"One of the things I really enjoyed was getting to know George Plimpton," says Berton, who went to parties at Plimpton's place in New York and had dinner with him when Plimpton came to Chicago. "Then Carter turned around and said, 'Sign the ball, Sidd.' So I did," Berton says. Legendary catcher Gary Carter was the only signature on a ball handed to Berton by one young autograph-seeker, and Berton balked at putting his phony name on a ball signed by a future Hall of Famer. He had a locker between Mets stars Darryl Strawberry and George Foster and sat down the right-field line during spring training games in the grass next to 1985 Cy Young-winner Dwight Gooden and future All-Star Kevin Mitchell. "In those days there was no internet, so if you saw a photograph, you assumed it was real," says Berton. "7-Eleven was only open from 7 until 11, so Lane and I are going through garbage cans looking for red Coke cans to set up on the beach," Berton remembers. Right-handed and lanky at 6-foot-4 and 170 pounds, Berton was captured in mid-windup as the story told how he fired perfect pitches that knocked Coke cans off sand dunes as the sun was coming up. On the back, it lists his favorite activity as "levitation." Charles native Joe Berton's brief career as pitching phenom in 1985, whose story written by George Plimpton graced the April Fools' Day edition of Sports Illustrated. "Then he said, 'You've got to be the man.'" "He wanted to shoot a phenomenal pitcher who could also play the French horn," remembers Berton, who agreed to help in whatever way he could. Pals from their first meeting, Stewart knew Berton was a huge baseball fan, and often invited him to help him with equipment when he had assignments in spring training. Now he is president of the Military Miniature Society of Illinois. As a boy, Berton would walk to Walker's Hobby Shop in downtown St. Even with the preposterous speed embellishment, the story was taken as gospel by many readers.Īn applied arts art teacher at a middle school in Oak Park where he lives, Berton met Stewart a few years earlier when the photographer was capturing images for a story about hobbies and Berton had already established himself as a master builder of intricate toy soldiers. "You know, I told Plimpton that people might believe the story if he lowered that speed to 116-mph or even 120," says Berton, now a 68-year-old retired teacher. Charles High School graduate, who adopted the persona of the bizarre pitcher and posed for multiple photographs shot by Lane Stewart, including one of him pitching with a bare left foot and a heavy hiking boot on his right foot. Perhaps that was the first hint that the legend of Sidd Finch was an April Fools' Day stunt, says Joe Berton, the 1971 St. ![]() Plimpton wrote, "He may well change the course of baseball history," with a fastball that hit 168-mph on the speed gun.
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