The longest day in Toronto Blue Jays history
Wonder how many hardy fans actually stayed for the whole thing?
I stayed for all of a 20 inning game a few years ago in St. Louis. There were probably a couple thousand people still there. That was a night game, so it wasn’t over until early morning.
In 1945 the Tigers played the Philadelphia A’s to a 1-1 tie in 24 innings at Shibe Park (which had lights, but it was a scheduled day game, so the lights stayed off and the game was called because of darkness).
So far as I know, no American League game has lasted that long since.
Tigers manager Steve O’Neill pulled starting pitcher Les Mueller after 19 2/3 innings. Les asked, “Gee, Steve, the game isn’t over, is it?”
It is interesting to note thatthere had been a 19-inning game the day before. Games of that length on consecutive days had never happened before.
Apparently this is a Blue Jay thing, too. Last year they set the previous record for the longest game in team history with an 18-inning win against the Rangers. On the very same day, the Marlins and Mets played a 20-inning marathon.
[QUOTE=dougie_monty]
In 1945 the Tigers played the Philadelphia A’s to a 1-1 tie in 24 innings at Shibe Park (which had lights, but it was a scheduled day game, so the lights stayed off and the game was called because of darkness).
So far as I know, no American League game has lasted that long since.
[/QUOTE]
But indeed there has been one, a famed 25-inning game between Chicago and Milwaukee, in Chicago, on May 8 and 9, 1984. It remains one of two MLB games that have gone 25 innings and concluded with a winner. (There was a 26-inning marathon in 1920 that had to be called due to darkness and was never resumed.)
The game actually had to be played in two chunks because in 1984 there was an AL rule that you couldn’t start an inning past 1 AM. So they stopped then and resumed the following day.
Really? Details, please!
My former in-laws went to one of those crazy long games in Philadelphia. They left before too late but it was fun to read about. Attendance kept dropping until around 2am when the bars closed and a few hundred people walked over to check out the end.
Here’s the Milwaukee newspaper’s account of the game.
I remember listening to the Giants and Mets go 23 innings in 1964. 7:23. It was the 2nd game of a double-header. :eek:
Tough day for Willie Mays, going 1 for 10. Gaylord Perry pitched the last 10 innings for the win.
I heard an anecdote about somebody who left the game in New York, got on a plane and flew to the west coast, and was understandably surprised to hear that the game was still going.
- The Sporting News * carried an article with comments by Joe Oeschger, who went the distance for the Braves in the 26 - inning game in 1920. He said the Giants - Mets game “had everything, including a triple play.” Leon Cadore, no longer living in 1964, started and finished for the Dodgers.