It was no surprise a Mets catcher delivered the big hit which propelled his team into the League Championship Series. As for which catcher — that was about as improbable as any in postseason history.

Todd Pratt lasted four pedestrian seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies. After no major league team would sign him, he spent 1996 as an instructor at Bucky Dent‘s baseball camp and managed a Domino’s Pizza in Florida.

There are journeymen, and then there’s Pratt.

Heroism in baseball has no bias. Unlike football or basketball, you can’t always lean on your best player in a late-game must-score situation.

Needing one victory to take care of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS and avoid facing Randy Johnson in a decisive Game 5, the Mets couldn’t turn to Mike Piazza even if they wanted. A sore left thumb rendered him unable to play in Game 3, which New York took easily. He was out of the lineup again for Game 4 on a Saturday afternoon. That meant another start for Pratt, who joined the Mets in 1997 and had performed well as a backup. In 1999, he had 160 plate appearances with three home runs and a .293 batting average.

New York held a lead for most of the day behind Al Leiter, then relinquished it before rallying in the bottom of the eighth to tie Arizona at 3-3. That deadlock held into the bottom of the tenth.

Pratt came up with one out, having gone 0-for-8 thus far in the series. Matt Mantei, already two innings into his relief stint, was on the mound. Pratt sent a fly ball to deep center. Racing back towards the fence was Gold Glover Steve Finley. He made a rather awkward jump at the ball.

“When I saw him go up,” Pratt said to the New York Post, “my heart stopped.”

He also stopped running as he rounded first base — unsure if Finley had made the catch. He didn’t. In an instant, Pratt was in the rarified air of New York folklore. The homer ended Game 4, ended the series, and sent the Mets to the NLCS to take on the Atlanta Braves.

Pratt became living testimony that in baseball, obscurity can turn to legendary with one swing.