When Anthony Recker saved the day, if not the game

Earlier today, I wrote about Zack Wheeler's first home start of 2013. While it was irrelevant to that post, my favorite memories of that game -- aside from finding that, yes, there can indeed be good memories when your team loses a game 13-2 -- came after Wheeler's day was over.

When Wheeler exited, the Nationals were ahead with a score of 5-0. Then, the game got even further out of hand when the Nationals scored six additional runs in the eighth, all attributed to Brandon Lyon. This pushed the score to 11-0, prompting Terry Collins to look for creative ways to save his bullpen. Thus, he turned to backup catcher Anthony Recker to pitch the top of the ninth. Sure, Recker walked Jayson Werth on four pitches and subsequently gave up a home run on a 2-0 count to Ian Desmond, but what I remember best came next.

After the two-run blast, Recker was alone on the mound, having seen the Nats' lead expand to 13-0 and having recorded no outs in the inning. I can't imagine what he was thinking or whether Collins was considering taking him out. What I remember was the applause and cheering as Roger Bernadina, the third batter of the inning, came to the plate and flew out on the first pitch. Then, as Kurt Suzuki swung at a 3-1 pitch and flew out for the second out, the crowd's intensity increased. We all knew there was no conceivable scenario in which the Mets could rebound and win this one, but some of us -- and from the sound generated by fans that day at CitiField, many of us -- felt that Anthony Recker getting through a full inning on the mound could serve as a win of sorts, or at least an oddity to tell about later.

Next, Chad Tracy stepped to the plate and watched as two consecutive pitches missed the strike zone. Recker wound up and fired the third pitch of the at-bat. Tracy launched the ball into the outfield for yet another flyout. He had done it! Recker had retired three batters in a row to end the inning!

​Did he end the day with an ERA of 18.00? Yes. But did his performance infuse a level of energy not felt that day since Wheeler's first inning? Absolutely. He treated Mets fans to an unexpected performance that invited us to be excited again, cheering for the underdog. And, for any pragmatists who point out -- and rightly so -- that cheers don't affect the box score or push teams to the postseason, it is worth noting that Brandon Lyon, a legitimate bullpen pitcher with a 4.16 career ERA, faced the same batters as Recker and fared far worse. With the exception of Ian Desmond, who lined out for Lyon and homered off Recker, the four other batters who faced Recker netted better results against Lyon: in particular, the three batters who flied out for Recker. Against Lyon, Bernadina hit a ground-rule double, Suzuki homered, and Tracy walked on five pitches.

In retrospect, this was not a good game: for Wheeler, Lyon, or the Mets in general. It was, however, a good day for catchers: Recker came through, recording an inning of work on the mound as well as earning an ovation when he came to bat in the bottom of the ninth (he went on to strike out), and starting catcher John Buck blasted the ball over the left field fence with Josh Satin on base to save the Mets from a shutout loss.

Indeed, it was a good day for catchers as well as for any fans who were able to delight in the small victories. In a season when the Mets lost 88 games, that was an important ability for fans to develop.  Much has changed in the nearly four years since this game was played.  Anthony Recker is backup catcher for the Atlanta Braves, the Mets were in the World Series in 2015, and they made it to the Wild Card game in 2016.  Now, in 2017, we're hoping once again to delight in the big victories.


SOURCES:
- www.baseballreference.com: "Washington Nationals at New York Mets Box Score, June 30, 2013" & "Brandon Lyon."