Replacement Players

Episode 1 of Replacement Players is go! And we start off with a bang as I talk with Will Stegemann–the man behind the hilarious and poignant A Year of Billy Joel–about the infamous Rick Camp game between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves that took place on July 4, 1985. Or, technically, July 4 and 5, 1985. Guys, this might be the craziest baseball game ever played. Nineteen innings! Pitchers batting for themselves and homering! Dangerously wet outfields! Dangerously fat relief pitchers! Protests! Multiple ejections! A barely noticed instance of hitting for the cycle! A barely racist mascot! And much much much and also much more! There’s a billion things to talk about in this game, and Will and I discuss as many of them as humanly possible. The primal kid-joy of Staying Up Late, dangerous firework displays, the disappearance of P.O. boxes and fat athletes, the decline and fall of Spencer’s Gifts, and the possible existence of TBS After Dark. It was a hoot to talk about with Will, and