Watch in awe as Gary Carter was tagged out on a walk-off hidden ball trick

This play was found thanks to a reader tipping us off to its existence. We then dove into the MLB archives searching for video proof. Do you have a favorite play you haven't seen in decades? Email us at [email protected] and we'll see if we can track it down. 
The fact that the hidden ball trick ever works in the Major Leagues is astonishing. It's a piece of schoolyard subterfuge, of sandlot spycraft. Wait for the runner to stop paying attention and then -- BAM -- the easiest out you'll ever see. while baseball history is loaded with them, it's extremely rare for games to end with one. 
Enter: April 8, 1988. 
With the Mets trailing the Phillies, 5-1, in the top of the ninth, Gary Carter hit a one-out double and was standing on second base. Lance Johnson then lined out to the right fielder who threw the ball back in to Phillies shortstop, Steve Jeltz. Carter, who celebrated his 34th birthday with a home run earlier in the game, would not be celebrating now. For, as he momentarily stepped off the bag -- "I was switching my feet," Carter said after the game -- Jeltz applied the tag. 
"I started to throw the ball to Ruffin, but he wasn't ready" Jeltz said. (though the NY Times attributed this to Juan Samuel) "Then I noticed Carter off the bag, so I tagged him."