Remembering Mets History (1983) Mookie Wilson Has Two Walk Off Wins & Mike Torrez Starts a Brawl
On the first game of this home stand, they had beaten the Braves 5-4 in a walk off win scoring four runs in the bottom of the 9th inning. Junior Ortiz & Dave Kingman had both reached on base hits. Then consecutive singles from Hubie Brooks, Keith Hernandez & George Foster won the game.
Tonight, 16-year pitching veteran Mike Torrez went up against Rick Camp. Mike Torrez would pitch parts of two seasons for the Mets. leading the NL in losses (17) that season. Torrez was a big influence & mentor to young Dwight Gooden when he first came up to the Mets big league club.
In the top of the 4th inning, Claudell Washington hit a solo HR to put the Braves up 1-0. It was his 6th homer of the season.
Claudell Washington Trivia: Washington played for the Mets for part of one season, after getting traded to New York in June 1980. That year he became the third player to hit three HRs in a game for both an NL & AL team when he hit three HRs on June 22nd in a 9-6 win in Los Angeles. Unhappy with the last place Mets he moved on to the Braves via free agency.
Bench Clearing Brawl: In the bottom of the 5th inning, Rick Camp hit Mookie Wilson with a pitch.
As Camp walked to first base, there was some shouting, some finger pointing & then he charged the mound. Keith Hernandez ran from first base behind Camp & grabbed him as Torrez threw a punch at Camp's face. The dugout & bullpens cleared bringing everyone on the field in an official bench clearing brawl.
Braves manager Joe Torre & the Mets manager Frank Howard, who was a giant of a man, were right in the middle of things trying to break it up. Eventually order was restored & play continued. Although Mets manager Frank Howard wanted Rick Camp thrown out of the game no one was ejected.
Quotes- Frank Howard: "The Umpires told me that if Camp goes, Torrez must go. They handled it properly".
In the bottom of the 6th, Darryl Strawberry walked, then stole his twelfth base of the season. Bob Bailor followed with a single to bring in Strawberry with the tying run.
Both pitchers held the other team down as the game went into extra innings. In the bottom of the 9th, pinch hitter Danny Heep singled but Rusty Staub hit into an inning ending double play.
Rick Camp pitched nine innings, allowing one run on three hits, striking out four & walking three. Steve Bedrosian came on in relief.
In the bottom of the 10th, Bedrosian struck out Dave Kingman to start the inning. Then Mookie Wilson, the man who was hit with a pitch that started the whole feud earlier in the game, hit a walk off HR leading the Mets to the 2-1 victory.
Quotes- Mookie Wilson: "My job was to go up there & get a base hit. By coincidence the ball went out of the park. It was a breaking pitch but definitely down."
Mike Torrez would pitch the complete game ten innings, earning his first win (6-12) after having five straight losses. He gave up a run on four hits, striking out three & walking three.