Mets reliever Kenny Greer took the mound for his major league debut in this late-September 1993 contest, but hardly anyone was there to see it, Newsday wrote.
That's because Greer came on in the top of the 17th inning as the clock neared midnight. He also got the win.
"(Mets manager Dallas) Green told me he didn't want to put me in a pressure situation," Greer told Newsday afterward. "I was more concerned about getting the ball over the plate. I hadn't pitched in a month."
That outing proved his only outing for the Mets that year. He went on to see eight more relief outings two years later with the Giants, marking the extent of his big league career.
Greer's career began in 1988, taken by the Yankees in the 10th round of the draft out of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Greer was also credited as Ken Greer.
Greer started with the Yankees at short-season Oneonta. He went 5-5 over 15 starts, with a 2.40 ERA. He picked up his first win in a late-June contest against the Elmira Red Sox.
"I was working ahead of the hitters all night," Greer told reporters after that. "(Elmira) was helping me by swinging at first pitches."
Greer moved to single-A Prince William for 1989, then high-A Fort Lauderdale for 1990. He made AA Albany-Colonie in 1992 and AAA Columbus in 1993. He went 9-4, with a 4.42 ERA at Columbus that year.
The Yankees then traded Greer to the Mets mid-September 1993 for Frank Tanana. His big league debut came late in that Sept. 29 contest. He went one inning, struck out two and didn't allow a hit.
He spent 1994 at AAA Norfolk, then moved to the Giants for 1995. He played at AAA Phoenix, then got eight relief outings in San Francisco.
Greer got called up in June, then quickly got into a game, The Sacramento Bee wrote. He went three innings and gave up one run.
"I wasn't surprised to be used right away because the bullpen was thin," Greer told The Bee. "I hadn't pitched in four days. I was out of sync."
Greer got into 12 innings in that stretch with the Giants and gave up seven earned runs.
He then moved to the Pirates system for 1996 at AAA Calgary, then moved to the Orioles system and AA Bowie and AAA Rochester mid-1997 to end his career.
- Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin, June 30, 1988: Satisfaction for O-Yanks in victory
- Newsday, Sept. 30, 1993: Kent double ends plenty of nothing
- Sacramento Bee, June 22, 1995: Giants
Made the Majors:1,259-33.9%-X
Never Made Majors:2,453-66.1%
5+ Seasons in the Majors:522
10+ Seasons in the Minors:309
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