Rick Camp

Rick Lamar Camp

[edit] Biographical Information

On the night of July 4/5, 1985, at 3:30 AM, in the bottom of the 18th inning, with 2 outs, none on, and his team down by a run, career .060 hitter Rick Camp came to the plate as the Braves' last chance to come back against the New York Mets. The team was out of position players so he couldn't be pinch hit for. The previous two hitters had meekly grounded out to first and it appeared Camp would do no better as he quickly fell down 0-2 in the count. Then, in a moment out of The Twilight Zone, he swung at the next pitch and hit it into over the left field fence for a game-tying home run. The Mets left fielder fell to his knees and threw his glove down in disgust. The Mets scored 5 runs next inning, but the Braves came back with two of their own. Then, improbable as it sounds, Camp came to the plate again with two outs and since there were two on, he was yet again the tying run. Instead of introducing him as "pitcher, Rick Camp," the PA announcer introduced him as "slugger, Rick Camp." Camp fell behind 1-2, and took a mighty swing at the next pitch. He missed, game over. He slammed his bat down on the plate in frustration in what had to be the biggest display of disappointment he ever showed in any MLB at bat.

In September 2005, he was sentenced to 3 years in a federal prison for conspiring to steal over $2 million from the Community Mental Health Center in Augusta, Georgia. Four others were sentenced to up to 10 years, for providing friends with jobs and unearned contracts.