Quote:
Originally Posted by Pinetarpress
Same thing happened to Joe Hietpas of the Mets on October 3rd, 2004
Joe caught the last inning of the final game of the season for the Mets and never played in another big league game
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I was at that game. 3B-1B Todd Zeile, who had struggled to reach 2,000 career hits that season before retiring at age 39, started that game at his original position, CATCHER.
He homered in that game on his last major league at bat (career hit #2004, career home run # 253). He also caught an inning of John Franco's final relief appearance as a Met. Franco concluded a 15-year run with the Mets with that appearance (1990-2004). He signed with Houston after that season and pitched about the first half of the season before being released at around the all-star game. That ended a 22 year major leagues career (1984-2005). Franco still holds the record for Saves by a lefthanded pitcher 425, 276 of them coming as a Met.
I didn't realize that the player who replaced Zeile at catcher late in that game, Joe Hietpas, had played in his only major leagues game that day.