The article highlights the distinct nature of baseball through anecdotes such as the whimsical invention of the ‘torpedo bat’ and a reflection on the fictitious story of Sidd Finch. On the anniversary of a classic Sports Illustrated piece from 1985, it evokes the imagination of baseball lore by recounting the tale of a Tibetan pitcher who supposedly threw a 168 mph fastball. These stories underscore the blend of seriousness and silliness in baseball culture, bridging the gap between historical significance and playful myth.
On Monday the sport was seized by the latest in batsmanship - and could you even imagine the look on Abner Doubleday's face if, sometime in the 1870s or so, someone had informed the good general that someday there would be an invention called the 'torpedo bat'?
Forty years earlier - April 1, 1985 - Sports Illustrated had given over its back-of-the-book 'bonus' piece to the great George Plimpton, and Plimpton told the story of an unknown Tibetan pitcher named Sidd Finch, who'd been wowing the folks in Mets camp in St. Petersburg with a fastball that touched 168 miles per hour.
It was a loony tunes story that had just enough believability that, well, people sorta kinda believed it for a few days.
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