Before Inciarte’s catch, there was Nixon’s

There is The Catch.

You know, THE CATCH.

No, I’m not referring to “The Catch” that features Mirelle Enos as private investigator Alice Vaughan on television. And yes, I’m familiar with The Catch down the stretch of the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 10, 1982. That’s when Joe Montana scrambled to his right, lifted a pass that appeared headed toward San Francisco Bay and saw a leaping Dwight Clark grab the ball with outstretched hands to push the 49ers into the Super Bowl.

I’m referring to The Catch that ranks among the most dramatic plays in the history of Major League Baseball. It happened on July 25, 1992, when Otis Nixon climbed the outfield wall at Atlanta-Fulton County Coliseum for the Braves to do more than just snatch away a home run from the Pirates’ Andy Van Slyke to keep a long winning streak alive. Nixon created the gold standard for superlative catches along these lines. That applies to everybody, which means it definitely applies to players with tomahawks across their chests.

Which brings us to the unfathomable thing that Ender Inciarte did Wednesday night at Citi Field in New York against the Mets.

Think Flying Wallendas.

There were Inciarte’s Braves, trying to protect a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs and a couple of runners on base, and Yoenis Cespedes belted a shot high and deep toward right-center field to the delight of thousands cheering across Flushing and beyond. They had good reason for glee. No way anybody with flesh and blood would get to that ball, but Inciarte kept running for more than 100 feet to reach the fence. Without decelerating, he jumped and reached over the top of structure to turn Cespedes’ three-run homer into a game-ending …

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