My Favorite April Fool's Day Gag

It was 24 years ago, right at the point when the Mets were starting to be good for the first time in years, and when I was becoming a baseball fanatic. This article showed up in Sports Illustrated. About a phenom in the Mets' farm system named Sidd (short for Siddhartha) Finch, who could throw a baseball at 168 mph and pitched with one bare foot and one in a hiking boot. It was too good to be true, but my classmates and I bought it. This guy was going to be It. The guy who would join Strawberry and Gooden and the rest and bring the Mets to the top.

Naturally, it WAS too good to be true, merely a clever and smartly written hoax from George Plimpton (with the help of the Mets). But I still love how I feel for the gag, and how it's stuck with me for all these years.

So here's to the most amazing pitcher who never was, and to the late Mr. Plimpton for making us believe.

Flash: Rebirth 1

As noted, the new "Barry Allen is Back" comic debuted. And...I really can't say what I think yet.

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"Voice of the Yankees" No More

The NY Times is reporting that Bob Sheppard, the public address for the Yankees since 1951, has quietly decided to retire at the age of 98. (He was also the PA voice for the New York Giants,) Even if you didn't like the Yankees, it was hard to not like Sheppard's clear and precise pronunciations of the great names. He was as much a part of New York baseball as Stengel, Mantle, Seaver and Torre, and he will be missed. It's a shame that he will not be able to continue in the new Yankee Stadium, though I fully expect he will make an appearance to say goodbye at some point if his health permits.

I wonder if you can retire a microphone instead of a number.