Which was a bigger joke in Sports Illustrated’s first issue of April: Picking the Cubs to win the World Series … or the six-page story on the baseball coincidence when a fielder makes a spectacular play and then leads off the next inning?
SI reports that, alas, poor Kenneth Yorik did the research on the phenomenon of LOOFA (Lead Off/Outstanding Fielding Alignment)–also known as LIRPA (Leadoff of Inning after Remarkable Putout or Assist).
Look closely at the first letter of each word in the lead-in to the headline on the page. It reads: “A professor’s research ignites logistic feuding over one legendary statistic.”
Even the captions played a part. One caption refers to a player named “Pfuhl” and another is named “Abril.”
The ability to read backward helps–as does the ability to navigate an incredibly tedious story.
