The Longest Game
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Pawtucket Red Sox vs. Rochester Red Wings
April 18 - June 23, 1981 - 33 Innings
PROFESSIONAL RECORDS SET:
MOST PUTOUTS - one team - 99 (Pawtucket)
MOST PUTOUTS - both teams - 195 TIME - 8:25
MOST AT BATS - one team - 114 (Pawtucket)
MOST STRIKE OUTS - one team - 34 (Rochester Batters)
MOST AT BATS - both teams - 219
MOST STRIKE OUTS - both teams - 60
MOST ASSISTS - both teams - 88
MOST "CHANCES ACCEPTED" - one team - 142 (Rochester)
MOST "CHANCES ACCEPTED" - both teams - 283
MOST INNINGS - 33 PITCHES THROWN - Rochester 423, Pawtucket 459, Total 882
MOST AT BATS - Dave Koza, Lee Graham, Chico Walker - 14 (Pawtucket)
MOST PLATE APPEARANCES - Tom Eaton, Cal Ripken, Dallas Williams - 15 (Rochester)
Official Box Score
Rochester | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | AB | R | H | RBI |
Eaton, 2B | 10 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Williams, CF | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ripken, 3B | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Corey, DH | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Chism, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rayford, C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Logan, 1B | 12 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Valle, 1B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Bourjos, LF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
Hale, LF | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Smith, LF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Hazewood, RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Hart, RF | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Bonner, SS | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Huppert, C | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Putman, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 105 | 2 | 18 | 2 |
Pawtucket | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | AB | R | H | RBI |
Graham, CF | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Barrett, 2B | 12 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Walker, LF | 14 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Laribee, DH | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Koza, 1B | 14 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
Boggs, 3B | 12 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
Bowen, RF | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Gedman, C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Ongarato, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
LaFrancoic, C | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Valdez, SS | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Totals | 114 | 3 | 21 | 3 |
No out when run scored.
E - Eaton, Logan, Bonner, Valdez. DP - Rochester 4, Pawtucket 3.
LOB - Roch. 30, Pawt.23. 2B - Koza 2, Walker, Boggs, Huppert. SB - Eaton.
S - Williams 2, Logan, hart, Huppert 2. SF - Laribee.
Pawtucket Wins in 33 Innings!
Baseball's famous "Longest Game" between the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox lasted a record 33 innings and took more than eight hours over two different days to complete.It began on a frigid April 18th evening at McCoy Stadium and was halted at 4:09am by order of I.L. President Harold Cooper.
On June 23rd, Dave Koza, who entered the game as the best hitter in the contest at 4-for-13, hit a 2-2 curve ball from reliever Cliff Speck into left field to score Marty Barrett and give the Pawtucket Red Sox a 3-2 victory over the Rochester Red Wings. Koza's single came with the bases loaded and none out as the Paw Sox managed to end the contest on their first at-bat in the bottom of the 33rd inning."Having the bases loaded was a dream for me," said Koza, who had scored one of the other Pawtucket runs on April 18-19. "I think anyone would have liked to have been in my shoes."Pawtucket's Bob Ojeda, the team's eighth hurler, gave up a one-out single to Cal Ripken, Jr. in the 33rd but retired Floyd Rayford on a strikeout and John Valle on a soft fly to left and got credit for the win to improve his record to 9-5.Pawtucket wasted no time against loser Steve Grilli, the fifth Rochester pitcher, who was with Syracuse when the two teams bagan this marathon game. Grilli hit Barrett with his first pitch and Chico Walker followed with a hit-and-run single to center, moving Barrett to third. Grilli walked Russ Laribee intentionally to fill the bases before giving way to Speck, who lasted four pitches.It took just 18 minutes on June June 23rd to finally end the contest. The game, which drew national attention because of the baseball strike and the historical nature of the event, attracted a near sellout crowd of about 5,800 to McCoy Stadium.
(Information courtesy of the Pawtucket Red Sox)
The Players Involved
Two Hall of Famers were part of the historic game. Cal Ripken, Jr., elected in 2007, went 2-13 on the night playing third base for Rochester. Wade Boggs, who was inducted in 2005, played third base for Pawtucket and went 4-12 with a double and an RBI.
A number of other future major leaguers played in the game:
From Pawtucket:
- Bob Ojeda, the winner of the game after pitching a scoreless 33rd inning, would go on to pitch for 15 major league seasons, most notably for the New York Mets (going 18-5 in 1986 to help the team win the World Series that year), Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers. While many of Pawtucket's players would play key roles in the 1986 World Series as members of the Boston Red Sox, Ojeda would go on to play for their opponent, the New York Mets.
- Bruce Hurst pitched for 15 seasons in the majors for the Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres. His career record was 145-113, a .562 winning percentage.
- Rich Gedman caught for the Boston Red Sox for most of his 13-year major league career.
- Marty Barrett played ten major league seasons at second base for the Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres, hitting .278 for his career.
- Chico Walker later played 11 seasons in the majors with the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, California Angels, and New York Mets.
- Mike Smithson started 204 games for the Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins, and Boston Red Sox.
- Manny Sarmiento pitched in 228 major league games for the Cincinnati Reds, Seattle Mariners, and Pittsburgh Pirates.
- Luis Aponte made 110 pitching appearances as a reliever with the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians.
- Julio Valdez played 65 games with the Boston Red Sox, mostly serving as a shortstop and second baseman.
From Rochester:
- Floyd Rayford went on to play third base and catch for seven years with the Baltimore Orioles and the St. Louis Cardinals. His best year was 1985, when he hit .306 with 18 home runs and 48 RBI.
- Jim Umbarger appeared in 133 games as a pitcher for the Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics.
- Steve Grilli pitched in 70 games, mostly as a reliever for the Detroit Tigers.
- Cliff Speck went on to pitch for the Atlanta Braves in 1986, appearing in 13 games, including one start.
- Mark Corey played in 59 games in his three years as a Baltimore Oriole outfielder.
- Bobby Bonner played for four years in the early '80s as a middle-infielder with the Baltimore Orioles.
"The Longest Game" Newspaper Articles
The following link will take you to a gallery of newspaper articles from the Associated Press covering "The Longest Game" and beyond: