26 Oct 1998: Mike Piazza of the New York Mets shakes hands with Mets Owners Fred Wilpon (R) and Nelson Doubleday (L) during a Press Conference in New York City, New York. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Squire /Allsport
The Brooklyn Cyclones will pay homage to the greatest New York Mets player who never lived with a celebration of Sidd Finch Bobblehead night.
The Cyclones will commemorate the 30-year anniversary of the legendary Finch, an otherworldly - and fictional - pitcher who was the subject of a Sports Illustrated story on April Fool's day in 1985.
The article, titled "The Curious Case of Sidd Finch" and penned by another legend in George Plimpton, described a too-good-to-be true pitcher with a 168 mph fastball who was torn between a career with the Mets or playing the French horn.
The public - particularly Mets followers - bought into the story despite the slew of outlandish facts aside from Finch's nuclear fastball. Finch was a Harvard graduate who had never played baseball, learned Yoga in Tibet and pitched wearing only one shoe - a hiker's boot.
Finch told the team his first name derived from "Siddhartha" - translated to "The Perfect Pitch." Mets management played along with the hoax, assigning Finch a locker between sluggers Darryl Strawberry and George Foster, which was featured as part of the magazine's photo spread.
During the Cyclones promotion on Aug. 26, fans can participate in a fast-pitch competition and pregame Yoga exercising. Discounts will also made available to all fans named Sidd and anyone wearing a Harvard T-shirt gets first crack at running the bases after the game.
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