As Wimbledon started, we witnessed a one in a lifetime event. I am assuming you have all heard by now about the match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut. The eleven hour, three day match by these two players will be remembered for many years to come. After watching the results of this match, I started thinking about some long baseball games (as it is baseball season) and put together this weeks Top 5 List. This week, I present to you a breakdown of five of the longest baseball games in recorded history (all in different categories).
Game #1, The Longest Minor League baseball Game, April 18, 1981 Pawtucket Red Sox at Rochester Red Wings.
The game started 30 minutes late due to a lights issue at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. When the game finally started, Rochester scored a run in the top of the 7th and Pawtucket came back with a run in the bottom of the 9th to send it into extra innings. The game continued into the 21st inning where both teams scored a run. There was no curfew for the game as the home plate umpire could not determine any rules in his rulebook for the curfew, so it continued and continued and continued. Finally, International League president, Harold Cooper was called after 3am, and the game was suspended after the 32nd inning, at 4:07 am. There were more people in the dugouts then there were fans in the stands at that time (19). The game was continued on June 23 and it ended after one inning, the 33rd, as Marty Barrett crossed the plate for a PawSox win.
Game #2, The Longest game in American League History, May 8, 1984, Milwaukee Brewers at Chicago White Sox.
The game started at 7:30pm, and heading into the 9th inning the game was tied at 1. Both teams scored two runs and the game went into extra innings, the Brewers scoring two runs off of Britt Burns white the White Sox scored their runs off of Rollie Fingers. The score was 3-3 until the top of the 22nd inning when Ben Oglivie hit a 3 run home run off of Ron Reed. Chuck Porter, pitching since the 18th inning gave the three runs back to the White Sox. Things stayed the same until the 25th inning, there the same Chuck Porter game up a walk-off home run to Harold Baines. This game ended on May 9, after 8 hours and 6 minutes. The winning pitcher that night was Tom Seaver.
Game #3, The Longest Game in National League History, May 1, 1920, Brooklyn Robins at Boston Braves.
This game was 26 innings and was called due to darkness in a 1-1 tie. The Robins’ pitcher Leon Cadore and the Braves pitcher Joe Oeschger each pitched 26 innings, a complete game. The last run scored when Walt Cruise doubled and Tony Boeckel singled. Reports and records from that time indicate that there was a light rain throughout the game and the crowd was estimated to be at around 2,000 as it started about 3:00pm. At the end of the night, Cadore was quoted as saying, “What a crime it would have been to have a loss marked up against either pitcher.”
Game #4, The Most Duns Scored in a Major League Game, August 25, 1922, Philadelphia Phillies at Chicago Cubs.
After four innings, the hometown Cubs were leading 25-6 in what seemed to be a complete blowout of epic proportions. However, scoring 3 runs in the fifth and scoring 14 runs in the last two innings were not enough to overcome that enormous lead as the Cubs “held on” for a 26-23 victory. Two Philadelphia pitchers each gave up at least 10 runs and it took five Cubs pitchers to hold on for the victory.
Game #5, The Longest Game in NCAA History, May 31, 2009, Texas Longhorns at Boston College Eagles.
In a game that lasted over 7 hours and 25 innings, the Longhorns beat the Eagles during an NCAA Regional, the game was tied 2-2 in the sixth after the Eagles scored in the bottom of the 6th inning. The next 18 innings were scoreless and highlighted by Austin Wood pitched 12.1 innings of scoreless relief. The game was won when Travis Tucker hit a single in the top of the 25th inning and the Eagles not being able to score a run in the bottom half of the inning. The Longhorns’ “reward” for winning the longest game in NCAA history, a game the next night
Those are my Top 5, what are yours?
