Hot Stove Short – Sidd Finch Day

Welcome to Hot Stove #125, just two days after Hot Stove #124.

What? You haven’t yet finished #124? Don’t worry…

April Fool!

I would not do that to you. Two obscenely long posts in the same week? No way.

But I have a time-sensitive item that cannot wait. Today is Sidd Finch Day on the Hot Stove calendar.

On April 1 in each of the past four years, Sidd has been a headliner in Hot Stove. And because of his importance in baseball history, I don’t want to break that streak. Hence this Hot Stove Short.

Sidd’s story dates back to 1985 when he was a rookie Mets pitcher and became the talk of spring training. Sidd was featured in a major Sports Illustrated story written by George Plimpton. The date of the magazine was April 1. It was one of the most successful April Fools’ pranks in history.

For those who have not heard the story, or want a reminder, see my first post on Sidd (#12). It has the same title as Plimpton’s article. Click the Hot Stove # to see any of the posts.

Hot Stove #12 – The Curious Case of Sidd Finch

The next two posts added no new material, but reminded everyone of Sidd’s role in baseball lore.

Hot Stove #37 – Free Agents/The Best Team Money Can Buy/Sidd Finch Revisited

Hot Stove #71 – Opening Day, Ed Charles and Sidd Finch

Last year, some new facts were uncovered, including the alleged participation of Bruce Springsteen in the ruse. Remember the lyrics to his “Glory Days”? And note that these new facts came to light on April 1, 2019.

Hot Stove #96 – New York Mets Spring Training With Bill Wakefield, Sidd Finch and Bruce Springsteen

Baseball 100 – Ted Williams: This morning, Joe Posnanski announced Ted Williams as #6 on his Baseball 100. There will be more on that in the next full-size Hot Stove.

Joe also tweeted an interesting coincidence. From April 1, fifty years ago: