With his mouth agape and his body stretched to the limit, Mike Cameron resembled a man desperate to grab a life preserver instead of a baseball.
Either way, it was a helluva recovery.
In the sixth inning last night, Cameron avoided embarrassment after turning the wrong way and slipping on Jose Cruz Jr.’s hard shot to right field. Instead, he made a spectacular catch that had Pedro Martinez bowing and Shea Stadium buzzing during a 6-1 victory over Arizona.
“As soon as he went down, I couldn’t believe he caught it,” Carlos Beltran said. “It was a tough catch he made.
“And it was a great catch. He couldn’t do much with that ball.”
By the time you read this, Cameron’s amazing grab has probably been replayed on sportscasts from here to Hawaii. Cameron said he was “amazed” by his own play and said it was only the second time in his career he earned a standing ovation for defense.
“I tried to make a spin move, and as soon as I slipped, I was like, ‘Oh, [shoot],’ ” Cameron said. “And then it goes in slow motion.
“But as I’m slipping, I could see a little blur. So I just stuck my glove right there. I look up and everybody’s screaming.”
A two-time Gold Glove center fielder still learning his new position, Cameron showed his inexperience both in his grab and a fielding error in the eighth that wasn’t harmful.
On Cruz’s shot, he mistakenly turned toward center with one out and nobody on. When he made a quick turn to recover, he slipped on the turf. He kept his glove open, though, and the ball died in Cameron’s leather.
Martinez bowed down twice in appreciation. When the inning was over, the new Met ace waited at the edge of the dugout to congratulate Cameron.
“That was unreal,” Martinez said.
Incidentally, Cameron robbed Luis Gonzalez of a homer to right on Wednesday, and his teammates made a chalk outline on the fence in jest yesterday afternoon.
Cameron didn’t see the humor in that, since he made the catch – but he knows the Mets will really let him have it over his facial expression and catch.
“They should get some crazy picture of someone on a roller coaster or something, plastered out over the field.” Cameron said, adding later, “It was just a silly play.
“You just don’t see those kind of plays in baseball.”
– With additional reporting by Mark Hale.