pat

In 1985, Sports Illustrated ran a story about a new pitcher for the New York Mets called Sidd Finch. Other than being Harvard educated and having spent time in a Tibetan monastery, what was the most unusual thing about Finch?

He did not exist. Sidd Finch -- who, according to the magazine learned to pitch by throwing rocks at 168 m.p.h. at the monastery -- was a hoax perpretated by SI and writer George Plimpton. (The ball club was in on the story, as well.) The story about Finch, which ran in the April 1, 1985 issue, began "He's a pitcher, part yogi and part recluse. Impressively liberated from our opulent life-style, Sidd's deciding about yoga ..." 100 Greatest Hoaxes.

I was taken in by the article, in part because, as a SI subscriber, I received the magazine three days before the newsstand date, and didn't connect the story to April Fool's Day.

It should be noted that, while the Mets had been really bad for several years prior to 1985 (hence it being plausible that they would play some untested weirdo like Finch -- they were that desperate), they had revenge, of sorts: in 1986 they won the World Series, helped in no small measure by Dwight Gooden, who, while no Sidd Finch, was at that point in his career pretty damn impressive in his own right.