The NY Mets vs. Braves game that became one of the zaniest in MLB history

The New York Mets and Atlanta Braves have played some important games, but none compares to what happened on July 4, 1985. This game had so much drama that if HBO was going to make a single regular season game into a mini-series, they’d have to choose this.

There was no red wedding or cut to black with Journey playing. This game had just about everything else.

How this July 4th game between the Mets and Braves became one of baseball’s most iconic

When a player hits for the cycle, it should lead the story of almost any game. Not on this day. Keith Hernandez picking up a single, double, triple, and home run was the least interesting thing about this game.

Due to rain, the game was pushed back to a 9:04pm start time. A late start didn’t stop the offenses as they traded a run each in the first. It had all of the early signs of becoming an offensive back-and-forth and as the night progressed, that’s exactly what this became.

The Mets scored 4 in the fourth and held the lead for much of the game until the Braves scored 4 times in the 8th. This gave Atlanta an 8-7 lead only for a Lenny Dykstra one-out single to tie it up in the top of the 9th. Doug Sisk held off the Braves in the bottom of the 9th and into extra innings the two teams went. And went. And went. And went…

Both teams scored a pair in the 13th. In the 17th, Darryl Strawberry was ejected for arguing balls and strikes as was manager Davey Johnson after coming to his defense. Somehow, the Mets still had John Christensen available off the bench to replace him. In fact, Rusty Staub hadn’t even come off the bench yet.

The 18th inning is when the biggest drama took place. The Mets scored on a sacrifice fly with nobody out. Hoping to finally end things, the unlikeliest of Braves heroes stepped up to the plate with two outs. This wouldn’t be known as the never-ending game between the Mets and Braves on America’s Birthday featuring a cycle by Hernandez. This became the Rick Camp Game.

Braves pitcher Rick Camp hit a two-out home run to keep the game tied. It seemed as if this game would never end. At the very least, Camp would walk off as the hero in a long Braves win.

Luckily, the Mets answered back the next inning by scoring 5 runs off of Camp. The Braves fought back to score twice more in the bottom of the 19th, falling short of what could’ve been a miracle marathon.

The game officially ended at 3:55am on July 5th with fireworks nobody in the neighborhood was ready for.

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