THE RICK CAMP GAME

Good evening. This is Dead Legends. The baseball newsletter that covers the coolest, craziest, and kookiest things that have ever happened in our game.

Let’s dive in.

Today’s story is about one of the wackiest games in history.

It was America’s Birthday — July 4, 1985 — and the Braves were hosting the Mets at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

The game was a dogfight from the beginning.

Here’s a quick recap:

• Both teams scored in the first

• The Braves went up 3-1 in the third

• Mets scored 4 in the fourth; making the score 5-3

• By the eighth inning, the score was 7-4 with the Mets in the lead

• The Braves rallied back with a four spot and gave the ball to Bruce Sutter with an 8-7 lead

But Sutter blew the save and they went into extras.

By this time, it was past midnight.

There was three scoreless frames, and then Keith Hernandez hit a single, which completed his cycle for the day.

Howard Johnson hit a two-run home run to make it 10-8, but then the Braves answered back.

The score was 10-10 when Rick Camp entered in relief for the top of the 17th.

Davey Johnson and Darryl Strawberry both got tossed for arguing balls and strikes that inning.

Umpire Terry Tata was famously quoted saying:

“There aren’t any bad calls at 3 a.m.”

The next inning, the Mets took the lead again, and it was looking like the game would finally come to an end.

With two outs, and the Braves completely out of position players, they sent Camp to the plate to hit for himself; he was a career .060 hitter.