grapel, a sports fan, shot Ackerman a big smile — only to quickly feel the let-down most Mets fans are all too familiar with when he quickly figured out that the team had tanked — again.
When Grapel was arrested in Egypt on dubious spying charges on June 12, the Mets’ won-lost record was 32-33 and the Amazin’s still had dreams of playing in October.
At least in the end for Grapel, he gets to return back home and watch the Mets fail to live up to expectations in real-time.
