CALL it the “Catch of a Lifetime,” but don’t call it lucky.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Miracle Mets and Ron Swoboda’s full-layout, backhanded catch of a laser line drive off the bat of Brooks Robinson that saved Game 4 of the 1969 World Series, one of the greatest catches in baseball history.
Swoboda wants everyone to understand that he worked hard to get to that moment. Sweat marked the spot where he landed in the outfield.
“Eddie Yost was the third-base coach,” said Swoboda, 64. “He got me on the end of a fungo and hit me thousands of line drives and ground balls because I was a little uncomfortable with myself defensively, and Gil Hodges that year was using Rod Gaspar as a defensive replacement.
“I understood why, but it was driving me crazy. It was all about convincing Hodges that he didn’t need to put Gaspar out there in the eighth and ninth inning.”
To stay on the field, Swoboda arrived early and worked late.
“Because I read so many balls off the bat of Eddie Yost, I became better at reading the ball off the bat,” he said, “and reading the ball off the bat is the essence of playing the outfield.
“Being able to make a catch like that in Game 4 of the ’69 World Series was like saying to Hodges, ‘You understand what I’m saying.’ That catch kind of made my mediocre career.”
Swoboda’s love for baseball remains pure. But the steroid scandal and the escapades of Alex Rodriguez disgust him.
“He is a tremendous athlete, but for what he gets paid, his game breaks down in a bunch of different ways too often when it really matters,” Swoboda said. “Like Joe Torre said, he puts a lot of pressure on himself and he’s so aware of every move he makes sometimes you can just see him cracking because the play’s too easy. The guy can’t catch a popup, can’t make a simple throw, can’t get a big hit when it really matters.
“If you had eight A-Rods out there I doubt you would be a winning team. He isn’t about winning. He may think he is, but he isn’t about winning. He’s about building those numbers and some day being called the greatest player that ever played. That’s fine and dandy, but in my humble opinion, he is way overpaid for what he contributes to winning.
“I’m not a quarter of the player that he is, but in every way his presence is at times bigger than the game and nobody is bigger than the game.
“The game is so self purifying. It has a way of overcoming everything from lunatic owners to cheaters whose egos have hit the stratosphere.”
Remember, Ron Swoboda knows how baseball miracles happen.
