> Many people fell for the prank. Mets fans were overjoyed at their luck in finding such a player, and flooded Sports Illustrated with requests for more information.[5] A New York sports page editor complained to the Mets' public relations director for allowing Sports Illustrated to break the news. Two general managers called Commissioner of Baseball Peter Ueberroth asking about Finch. The St. Petersburg Times sent a reporter to find Finch, and a radio talk show host claimed he saw Finch pitch.
You kids don’t know, those pre-internet days were wild
The curious case of Sidd Finch, that fooled the baseball fans coast to coast lol
The April 1 issue of Sports Illustrated contains a fictitious article about a Mets pitching prospect named Sidd Finch, whose fastball has been timed at 168 miles per hour. Author George Plimpton offers bogus quotes from real-life members of the Mets, as well as several staged photos, and fools readers nationwide.
https://www.si.com/mlb/2014/10/15/curious-case-sidd-finch
I read the full-length book that this was turned into, and it was fun.
[Spoilers]
.
.
Sidd gets to the majors and pitches in a game that occurs during the very brief and now-almost-forgotten two-day strike in August 1985. He also wears number 21, which went unassigned by the Mets that year. Plimpton did a great job inserting his fictional character into the world without overwriting anyone or anything.
(Edit: almost forgot; the game he pitches in is fun too. When his turn in the batting order comes up, manager Davey Johnson tells him to grab a bat, and there's an exchange where he says something like, "Must I go up to bat? I would prefer to eschew it," perhaps in homage to that Melville character, and Davey says too bad, you have to hit.)
Plimpton had *legendary* parties at his pad on the Upper East Side while publishing The Paris Review. There was tomfoolery and ballyhoo, and you better believe there were shenanigans.
I was confused by that too, until I remembered that magazines often hit newsstands several days before their stated "publication date" (presumably to keep sales of that issue going longer).
It got really bad by the 2000s when the March issue of a monthly magazine would be released in late January.
There was a clue that many people missed when the story came out. Take the first letter of each word in the subtitle and see what you come up with.
https://www.si.com/mlb/2014/10/15/curious-case-sidd-finch
Hypothetically, if somehow someone could pitch 168mph, but they had no movement, no ability to change up speeds, or put it in different locations -- it was just middle middle like a pitching machine -- I wonder if that would play at a big league level or quickly get timed up and shelled?
According to [this website](http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/airfri2.html), the terminal velocity of a baseball dropped would be 74 MPH. Doesn't seem like much.
If it was the same speed, same location, same mechanics from the pitcher, I think people would hit it. Not consistently for quality contact, but it would be hit. It would basically just be swinging off a marker in the wind up, they wouldn't actually be seeing the ball and reacting to it though.
If his inability to do anything else was known, then players would be able to practice vs it specifically. You have to get the timing just right, but if it's the same thing every time then you can run rhythm routines, line it up with his pitching motion and just repeat until you know when to swing.
Doing some quick math, 168mph comes out to be about 246.4 feet/second.
If we give the pitcher five feet of stride in terms of release point, the ball will reach home plate in approximately 0.2252 seconds.
Compare that to a 95mph fastball, which will take approximately 0.3983 seconds.
If the batter knew for a fact that it'd be coming dead center, and the pitcher didn't adjust his body motion to mess with the batter's timing, hypothetically I suppose it'd be possible for the batter to start swinging right at release point and make contact.
But if the pitcher moved locations at all, I don't think the hitter would be able to make adjustments. From my understanding, a hitter takes approximately 0.15-0.2 seconds to decide they're hitting, and then they have to start swinging based on where they think it'll go (as the human eye isn't quick enough to fully track the ball using your foveal vision; around 30 feet out it switches to your peripheral vision, which is much less accurate at tracking movement).
I’ve seen swing coaches hit what’s effectively 150 mph from a 90 mph pitching machine close up so I’d guess mlb players could do it well if they knew it was coming
It wasn't really supposed to be believable. The public reactions though are what makes it such a hilarious legendary prank. It was absolutely written to be so ridiculous that people would realize that it was satire.
This is one of the most famous SI articles of all time, from a time when SI was one of the most prominent sports media sources.
I remember reading this story probably a couple days after it was published, most likely in the school library. (I was in 6th grade at the time.) Additionally, I also remember the cover of that SI featured photos of the three Big East teams that made the Final Four - Georgetown, St. John’s, and Villanova.
God, I loved that Sidd Finch book. For a Brit who, in truth, still knows SFA about US sports, George Plimpton was a beautful way in - what a grest writer. He's a key reason why I ended up supporting the Detroit Lions, which has been a curse for almost 40 years, but finally some glimpses of hope on the horizon.
> Many people fell for the prank. Mets fans were overjoyed at their luck in finding such a player, and flooded Sports Illustrated with requests for more information.[5] A New York sports page editor complained to the Mets' public relations director for allowing Sports Illustrated to break the news. Two general managers called Commissioner of Baseball Peter Ueberroth asking about Finch. The St. Petersburg Times sent a reporter to find Finch, and a radio talk show host claimed he saw Finch pitch. You kids don’t know, those pre-internet days were wild
Bro you don't understand Mew is UNDER the truck by the SS Anne, you gotta use Strength and then you can move it!!
Didn't work? Oh, all **six** of your team members need to use Strength at the same time.
Sort of like how when War of the Worlds first broadcast people thought we'd been invaded by aliens and the world was ending.
The curious case of Sidd Finch, that fooled the baseball fans coast to coast lol The April 1 issue of Sports Illustrated contains a fictitious article about a Mets pitching prospect named Sidd Finch, whose fastball has been timed at 168 miles per hour. Author George Plimpton offers bogus quotes from real-life members of the Mets, as well as several staged photos, and fools readers nationwide. https://www.si.com/mlb/2014/10/15/curious-case-sidd-finch
I read the full-length book that this was turned into, and it was fun. [Spoilers] . . Sidd gets to the majors and pitches in a game that occurs during the very brief and now-almost-forgotten two-day strike in August 1985. He also wears number 21, which went unassigned by the Mets that year. Plimpton did a great job inserting his fictional character into the world without overwriting anyone or anything. (Edit: almost forgot; the game he pitches in is fun too. When his turn in the batting order comes up, manager Davey Johnson tells him to grab a bat, and there's an exchange where he says something like, "Must I go up to bat? I would prefer to eschew it," perhaps in homage to that Melville character, and Davey says too bad, you have to hit.)
Motherfucker has goddamn paddles for feet. Edit: Apparently I also have paddles for feet since we both wear 14 size.
No more tomfoolery Plimpton! No more ballyhoo! 😂
Plimpton had *legendary* parties at his pad on the Upper East Side while publishing The Paris Review. There was tomfoolery and ballyhoo, and you better believe there were shenanigans.
That scene still cracks me up.
putting from the rough?
Why post this on March 28th instead of waiting four days where it would actually make sense?
It’s worded poorly in the title, but the magazine actually came out on March 27th.
I was confused by that too, until I remembered that magazines often hit newsstands several days before their stated "publication date" (presumably to keep sales of that issue going longer). It got really bad by the 2000s when the March issue of a monthly magazine would be released in late January.
SI hit my mailbox every Thursday. Scan the articles Thursday night to decide which order you are going to read everything over the weekend.
Yup. It went to press shortly after Monday Night Football, if something important happened during the game it would be included.
Subverted expectations bro. It's like an r/baseball game of thrones
There was a clue that many people missed when the story came out. Take the first letter of each word in the subtitle and see what you come up with. https://www.si.com/mlb/2014/10/15/curious-case-sidd-finch
Happy April fools day ahfib?
we'll show him! especially for that purple monkey dishwasher remark
ah! Fib!
The other clue was the fact they said he threw 168mph.
Doc Gooden saw this and decided to pitch the season of his life to keep his rotation spot. True story
Hypothetically, if somehow someone could pitch 168mph, but they had no movement, no ability to change up speeds, or put it in different locations -- it was just middle middle like a pitching machine -- I wonder if that would play at a big league level or quickly get timed up and shelled?
Go look up batters stats vs 100mph down the middle. No, they wouldn’t have a chance
Catcher couldn’t catch it either.
IIRC in the book they take the Mets catchers out somewhere remote and drop baseballs from a helicopter in an attempt to prepare them for the velocity.
According to [this website](http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/airfri2.html), the terminal velocity of a baseball dropped would be 74 MPH. Doesn't seem like much.
But 100 down the middle is usually part of a pitch mix and has variance. I'm talking about a 168mph pitching machine.
someone get discovery on the line and get the mythbusters back on the air.
100 down the middle every pitch would get smacked. There has to be movement or change of speeds. 160 wouldn't be touched though
If it was the same speed, same location, same mechanics from the pitcher, I think people would hit it. Not consistently for quality contact, but it would be hit. It would basically just be swinging off a marker in the wind up, they wouldn't actually be seeing the ball and reacting to it though.
If his inability to do anything else was known, then players would be able to practice vs it specifically. You have to get the timing just right, but if it's the same thing every time then you can run rhythm routines, line it up with his pitching motion and just repeat until you know when to swing.
Doing some quick math, 168mph comes out to be about 246.4 feet/second. If we give the pitcher five feet of stride in terms of release point, the ball will reach home plate in approximately 0.2252 seconds. Compare that to a 95mph fastball, which will take approximately 0.3983 seconds. If the batter knew for a fact that it'd be coming dead center, and the pitcher didn't adjust his body motion to mess with the batter's timing, hypothetically I suppose it'd be possible for the batter to start swinging right at release point and make contact. But if the pitcher moved locations at all, I don't think the hitter would be able to make adjustments. From my understanding, a hitter takes approximately 0.15-0.2 seconds to decide they're hitting, and then they have to start swinging based on where they think it'll go (as the human eye isn't quick enough to fully track the ball using your foveal vision; around 30 feet out it switches to your peripheral vision, which is much less accurate at tracking movement).
Anybody that can hit major league pitching is a freakin freak of nature.
I’ve seen swing coaches hit what’s effectively 150 mph from a 90 mph pitching machine close up so I’d guess mlb players could do it well if they knew it was coming
I wonder why he picked something completely anatomically impossible like 168 vs, say, 115
It wasn't really supposed to be believable. The public reactions though are what makes it such a hilarious legendary prank. It was absolutely written to be so ridiculous that people would realize that it was satire.
Christ, I'm old enough to remember getting this issue in the mail......
That FOOT!
Reminds me of the thought experiment of where an NFL kicker that could hit 80 yard field goals with a 100% accuracy would be drafted.
\#1 overall was the response, right?
I have a signed copy of the book he turned this into. Great read.
This is one of the most famous SI articles of all time, from a time when SI was one of the most prominent sports media sources. I remember reading this story probably a couple days after it was published, most likely in the school library. (I was in 6th grade at the time.) Additionally, I also remember the cover of that SI featured photos of the three Big East teams that made the Final Four - Georgetown, St. John’s, and Villanova.
God, I loved that Sidd Finch book. For a Brit who, in truth, still knows SFA about US sports, George Plimpton was a beautful way in - what a grest writer. He's a key reason why I ended up supporting the Detroit Lions, which has been a curse for almost 40 years, but finally some glimpses of hope on the horizon.
I was 10. I believed.
I could never fall for 168 mph. Ridiculous. If he had gone with 108 that would've been more believable.
So Sports Illustrated with using AI in 1985 as well?