Oakland Athletics PR Director Bob Rose posted a blog on Friday to pass along the news that left-hander Dallas Braden is doing everything he can to make sure his teammates -- new and old -- stay entertained during Spring Training. Braden's locker is right next to that of new teammate Manny Ramirez, so he taped off an area for reporters to stand, also helpfully posting a sign with directions to Manny's locker and another sign urging the press to take a number. But his best and most intriguing prank of the spring involves fellow A's pitcher and Twitter icon Brandon McCarthy, the brand-new cover model for ESPN the Magazine, along with his lovely wife Amanda.

Here's the jape as relayed by Rose:

Beyond his Manny Town antics, the veteran A's left-hander...was also working on a way to properly acknowledge the unexpected star treatment of Brandon & Amanda McCarthy on this month's cover of ESPN The Magazine. "I've got a big ol' Fathead coming, except they're superimposing my face on his head," Dallas said. "It will be displayed in a way that should properly honor them."

For the uninitiated, "Fatheads" are enormous, wall-size decals that normally feature athletes and sports team logos, but you can also customize your own. Hopefully the Braden-as-McCarthy will grace the wall of the Oakland clubhouse year-round.

We felt that a mock-up was in order.

Just for the sake of reference, this is what the unadulterated cover of the magazine looks like, featuring the exceedingly photogenic McCarthys:

via www.fantasybaseballdugout.com

I can only imagine that this is close to what Mr. Braden concocted:

Flawless, if I do say so myself. Hopefully we will all be able to order our own post-haste.

For all news and information regarding the Oakland A's, please visit Athletics Nation. For hastily cobbled-together photo manipulation, I can't recommend Adobe Photoshop CS4 enough.