The Curious Case of Sidd Finch

[Moderator1]

Just because. In my mind, the best April Fool's Day story ever.

The Curious Case Of Sidd Finch - MLB - SI.com


I remember when it came out trying to convince my brother-in-law it wasn't real. Circle the first letter of the first 18 words.

Great stuff. Carry on

 

[Vombatus]

I believed it. It was SI, how could it not be true? My dad called bull****. Later on, we heard about the first letters.

Score one for dad.

 

[MisterCreosote]

Circle the first letter of the first 18 sentences.

"Tqitotsftswjtdscch." *

* -- Of course, you meant the first letter of the first 18 words. Just having some fun with ya.

 

[Moderator1]

"Tqitotsftswjtdscch." *

* -- Of course, you meant the first letter of the first 18 words. Just having some fun with ya.

It was a test to see who was really paying attention. You passed.

 

[Steak Snabler]

ESPN/Grantland has a 30 for 30 short on Finch today:

30 for 30 Shorts: Unhittable: Sidd Finch and the Tibetan Fastball «

Too bad Plimpton wasn't around to participate.

 

[joe king]

I'm pretty sure this has been asked before (but I couldn't find it on a search, so...), but did anyone over the age of, say, 12, REALLY fall for the Sidd Finch story? I remember reading it and laughing because it was a good, well-executed gag, but it was very obviously a gag. I can't imagine anyone actually believing it.

And this is true even though I didn't notice the first-letter thing.

 

[Rhody31]

Whats the first letter thing? Because I'm not picking up on it at all.

 

[TigerVols]

Love the appearance in the SI story of Roscoe Tanner, who once stole a girlfriend from me. #Humbleheartbreakbrag

 

[Steak Snabler]

Whats the first letter thing? Because I'm not picking up on it at all.

The subhead spells out "H-A-P-P-Y A-P-R-I-L F-O-O-L-S D-A-Y — A-H F-I-B."

He's a pitcher, part yogi and part recluse. Impressively liberated from our opulent life-style, Sidd's deciding about yoga—and his future in baseball.

 

[JackReacher]

Whats the first letter thing? Because I'm not picking up on it at all.

How have you read this thread and not picked up on it?

 

[Rhody31]

The subhead spells out "H-A-P-P-Y A-P-R-I-L F-O-O-L-S D-A-Y — A-H F-I-B."

He's a pitcher, part yogi and part recluse. Impressively liberated from our opulent life-style, Sidd's deciding about yoga—and his future in baseball.

That makes way more sense. I was reading the text and was totally confused.

 

[Steak Snabler]

And this is true even though I didn't notice the first-letter thing.

It's been a while since I've read it, but I seem to remember in "The Franchise," Michael MacCambridge's (excellent, by the way) history of SI, that not only did a lot of Mets fans fall for it, but some opposing teams and a couple of newspapers actually did, too.

EDIT: Found this in a 2005 NYT story:

"When Sports Illustrated hit the newsstands several days before the April 1 cover date, "The Curious Case of Sidd Finch" staggered baseball and beyond. Two major league general managers called the new commissioner, Peter Ueberroth, to ask how Finch's opponents could even stand at the plate safely against a fastball like that. The sports editor of one New York newspaper berated the Mets' public relations man, Jay Horwitz, for giving Sports Illustrated the scoop. The St. Petersburg Times sent a reporter to find Finch, and a radio talk-show host proclaimed he had actually spotted the phenom - who, truth be told, was back in Oak Park teaching art at Hawthorne Junior High."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/01/sports/baseball/01finch.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0

 

[TigerVols]

That makes way more sense. I was reading the text and was totally confused.

I was with you.

 

[joe king]

It's been a while since I've read it, but I seem to remember in "The Franchise," Michael MacCambridge's (excellent, by the way) history of SI, that not only did a lot of Mets fans fall for it, but some opposing teams and a couple of newspapers actually did, too.

EDIT: Found this in a 2005 NYT story:

"When Sports Illustrated hit the newsstands several days before the April 1 cover date, "The Curious Case of Sidd Finch" staggered baseball and beyond. Two major league general managers called the new commissioner, Peter Ueberroth, to ask how Finch's opponents could even stand at the plate safely against a fastball like that. The sports editor of one New York newspaper berated the Mets' public relations man, Jay Horwitz, for giving Sports Illustrated the scoop. The St. Petersburg Times sent a reporter to find Finch, and a radio talk-show host proclaimed he had actually spotted the phenom - who, truth be told, was back in Oak Park teaching art at Hawthorne Junior High."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/01/sports/baseball/01finch.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0

Wow. I guess there were some 12-year-old GMs of big league teams back then. It was ridiculously obvious that the story was a joke. I haven't read the story in a long time, but my recollection is a lot of it was pretty over the top, and Plimpton didn't even really try very hard to play it straight.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

As a kid, I just remember feeling disappointed that the Mets weren't going to have Finch be their No.2 starter.

 

[ChrisLong]

I think it was a case of: you don't really believe it, but you want to believe it.
Kinda like Aaron Kushner at the O.C. Register. And that was no joke.

 

[goalmouth]

The reason SI's jape worked is because, at the time, the readership a) trusted SI implicitly and b) still had a sense of humor. Unfortunately, many publications thought they could pull off the same gag year after year, only to find the joke was on them.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

**** Sidd Finch and SI.
Read that SI story and made him my No. 1 pick in the fantasy draft that year.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

I don't think it could be pulled off in this day and age.

I remember Plimpton made the interview rounds and just sold it. SportsCenter showed a clip of him being interviewed about the story in 1985 and he played it brilliantly.