batmagadanleadoff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVpjWNfnHwwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVpjWNfnHww Howard Johnson: When he hit that ball, I'm thinking it's got a chance. Here's Sterling's call from the broadcast: “Holy cow! Oh my goodness! I don't believe it! I don't believe it! Rick Camp! Rick Camp! I don't believe it! That certifies this game as the wackiest, wildest, most improbable game in history! … That's the most amazing thing that's ever happened in baseball. Mind-boggling.” Davey Johnson: That killed us all. Darling: It was almost, “This totally makes sense.” This totally makes sense that Rick Camp, who had never hit a home run, who we all knew as a really bad hitting pitcher — one of the worst in baseball if you look at his numbers — and it was an 0-2 pitch. All of those things together, it was like, “We're never getting out of here.” Murphy: That smile on Rick's face as he was running around the bases, it was just part of the great thing about this game: the unexpected. Zuvella: When he hits a homer with two outs to tie the game, it's like we're meant to win this game. Murphy: How can we lose this game? The Mets' body language wasn't subtle. Ray Knight threw up his hands once the ball left Camp's bat. Johnson at short crouched to his knees. Danny Heep's disbelief in left field is unforgettable. [FIMG=555]https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2020/07/07145342/0706-Camp-Knight-HoJo.jpg[/FIMG] [FIMG=555]https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2020/07/07145351/0706-Camp-Heep.jpg[/FIMG] McDowell: The despair of Danny Heep's body language as the ball travels over his head was priceless. Hernandez: The first thing that comes to mind is the look on Tom Gorman's face. He looked over at me and I looked at him like, “What the?” His face was red and flushed, and it was like he shrugged: “I didn't mean to do it on purpose!” Sisk: I swear Danny Heep was going to kill Tom Gorman when Gorfax gave up that home run to Camp. Gorfax, he was shell-shocked. Absolutely shell-shocked at that point. Sisk explained one of the great nicknames in Mets history: “We called him Gorfax because he thought he was Sandy Koufax.” Clint Hurdle (Mets catcher): A pitcher! 0-2! Two outs! Sisk: If we gave up an 0-2 base hit, anything, we'd get fined. It went into the pool for our party. That was automatic. 0-2, I don't give a shit if you throw the ball 45 feet, you better not give up a hit. He gave up an 0-2 home run to Camp. And he hit it well! Darling: Everyone was all over Tom Gorman. “Hey Tom, how'd you hold that pitch to Camp?” Hurdle: We kept busting Tommy for the rest of the year about “the 0-2 from you-know-who.” Holland: They gave him holy hell. McDowell: That was the point where you're going, “This is actually kind of funny.” That put the icing on top of the cake of that game. Howard Johnson: You're just numb to it at that point. You're mildly entertained. I was. I was like, “This is the greatest thing I've ever seen!” Darling: That game is probably not remembered if Camp doesn't hit the ball out of the ballpark. https://theathletic.com/1915000/2020/07/09/the-greatest-game-ever-played-the-night-the-mets-and-braves-broke-baseball/https://theathletic.com/1915000/2020/07/09/the-greatest-game-ever-played-the-night-the-mets-and-braves-broke-baseball/

In the top of the 18th, the Mets scrounged out a run on a Johnson single, a Camp error and Lenny Dykstra's sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the inning, Gorman quickly retired Gerald Perry and Harper. Because of the double switch and an absence of bench players, the Braves' chances with two outs and nobody on rested on Camp. At that point, the pitcher had 10 hits in 167 career at-bats. He'd struck out 83 times — one more and it'd be an even 50 percent of his at-bats. It was 3:20 a.m. Sterling: Who's up? Rick Camp — thought of and reputed to be the worst-hitting pitcher in all of baseball. Zuvella: When Rick Camp comes in, I mean, Rick Camp was not a hitter. Murphy: Oh, no confidence at all. No. No. Rick wasn't a very good hitter, with all due respect. He never did anything in batting practice. Sterling: At some point during the year, I had used, “As Russ Hodges would say, anyone's dangerous up there at bat swinging the shillelagh.” And Skip (Caray) said, “Obviously he's never seen Rick Camp.” Zuvella: I think Rick Camp was the only guy in the world who thought he could do something to change the outcome of this game. We all thought we were done, that they finally got us. Murphy: You never think it's over until that last out is made, but you also have to be realistic. It's like that movie (“Dumb and Dumber”): “So you're saying there's still a chance?” On the broadcast, Sterling did a little foreshadowing: “If he hits a home run to tie this game, this game will be certified as absolutely the nuttiest in the history of baseball.” As with Harper, Gorman got to 0-2. https://theathletic.com/1915000/2020/07/09/the-greatest-game-ever-played-the-night-the-mets-and-braves-broke-baseball/https://theathletic.com/1915000/2020/07/09/the-greatest-game-ever-played-the-night-the-mets-and-braves-broke-baseball/

Neither team really threatened for the next four innings. Gorman was cruising for New York, Garber and Rick Camp mowing down a tiring Mets lineup for Atlanta. Darryl Strawberry and Davey Johnson were both ejected by home-plate ump Terry Tata in the top of the 17th for arguing balls and strikes. It was 2:55 in the morning. 17th inning Strawberry at-bat and ensuing ejections -- 2:28:08 mark Camp, who had warmed up in the bullpen in the first inning of the game nearly six hours earlier, had entered in the 17th as part of a curious double-switch: He replaced Ken Oberkfell in the sixth spot in the order, even though that was due up two batters sooner than the pitcher spot. Remember this. https://theathletic.com/1915000/2020/07/09/the-greatest-game-ever-played-the-night-the-mets-and-braves-broke-baseball/https://theathletic.com/1915000/2020/07/09/the-greatest-game-ever-played-the-night-the-mets-and-braves-broke-baseball/

Meanwhile, in the Mets' clubhouse … John Holland (Braves visiting clubhouse manager): That was when I first met Roger McDowell. He ate seven cheeseburgers before that game was over. McDowell: I have a propensity to eat cheeseburgers. I kind of like them. Sisk: Roger could eat, man. That guy, for as skinny as he was, he could eat. McDowell: At that time there wasn't the food that is present nowadays in clubhouses. So we just got hungry, and as the hours passed, you send out the clubhouse guys to go get food. Holland: He came out early in the game, and he just started eating and kept going. These had the lettuce and the tomato, they were full-blown cheeseburgers. They weren't the little bitty Krystal things. Sisk: By the time this game is getting to the later innings, half our team is in the clubhouse drinking beer. All of us were in there watching this thing, cheering the team on, going crazy. Holland: They came in, they were waiting for the game to be over sitting there around in their underwear, drinking beer and watching the game on this itty-bitty television. Howard Johnson: Some of the pitchers that were out of the game and kind of hammered were walking down to the dugout. It was hilarious. Sisk: We went through a keg of beer. A keg of beer is 142 beers — and there was probably 10 or 12 people in that clubhouse. That's a lot of freaking beer going down. Holland: It might not have been a full keg. But we had to change the keg. Sisk: We ran out. It was a dry clubhouse, which was not good for us. I think we ended up stealing some of the beer from the other clubhouse. Murphy: I've never heard that before. But it wouldn't surprise me with the Mets. https://theathletic.com/1915000/2020/07/09/the-greatest-game-ever-played-the-night-the-mets-and-braves-broke-baseball/https://theathletic.com/1915000/2020/07/09/the-greatest-game-ever-played-the-night-the-mets-and-braves-broke-baseball/

The Mets tied the game in the top of the ninth off Bruce Sutter — already the sixth blown save in 21 tries for the Hall of Fame closer that season. In the top of the 13th, Howard Johnson — who came off the bench to spark the rally in the ninth — hit a two-run homer to put New York ahead. Tom Gorman replaced Sisk in the bottom of the inning, working around a leadoff single to get two outs and to 0-2 on Terry Harper. John Sterling (Braves broadcaster): When Terry Harper hit that home run, that really made it something. Keith Hernandez (Mets first baseman): I don't remember Harper's home run. I don't have any recollection of it. I can't picture it or put it in any context to the game. Harper's HR is at the 1:34:30 mark. The game moved to the 14th inning. It was 2 a.m. Paul Zuvella (Braves infielder): I think we all thought this game's never going to end. McDowell: Once it goes dark, it's dark. And then you just continue to play the game. Murphy: Everyone's reminding each other: Don't try to end this game with one swing. But that's the hard thing, because in the back of your mind you're thinking it'd be pretty cool to hit a walk-off home run. Howard Johnson (Mets infielder): Our motto was, “Hey, we're here. Might as well win.” Zuvella: The longer you go in a game like that, you'd think we'd just want to get this game over with. But it doesn't work that way with professional athletes. You don't want to give an inch. Hernandez: That was one of maybe a handful of games that I was just exhausted before the game was over. My last at-bat, (Gene Garber) put one right down the middle and it was just a pitch I should rip. I rolled it over to second base and I didn't even run to first base. I had no legs. Zuvella: That was one of those games where it just kind of kept going. Murphy: How did that happen that we just kept going? [FIMG=444]https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2020/07/07145133/0706-WTH.jpg[/FIMG] https://theathletic.com/1915000/2020/07/09/the-greatest-game-ever-played-the-night-the-mets-and-braves-broke-baseball/https://theathletic.com/1915000/2020/07/09/the-greatest-game-ever-played-the-night-the-mets-and-braves-broke-baseball/

With a runner on first in a 1-1 game, Johnson turned to one of his primary set-up men: Roger McDowell. Roger McDowell (Mets relief pitcher): Davey only thought this game was going to go five innings and get washed after that. Obviously, that didn't happen. McDowell allowed the inherited runner and an additional one to score in the inning, then headed for the clubhouse for the remainder of the night. The Mets came back the next inning to take the lead, and the game was still in the sixth inning at midnight. New York led 7-4 going into the bottom of the eighth. In the midst of a difficult season, Jesse Orosco loaded the bases and walked in a run. With Murphy, far and away Atlanta's best hitter, coming up, and the game on the line, Johnson turned to Doug Sisk. Although Sisk's numbers that season were subpar, he had held Murphy hitless in seven career at-bats against him. Doug Sisk (Mets relief pitcher): Murph to me was just a guy that I could get out. I remember when I was traded to the Atlanta Braves (in 1990), he was the first man to shake my hand when I got to the field: “It's about damn time. I'm so tired of facing you.” Murphy: I didn't like facing him. Hard sinker in, and I didn't like that. I didn't know exactly what I'd done against him, but I knew I didn't do that much. Murphy ripped a 1-0 pitch to left-center to clear the bases and give the Braves an 8-7 lead. Murphy: I happened to get a pitch to hit that time. https://theathletic.com/1915000/2020/07/09/the-greatest-game-ever-played-the-night-the-mets-and-braves-broke-baseball/https://theathletic.com/1915000/2020/07/09/the-greatest-game-ever-played-the-night-the-mets-and-braves-broke-baseball/

Murphy: As soon as the rain started, you're pulling for something that would get [Gooden] out of there. In the bottom of the third, the game was interrupted by more rain. The delay of 41 minutes prompted Johnson to remove Gooden from the game. The ace had recorded seven outs. Gooden: I didn't even shower. Davey said that was it and I was pissed. I had the clubhouse kid get a cab and went back to the hotel and had a few more drinks. Davey Johnson (Mets manager): I always had a lot of rules I learned from (Earl Weaver and George Bamberger) to save pitchers. If a starter had thrown some pitches and then we had a long delay, you don't bring him back. That's just critical for an arm injury. https://theathletic.com/1915000/2020/07/09/the-greatest-game-ever-played-the-night-the-mets-and-braves-broke-baseball/https://theathletic.com/1915000/2020/07/09/the-greatest-game-ever-played-the-night-the-mets-and-braves-broke-baseball/

Dwight Gooden (Mets starting pitcher): I remember warming up a couple times and stopping. The third time I was warming up in the bullpen, when they finally moved the tarps off, there was a great big puddle. All the mud was on me. The start of the game was delayed an hour and 24 minutes by rain. Rick Mahler threw the first pitch to Lenny Dykstra at 9:04 p.m. The Mets were starting Gooden, in the midst of his transcendent 1985 season, on three days' rest for the first time in his career. The hope was to sneak in one extra start for Gooden before the All-Star break the following week. Gooden: I remember Davey Johnson coming to me on the bus asking if I wanted another start before the All-Star break. I'd had a couple drinks. I said, “Sure.” Gooden wasn't sharp out of the gate, walking three Braves in the first inning. https://theathletic.com/1915000/2020/07/09/the-greatest-game-ever-played-the-night-the-mets-and-braves-broke-baseball/https://theathletic.com/1915000/2020/07/09/the-greatest-game-ever-played-the-night-the-mets-and-braves-broke-baseball/

One Year Ago, Alonso Became Derby Champ Excerpt: One year ago today, Pete Alonso took the national stage, representing the New York Mets in the 2019 Home Run Derby. At just 24 years old, Alonso became just the second Met in team history to enter the All-Star break leading the league in home runs. Alonso's 30 home runs prior to the break were the headline for the Mets in what appeared to be another forgettable season. New York was 13.5 games back in the division and seven games out of the Wild Card race. All the talk surrounding the team at the time was either centered around Alonso or who could be flipped at the trade deadline. With all eyes on him, many looked at Alonso's presence in the derby as the apex of the season. This was a chance for Mets fans to see their team come out victorious through the monstrous bat of the “Polar Bear”. https://metsmerizedonline.com/2020/07/one-year-ago-alonso-became-derby-champ.html/https://metsmerizedonline.com/2020/07/one-year-ago-alonso-became-derby-champ.html/ [FIMG=666]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48770167263_4f5cb304ab_c.jpg[/FIMG] [FIMG=666]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48671725281_3b1d8b9142_c.jpg[/FIMG]

The Athletic gives us an oral history of one of the wackiest baseball games ever played -- the Mets v. Braves 4th of July marathon from 1985 in ‘The greatest game ever played': The night the Mets and Braves broke baseball https://theathletic.com/1915000/2020/07/09/the-greatest-game-ever-played-the-night-the-mets-and-braves-broke-baseball/https://theathletic.com/1915000/2020/07/09/the-greatest-game-ever-played-the-night-the-mets-and-braves-broke-baseball/ I'll be posting excerpts throughout the day, including stuff about the heretofore unknown or since forgotten tremendous baseball nickname -- Gorfax. At 3:55 the morning of July 5, 1985, Dale Murphy and his Atlanta Braves teammates trudged into the home clubhouse at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, dazed. “I think this is what Rod Serling meant when you enter the twilight zone,” Murphy said last week over the phone. “What was that we just went through?” In the other clubhouse, Howard Johnson knew exactly what had just happened. “I remember walking off the field,” Johnson said, “thinking, ‘This is the greatest game ever played.'” On Independence Day 35 years ago, the Mets and Braves played arguably the wackiest game in major-league history. It included two rain delays totaling more than two hours, a protest, 19 innings, 29 runs and the most improbable home run in the sport's history. It ended later than any major-league game had ever ended before — with literal fireworks shot off just after 4 a.m. This is the story of the night the Mets and Braves broke baseball. Ron Darling (Mets pitcher): It was the strangest game because we shouldn't have played it. It had been raining all day. But you knew we were going to play because it was July 4. Dale Murphy (Braves center fielder): If we have a sellout crowd, they're going to do everything they can to play this. They weren't going to call that game because they needed the gate. Darling: That field was always like a lake anyway.

Edgy MD wrote: I could be wrong, but I'm not getting the idea that the league has been thoughtful in providing the players, staffs, and umps with a safe workspace.... _____________________________ ‘This has to get fixed': MLB's incomplete data, delayed results and missing PPE ...intake tests have been woefully incomplete, forcing teams to change or postpone workouts, and the player's promised personal protection equipment has not yet arrived. [***] “This has to get fixed,” said Nationals reliever Sean Doolittle, who — as usual — provided honest, articulate commentary about an unprecedented endeavor. “There is a lot of players right now that are trying to make decisions that might be participating in camp that aren't 100 percent comfortable with where things are at right now. That's where I am.” Doolittle has been tested four times, half of which have taken longer than 48 hours to get results. As he spoke on Sunday over Zoom, he paused for a minute to check his cell phone. Still no results from Friday's test. There was initial skepticism that one lab in Salt Lake City, Utah would be able to handle the volume of the league's tests with a turnaround of 24-48 hours. Those concerns seem more valid after the first weekend. On Sunday, Oakland was forced to cancel its position players' workout because it didn't have all its intake test results. [***] Players are supposed to be tested every other day. They are supposed to get those test results ideally within 24 hours, but up to 48. They are supposed to get N95 and gloves and practice safe social distancing. They are supposed to able to trust the system, trust the speed of the intake tests and the league in releasing pertinent data. https://theathletic.com/1910362/2020/07/05/this-has-to-get-fixed-mlbs-incomplete-data-delayed-results-and-missing-ppe/https://theathletic.com/1910362/2020/07/05/this-has-to-get-fixed-mlbs-incomplete-data-delayed-results-and-missing-ppe/

I don't like when the team takes the name of the state instead of the city.

I always thought that the rule was that if the injury or health condition was related to the sport itself, then it could be disclosed publicly. But then again, RA Dickey's missing ulnar nerve or whatever it is that he ain't got was disclosed so I guess I'm not really sure. Maybe there's a special rule for covid-19 that the league agreed to regarding disclosures. HIPAA forbids disclosures by anybody and for anything unless the patient otherwise consents. Perhaps the bargaining agreement allows teams to disclose player's health issues, or at least some of them.

Ronn Reynolds didn't play. It figures. It hadda be the backup catcher. Topps 1986 card [FIMG=444]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51LxHI3AcmL._AC_SX385_.jpg[/FIMG] Ronn at Butterball Field. One of the last Mets shots taken there. [FIMG=444]https://i.redd.it/kpqs53z442751.jpg[/FIMG]

=stevejrogers post_id=39907 time=1593902593 user_id=57] Tom Paciorek?

Edgy MD wrote: I think Sid Fernandez was set to pitch after Darling, so I'll go with him. Sid didn't play, but my bad. I meant to ask for the only Mets position player not to appear in that game. Larry Bowa? Joined the Mets in August, 1985.

Mike Trout doesn't ‘feel comfortable' about playing in 2020 and he's not alone Even [Trout] is not certain he will play. “Honestly, I still don't feel comfortable,” the three-time American League MVP said. “I don't want to test positive and bring it back to my wife. I've thought hard about this, and I'm still thinking about this. This is a tough time, a tough situation everyone is in.” [***] The concerns go beyond the Angels' clubhouse. Trout said multiple players on other teams have expressed their doubts to him about baseball's ability to successfully pull off a return with the lingering threat of the coronavirus. “They're all thinking the same thing,” Trout said. “Is this going to work?” Trout's concerns are more personal, beyond the bickering between MLB and the MLB Players Association that he described as “messy.” He and his wife, Jessica, are expecting their first child in August, bringing about its own set of complicating factors. [***] “I can't put them in jeopardy,” Trout said. “Obviously, being with them and keeping them the healthiest is my top priority.” https://theathletic.com/1908520/2020/07/03/mike-trout-doesnt-feel-comfortable-about-playing-in-2020-and-hes-not-alone/https://theathletic.com/1908520/2020/07/03/mike-trout-doesnt-feel-comfortable-about-playing-in-2020-and-hes-not-alone/

=kcmets post_id=39880 time=1593882993 user_id=53] The famous 19 inning 4th of July game in Atlanta is on MLB at 3:00 ET. (edited for replay in three short hours for your viewing/dvr'ng pleasure)

That McDowell, never a full moment. Never a dull moment, either. Throughout the night, Mets kept disappearing into their clubhouse to grab handfuls of popcorn, a snack the Braves' visiting clubhouse manager, John Holland, always kept in plentiful supply. "There was a lot of popcorn eaten," Howard Johnson says. [***] One remarkable total that didn't make the boxscore: Roger McDowell, now the Braves' pitching coach, ate seven cheeseburgers from the time he came out of the game after the third inning to the end, Holland recalls. https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/25-years-sunday-new-york-mets-played-overnight-epic-camp-y-ending-braves-article-1.463440https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/25-years-sunday-new-york-mets-played-overnight-epic-camp-y-ending-braves-article-1.463440

=kcmets post_id=39889 time=1593887516 user_id=53] That McDowell, never a full moment.

Lefty Specialist wrote: Whose announcers? The Braves announcers were dreadful in the TBS days. Give me Ralph, Tim and Steve Zabriskie. Mrs. Lefty, before we ever met, had a broken arm at the time and couldn't sleep, so she wound up watching the whole thing until 4 AM. John Sterling and Ernie Johnson for the Braves. And just before Camp hit his improbable homer, Sterling said to partner Ernie Johnson, “Ernie, if he hits a home run to tie this game, this game will be certified as absolutely the nuttiest in the history of baseball.”

More stuff from that Mets-Braves 4th of July marathon game that might've got forgotten with the passage of time: Keith Hernandez banged out an extra-inning single to complete the "cycle". Youse knew that. But what youse might not know, or might've forgotten, is that Keith didn't need extra innings to hit for the cycle. In the top of the sixth, Hernandez hit a liner to CF that Dale Murphy clearly trapped. The umpire nevertheless called an out on the play -- replay indisputably showed that the ball was illegally trapped and that Keith should've been credited with a single.

Edgy MD wrote: I think Sid Fernandez was set to pitch after Darling, so I'll go with him. Sid didn't play, but my bad. I meant to ask for the only Mets position player not to appear in that game.

Who was the only active MLB roster Met not to appear in the 4th of July Rick Camp homers marathon game?

=kcmets post_id=39880 time=1593882993 user_id=53] The famous 19 inning 4th of July game in Atlanta is on MLB at 3:00 ET. (edited for replay in three short hours for your viewing/dvr'ng pleasure)