Classic April Fools' Hoaxes

In the spring of 1985, Sidd Finch walked on at a Mets training camp in Florida and delivered a 168 mph fastball, the product of years of “yogic mastery of the mind-body” bestowed by masters in Tibet. He wore a hiking boot on one foot (the other was bare), and his pitches knocked the catcher back three feet. Finch was a non-committal baseball phenomenon. He was also not real. George Plimpton imagined him for the April 1, 1985, edition of Sports Illustrated, and the 2,000 letters from readers made it one of the magazine’s most famous stories of all time. Plimpton’s tale contained a brilliant clue that it was all a hoax. The subhead to the story read: “He’s a pitcher, part yogi and part recluse. Impressively liberated from our opulent lifestyle, Sidd’s deciding about yoga—and his future in baseball.” The first letter of each of those words spells H-A-P-P-Y A-P-R-I-L F-O-O-L-S D-A-Y—A-H, F-I-B.