Flashback: Mets Versus Braves Baseball Game July 4, 1985

Throughout the modern era in Major League baseball, cities and stadiums have provided special celebrations on the Fourth of July holiday. They may feature military color guards for the national anthem or patriotic jet flyovers (if the game is held in the afternoon) or fireworks, if it is an evening contest. On July 4th of 1985, officials at Atlanta Fulton County stadium hosted a game between the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves that would feature fireworks at the end. Sounds pretty simple and straightforward, doesn't it?

The game started under threatening overcast conditions. Along with the novelty of the holiday, the game also featured the phenomenal New York Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden. On that day he suffered through a rough outing as the Braves scored two runs on him in two innings. A long rain delay followed and Davey Johnson, the Mets manager, opted to switch to Roger McDowell once the game resumed. The lead changed hands several times and rain fell again in the latter innings, forcing the ground crew to trot out the tarps yet again.

By the bottom of the eighth inning, the Mets led 7-4 and brought on their closer, Jesse Orosco. A durable lefthanded workhorse with a tough rising fastball and a devastating sweeping curve, it seemed like he could shut the door on the Braves so that the hardy souls on hand could enjoy their fireworks and call it a night. In an uncharacteristically poor outing for Orosco, he surrendered four runs during an Atlanta rally that featured a home run from Terry Harper. The Mets tied the score in the ninth, and the extra frames began.

Baseball is the only major professional sport without a game clock. It is also the only sport where games cannot end in a tie unless there is an environmental (rain, snow, cold) or mechanical (power failure) problem. Unlike basketball and hockey, the players can only be taken out of the game once and cannot return. This is important to note, because the first three frames of extra innings were dominated by the pitchers. When the Mets scored twice in the thirteenth it seemed evident that maybe the long day of baseball would end. Unfortunately, the Mets had used all their frontline relief pitchers and had to depend on Tom Gorman, a mediocre lefthander, to stop the Braves in the thirteenth.

The Braves scored twice off Gorman in the thirteenth, which prolonged the wacky game for the bewildered fans who hung on. After a rocky start, Tom Gorman found his inner Sandy Koufax and shut out the Braves for the next four innings. The Mets scored a run at the top of the eighteenth inning (the length of two official games!) and again had to depend on him to shut the Braves out and close out the unbelievably long inning of baseball.

For the bottom of the eighteenth, the Braves had to send pitcher Rick Camp to the plate because they were out of both pinch hitters and pitchers. Tom Gorman quickly got ahead in the count, 0-2 to the Braves pitcher, who was later revealed to own the lowest batting average in the league, .036. Nevertheless, Mr. Gorman threw a weary, hanging forkball to Mr. Camp who swung with all his might and sent the ball over the outfield fence! Danny Heep, the Mets left fielder covered his head with his hands and the center fielder Len Dykstra threw his glove high into the air.

At the top of the nineteenth, the Mets, possibly anxious to get to bed or any other non-baseball activity, put their hitting shoes on and scored five runs. Surely it was enough to win, right? Out of all relief pitchers and nearing the end of their supply of pitchers, period, the Mets sent starter Ron Darling to the mound for the nineteenth. A strong pitcher and a front line starter, possible fatigue or ennui caught up with him and he allowed two runs to score and put two more men on base when Rick Camp reappeared at the plate with another opportunity to tie the game with another home run. Thankfully, Ron Darling struck him out at local time 3:55 A.M. At 4:01 for the benefit of the fans who remained, fireworks lit up the early morning sky!