40 Years After the “Rick Camp Game”

July 4th marked the 40th anniversary of what has colloquially become known as the “Rick Camp Game.” But, as you will see, it was a whole lot more than that.

As is typical for a 4th of July game, this battle between the visiting New York Mets and the hometown Atlanta Braves, was scheduled to begin around 7:30 p.m., with a fireworks show planned upon its conclusion.

Rain in the Atlanta area pushed the first pitch back about 90 minutes, which may have been a sign of things to come. The Mets started Dwight Gooden, who was off from the start, while the Braves countered with Rick Mahler. Gooden couldn’t get through the third inning, and Mahler couldn’t get through the fourth, which may have been a sign of things to come.

Both teams scored in the first inning, and the Mets led 6-4 after six. The Mets extended their lead by scoring one run in the top of the eighth, but the Braves roared back with four in the bottom half — three on a Dale Murphy bases-clearing triple —to take the lead, 8-7. At this point, Atlanta and their faithful were just three outs away from a come-from-behind win and a spectacular fireworks display. But the Mets had other ideas.

With future Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter on the mound looking for his 15th save of the season (and 275th of his career), third baseman Ray Knight struck out. Two outs away. But three consecutive singles by Howard Johnson, Danny Heep, and Lenny Dykstra brought in the tying run. It may have been a sign of things to come.

The teams went scoreless in innings ten through twelve. In the top of the 13th, after a Ray Knight single, HoJo his a two-run homer to stake the Mets to a 10-8 lead. But, in the bottom half, Rafael Ramirez led off with a single, and after two outs (meaning the Mets were just one out away from ending this game and giving the fans at least 50% of what they came for), Terry Harper hit a game-tying two-run dinger. After thirteen innings, the score stood 10-10.

The 14th through 17th innings were uneventful, although the Bravos did get two runners on with two outs in the 16th. Alas, a Paul Runge fly out ended the threat. On they went.

Johnson led off the 18th with a single, and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt plus a throwing error. Dykstra followed with a sac fly to make it 11-10 in favor of the Mets.

In the bottom of the 18th, Gerald Perry grounded back to the box, and Harper grounded to first unassisted. The Braves, now completely out of position players, had no choice but to send pitcher Rick Camp to the plate. Atlanta was again down to its last out. And this time they had a player with a career .060 batting average and 83 strikeouts in 167 at-bats, with nary a single home run to his name. So, what did Camp do? To the Mets? To the long-suffering fans? You already know the answer. He hit an 0-2 curveball over the wall in left field to tie the game. Prior to the second pitch of the at-bat, Pete van Wieren said to his broadcast partner:

“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.”

Well, consider it certified.

The jog around the bases may have tired Camp out, as he allowed a Gary Carter single to start the 19th, and then, after a sacrifice and an intentional walk, Knight doubled in the Mets’ 12th run. Another intentional walk preceded another Danny Heep single, which ultimately cleared the bases due to a Claudell Washington throwing error. Two batters later, Wally Backman’s singled plated Heep, extending the Mets lead to 16-11. Ironically, Keith Hernandez, who hit for the cycle in the game (it took him 12 innings and seven plate appearances to pull it off), grounded out to end the threat.

Even trailing by five; even though it was well past 3 o’clock in the morning, the Braves were not yet done. After a ground out, Hernandez committed the rare error, allowing Washington to get to second. A Ramirez fly out got the Mets — once again — one out away. But then Ron Darling walked Dale Murphy, and then walked Gerald Perry, before a Terry Harper single combined with a Howard Johnson error allowed two runs to score. The Braves were then just one batter away from bringing the tying run up to bat. Unfortunately, Rick Camp didn’t have any additional magic in his bat, and he struck out struck out to end the game.

What may be the most shocking tidbit from this game is that the Braves gave the remaining fans exactly what they were promised: a fireworks show. At just about 4 a.m. it commenced, scaring local residents who thought that war with Russia had begun.