Florida man pretends to be Red Sox pitcher

image Bill Henry used to like to tell his wife and friends stories about when he was a relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox back in the 1950s and 60s. He had a lifetime ERA of 3.26. When the Lakeland, Fla. resident died, the Associated Press ran his obituary. But Red Sox fan David Lambert noticed something wrong with it. The obituary said that Henry had been born in 1924, but Lambert knew that Henry was actually born in 1927. He decided to phone Henry's family (whose address he found in Major League records) to check the facts.

Henry's wife picked up the phone and said, "Bill Henry isn't dead. He's sitting right here in the living room."

It turns out that the Bill Henry who died was an impostor, a man who had been falsely claiming to be the former Red-Sox player for decades. Even his wife of nineteen years didn't know the truth.

The real Bill Henry says, ""It's just amazing someone would want to live someone else's life. I say more power to him if it helped him in his career."

Links: chron.com; theledger.com; tbo.com (Thanks, Joe)

Identity/Imposters Sports

Posted on Fri Sep 07, 2007



Comments

There's a good chance he seriously thought he was the baseball player. There's not enough information in the articles, nothing about if he used that title to make money or advance his careers or anything.
I can see it being plausible that a guy looks at cards that have the same name and look similar, that he would think that was him.

Best not to judge a book by its cover. We all have problems.
Posted by River Styx  on  Fri Sep 07, 2007  at  01:06 PM
"... I can see it being plausible that a guy looks at cards that have the same name and look similar, that he would think that was him."

I have a bridge you might be interested in buying ...
Posted by Big Gary  on  Fri Sep 07, 2007  at  05:38 PM
if anyone out there would like to trade lives, I'd be open to suggestions. Mine is well-worn, comfortable, and comes with a no-honk guarantee. Thanks, and btw, I'd prefer a newer model with low mileage, and sub-woofers
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Fri Sep 07, 2007  at  09:25 PM
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