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Sidd Finch was the subject of the notorious article and April Fools' Day hoax "The Curious Case of Sidd Finch" written by George Plimpton and first published in the April 1, 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated.

Plimpton reported that Hayden "Sidd" (short for Siddhartha) Finch was a rookie baseball pitcher in training with the New York Mets. Finch, who had never played baseball before, was attempting to decide between a sports career and one playing the French horn. What was astonishing about Finch was that he could pitch a fastball at an amazing 168 mph, far above the record of a "mere" 103 mph. He also wore only one shoe—a heavy hiker's boot—when pitching.

Finch grew up in an English orphanage and was adopted by an archaeologist who later died in a plane crash in Nepal. After briefly attending Harvard University, he went to Tibet to learn "yogic mastery of mind-body," which was the source of his pitching prowess.

The subhead of the article read: "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." The first letters of these words (through "yoga") spell out "Happy April Fools Day." Despite this clue and the obvious absurdity of the article, many people believed Finch actually existed. The magazine printed a much smaller article in the following April 8 issue announcing Finch's retirement. It then announced it was a hoax on April 15.

Just For Fun, MLB sidd finch, aprils fools day, sports illustrated, george plimpton

In its 42 years on the newsstands the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue has been part of American culture.  Few annual publications have lasted as long and even fewer have sparked more debate.  Even today, some people still get their pannies in a wad over the scantily clothed women. However, with so many magazines on the store shelves regularly that have just as much if not more skin the controversy has died down a bit.

Growing up in a time before the Internet, I can appreciate what the SI Swimsuit issue meant to teenage boys everywhere in the magazines hey day. As a marketer I can appreciate what the swimsuit issue did for the magazine. There been so many beautiful women to grace the pages over the years, my favorites are still in this order:

1. Elle McPherson
2. Kathy Ireland
3. Tyra Banks
4. Petra Nemcova
5. Veronica Varekova
6. Heidi Klum
7. Christie Brinkley
8. Paulina Porizkova
9. Carolyn Murphy
10. Cheryl Tiegs

That leads to my favorite from this year's issue: TORI PRAVER

CHECK OUT THESE LINKS
--Complete 2008 Models/Photos
--History of Covers

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