Bill Henry: Alive and Well

This week, Bill Henry died.

But it wasn't former major league pitcher Bill Henry from the 1950s and 60s, it was his imposter, non-major league pitcher, Bill Henry.

Apparently this guy from Florida had pretended to be the real Bill Henry, who is alive and well in Texas. When the imposter died, obituaries hit the presses stating that a former major leaguer passed away. Meanwhile, the real Bill Henry, the ex-pitcher, lives on. Here's how the story played out, according to the Houston Chronicle:

As the obituary was circulated on the wires, genealogist and baseball historian David A. Lambert of Massachusetts began to document Henry's death. As he looked closer at the birth date and city of birth given for the Florida man and the Henry listed on various baseball documents, he realized something was amiss.

Major league records listed a Deer Park address for Henry, who started with the Red Sox in 1952 and ended with the Astros in 1969. The obituary, which was picked up from The Ledger newspaper in Florida, listed Lakeland as his home address.

"So I called Henry in Deer Park and told his wife, 'I'm offering you condolences on the passing of your husband,' " said Lambert, a genealogist with the New England Historic Genealogical Society and member of the Society of American Baseball Research.

"She said, 'Bill didn't pass away in Florida. He's sitting here next to me,' " he said.

I'd say that's the quote of the day right there.

Live long and prosper, the REAL Mr. Henry.