For April Fool’s Day, the New York Times revisits the legend of Sidd Finch, 168mph pitching prospect. He was, of course, merely a confabulation of the late George Plimpton (who, name dropping time, I once had the great fortune of meeting), but Joe Berton, the guy Sports Illustrated hired to pose as Finch, still gets recognised to this day. And he loves it:
“It’s never old to him,” said Berton’s wife, Gloria. “He absolutely loves it. Even now, at parties, people will go by and say, ‘Hey, you’re Sidd Finch!’ He’s just tickled, because he never was an athlete. He doesn’t deny the fact that he had heroes as a kid. And suddenly, he was one himself.”
What a great story.
Edit: Allan Wood over at Joy of Sox points out a link to a copy of the original Finch article.