25th Anniversary: The Longest Game in Pro Baseball History

2006 marks the 25th anniversary of the playing of the longest game in professional baseball history. The game was played on April 18-19, and June 23rd, 1981 between the host Pawtucket Red Sox and the visiting Rochester Red Wings at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, RI in front of a sparse crowd of 1,740 fans. The game went an amazing 33 innings and took eight hours and twenty-five minutes to complete. The final score of this marathon? 3-2, Red Sox.

Several future major leaguers appeared in the game, including Hall of Famer Wade Boggs and future Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., Marty Barrett, Rich Gedman, Bruce Hurst, and Bob Ojeda. Statistical anomalies and oddities appear often in the box score. The Rochester CF, Dallas Wiliams, went hitless in 13 at-bats…talk about a rough day at the plate! The most hits by a single player in the game was five by Red Sox first baseman Dave Koza in 14 at bats. The Red Sox used 8 pitches in the game, the Red Wings 6. One Rochester pitcher (Umbarger) threw 10 scoreless innings of relief, allowing only four hits and striking out nine hitters. Two other Rochester pitchers also threw eight or more innings that night, including starter Jones (8.2 IP, 1 ER) and Luebber (8 IP, 1 ER).

The Red Sox scored a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game at one and send the game into extra innings. Both teams scored a lone run in the 21st inning, tying the score at two. Play was halted at about 5 AM on April 19th. The teams should never have played that long into the morning, but the rule sheet that was distributed to the umpires before the game was a mimeographed copy, and the section stating that no inning should start after a certain time was mistakenly cut off. It was not until June 23rd that the game was completed, with the Red Sox scoring a run to win in the bottom of the 33rd inning. By the time the game was finished, major league baseball was engulfed in a long work stoppage. The eyes of the world were on the game, with media from around the globe crowding into tiny McCoy Stadium.

In addition to the most innings played in a professional game, the following other records were set in the marathon game: