26 Innings of Baseball: Nobody Won.
May 1, 1920. In the city of Boston, the police were uneasy in the murky morning mist. Between intermittent showers, they stood with shoulders hunched against the chilly air as they trudged out in extra details, alert to the morning headlines, “Guard against Bolshevik uprisings…
May 1, 1920. In the city of Boston, the police were uneasy in the murky morning mist. Between intermittent showers, they stood with shoulders hunched against the chilly air as they trudged out in extra details, alert to the morning headlines, “Guard against Bolshevik uprisings here. As it turned out, the only battle that day took place at the local ball field as the Bostons, and the Brooklyns battled for 26 innings and ended up tied. It still stands as the longest game in major league history.
On the mound, that day for Uncle Robbie’s Brooklyn team was Leon Cadore. The 28-year-old Cadore was in his 4th full season in the big leagues. He would post a 15-14 mark that year, helping Brooklyn win the NL pennant. His mound opponent was Joe Oeschger. Always described as jovial, Oeschger was in the beginning of what for him, was a resurgent season. He had finished 4-4 in 1919, playing for three teams, the Phils, Giants, and then Boston. He and Cadore had met 10 days earlier, and Cadore outlasted him, 1-0 in 11 innings. Brooklyn was led by their star outfielder, Zack Wheat. Manager George Stalling’s team was not nearly that talented. They would finish in 7th place in the NL that year with a 60-92-1 record.
It was drizzling when the umpire, Bill McCormick, yelled, “Play ball”. Ivy Olsen, the Robins leadoff hitter, stepped into the box. But the rain stopped abruptly after the first inning, and the crowd settled in to watch the game. Three more scoreless innings would pass. In the fifth inning, Brooklyn’s catcher, Ernie Krueger, worked a walk. Cadore then bounced one back to Oeschger, but he had the ball pop out of his hand, and his only play was to first. Krueger then scored when Olsen singled over Rabbit Maranville’s head.
In the sixth, Boston’s right fielder, Wally Cruise, tripled off of the fence in right-center field. Holke then hit a ball over third base that looked like a hit, but Wheat came flying in and made a shoestring catch and almost doubled Cruise off at third. But then Tony Boeckel lined a single to center, scoring Cruise. The score was tied 1-1.
It was cold and damp, and there was the wind blowing in from the Charles River just beyond center field. It cut down balls that could have been hits, into harmless outs. The crowd huddled together in the cold as the double string of zeros continued to grow. Both of the pitchers were very careful since they knew one mistake could cost them the win.
The harder the players tried to get hits, the easier it was for the pitchers to get them out. In the ninth, however, Boston loaded the bases with two outs. Maranville was on third. Charley Pick hit a hard grounder that Olsen pounced on; he tried to tag Ray Powell but missed, then he threw to first just in time to get Pick. Meanwhile, Maranville crossed the plate, but umpire Eugene Hart ruled that Powell had run out of the baseline, so the run was invalid.
The zeros kept piling up until in the 17th inning, when a New York Times reporter noticed that the zeros were extending beyond the scoreboard. Brooklyn finally got to Oeschger in the 17th and had the bases loaded with one out. Wheat was on third. Elliott hit a grounder back to the pitcher, who threw to C Hank Gowdy for the force. Gowdy’s throw to first went wild, and Holke barely knocked it down. Ed Konetchy tried to score from second. Holke threw to Gowdy, who threw himself across the plate, meeting Konetchy’s spikes with his bare hand.
The zeros kept piling up. When they hit the 23rd inning, they broke the NL record. When they hit 25, they broke the Major League record. When the 26th inning was done, Umpire Bill McCormick surveyed the darkening skies. Ivy Olsen, guessing his intent, ran up to him and spoke, ” Wait one more inning! I want to tell my grandchildren I played the equivalent of three nine-inning games in one day.” “Not without a miner’s lamp.” snapped McCormick. He raised his hands, calling the game because of darkness.
The line score read Brooklyn 1-9-2 Boston 1-15-2. Only two Brooklyn hitters had more than one hit, Wheat, and 3B, Jimmie Johnston. They had no extra-base hits. Boston had a couple of doubles and a triple. The entire game took 3 hours and 50 minutes and was played before 4500 intrepid fans. The Robins left Boston the next day on a train. They then lost a 13-inning game to the Phillies that afternoon. Monday, they were back in Boston, where they lost in 19 innings. In 58 hours, they lost two and had a tie. The game would be finished later in the season, with the Braves getting the win. But Brooklyn went to the World Series, so that had to be some consolation. Oeschger would continue his resurgence the next season, winning 20 games. But he never won in double figures after 1921. He finished his career with Brooklyn in 1925, going 1-2 for a career mark of 82-116. Leon Cadore pitched until 1924, finishing his career with the Giants. He won 13 in 1922 but also never reached double figures again. He finished with a career 68-72 record.
26 innings of baseball. The longest MLB game ever in terms of innings played. There have been games time-wise in the modern era that are much longer. In 1974, the Cardinals and Mets played 25 innings, with the Cards getting the win. In 1984, the White Sox and Brewers also played 25, with the Sox prevailing. That game took 8 hours and 6 minutes. The Cards-Mets tiff took seven hours 23 minutes. The longest 9-inning game timewise was a Yankee win at Boston in 2006, which took four hours 45 minutes. NL record is four hours 30 minutes by the D-Backs and Rockies in 2016 and the Phils and Pirates in 2018.
Both the Brooklyn Dodgers and the L.A. version have 22-inning wins. Brooklyn beat the Pirates 6-5 in Brooklyn in 1917, and LA beat Montreal 1-0 in Montreal in 1989.
Keith Law’s Top 60
See what I have been telling you?
- Bobby Miller has #1 potential
- Gavin Stone – I told you so.
- Look how much Vargas jumped.
- Don’t count Pages out
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Discussion (265)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I didn’t think the Dodgers needed to make a big move. Not surprised that AF didn’t want to match what the costs were on many of these trades.
That said, the Gallo trade did bother me on one sense; the optics. The few Padre fans I know are going to be intolerable. Already got a text from one… “Congrats on Gallo, we got a 2x AS outfielder too. You might have heard of him”.
Dodgers are still better. But I feel for Angel fans. When the Angels should be trading Ohtani for an entire minor league system they instead traded their very talented 24 YO outfielder with years of team control for a good AA catcher. After they just drafted a catcher in the 1st round who will likely be in AA next year. I’m so glad I’m not an Angel fan. AF plays chess. Arte Moreno plays shoots and ladders.
Vargas is being activated for tonight’s game.
No word yet on whose place he takes but probably JT to the IL?
“Congrats on Gallo, we got a 2x AS outfielder too. You might have heard of him”.
LOL
Maybe Arte is smarter than us all. Maybe he realizes Angel fans will continue to show up as long as there is a marketable star.
I remember the conniption Dodger fans on that other blog had when AF traded away Puig and got “nothing” in return. Actually, the Reds got fleeced, but people understand stars.
Miguel Vargas called up.
Had we got Soto the division would have been automatic for three years and likely longer, and it wound have Just cost prospects. First huge mistake of Friedman era,
9:45 PM ET
Dodgers (69-33)
Giants (51-52)
SP Tyler Anderson L
11-1 2.61 ERA 110.1IP 91K
Confirmed Lineup
RF Mookie Betts R
SS Trea Turner R
1B F. Freeman L
DH Will Smith R
3B H. Alberto R
LF T. Thompson R
2B Gavin Lux L
C A. Barnes R
CF C. Bellinger L
Partly-cloudy-day
0% Rain
62° Wind 9 mph Out
Some bizarre stuff here.
Hard to imagine that the old “change of scenery” will quickly cure Gallo. One analyst said he will likely platoon with Trayce Thompson in left…. but doesn’t Trayce have reverse splits? Gallo has hit 11 of his 12 HRs against righties, but his BA this year is still under .200. I presume his arrival prompted Lamb getting dealt to Mariners. Gallo has a better OF glove than Lamb, but I don’t really see an upgrade here.
Dodgers may live to regret trading White, but with various pitchers coming back he probably didn’t figure into plans this year. The two young prospects they get seem promising–probably better than Beeter.
When Chris Taylor and Edwin Rios are activated, it seems likely that Outman will head back to OKC.
Sure, it’s a small sample size, but there is precedent for prospects coming up and staying hot, like Seager did.
Instead we get to hope that Gallo makes a comeback.
And though our top prospects are solid, do not see a perennial all star or superstar in the bunch. I am not blown away by even Cartaya as I don’t see him being able to stay a catcher.
Soto and Bell would have allowed us to rival the 1927 Yankees and chase the all time wins record of 116!
Swing and miss gentlemen
DODGERS SELECT MIGUEL VARGAS
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Miguel Vargas from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Vargas, 22, hit .291 with 24 doubles, 15 homers and 72 RBI in 94 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City. He represented the Dodgers in the 2022 Futures Game after hitting .292/.379/.498 with 18 doubles, 13 home runs and 59 RBI across 364 plate appearances. The Cuban native has been with the Dodgers five minor league seasons, and he has hit a combined .310 (480-for-1548) with 47 homers and 255 RBI in 391 career minor league games. The Dodgers’ Branch Rickey Minor League Player of the Year in 2021, slashed .319/.380/.526 with 23 homers and 76 RBI in 120 games between High-A Great Lakes and Double-A Tulsa in 2021. He was originally signed by the Dodgers as an international free agent on September 7, 2017.
Almost makes me think nobody wants to trade with us. Yesterday my wife asked why any team would want the Dodgers to get better and I had no answer.
I will address all of this tomorrow as I have an epic post that will likely piss many of you off as you play with your checkers!
Some of you will never understand it until it is so evident that you must admit it, and then you will leave…
Where are we going Mark? Will Vargas play 3rd base and Muncy sits? Can’t believe they bring him up to sit.
I’m just happy we didn’t get Soto. For what San Diego traded, this is what I deduct The Nats wanted:
DMay, GLux, Cartaya, one of Miller/Pepiot and one of Busch, Vargas and CBellinger/MMuncy for $$$ offsetting.
About Gallo, he was gotten primarily for defensive purposes.
In Two weeks, we have to accommodate CTaylor, BGraterol and DMay. I expect ERios to stay in AAA unless there is an injury.
Well he didn’t screw it up in 20 using Julio and Gonzalez. Look what Soto has already done for the Pads lineup tonight! Really we’re gonna start Barnes and Alberto tonight over Vargas! Throw him in the fire like Outman!
Dodgers are going to show the Padres why investing in your system is how you win. Vargas will rake. His father is one of the most famous e baseball players who ever played in Cuba. He’s a real Dodger. Wait till you all see his smile when he hits his first one out. He’s was born to play in LA.
Cartaya will be next year. Intangibles are a thing. I might be wrong. Don’t think I am.
Hold me accountable. By the playoffs in 2023, people will be talking about the charismatic young stars on the Dodgers who are kicking ass and taking names. Not the Padres.
Aaaaaaaand:
Friedman in his PC:
“I feel good about the team that we have in place and the way that they’ve performed for us. If we had an acute need, you’d see us be more on tilt and things where it’s less of an acute need, it’s more about talent and how it fits short term, long term. There’s just a different process that goes into that. I feel good about how aggressive we were in trying to line up on different things.”
Repeatedly referred to the trade deadline as the “most expensive time of year” to acquire players.
“We have a really special dynamic in that room right now and it was something we were cognizant of as we navigated this deadline.”
on Joey Gallo: “Our hitting guys are as good as it gets, so we feel there is a really compelling upside story.”
“I think our pitching staff is really good and will most likely get considerably better. So we’ll figure out through August and September what that looks like. I feel really confident we’ll have a very, very good 13-man pitching staff in October.”
Andrew Friedman cited the coming 40-man roster crush (May, Duffy, Buehler, Kahnle, Treinen, Gonzalez) as a reason for trading Mitch White. He went on to say the Dodgers have “a lot of pitchers” who could come up this season or next year.
I have had time to sit back and digest what went down today. I also have calmed down a lot from the way I felt earlier. For those fans who have seen AF send multiple prospects to other teams at the deadline the last few years, this season’s deadline was obviously a disappointment. Joey Gallo was the only MLB ready player that the Dodgers acquired, and they sent 3 players who were on the 40-man roster elsewhere. This tells me the Freidman believes in the players he has and the players on the IL who will soon be returning to action. There are some pretty good pitchers on that list. JT will probably be joining them tomorrow when Gallo arrives since his side is still bothering him. Vargas gets promoted so they can see what he can bring to the dance. I am not a huge Gallo fan. But he is a very good defensive outfielder and makes the defense out in left that much better. My main dislike for him is because he strikes out at almost a 40% clip. That is way too many useless outs for me. I am not the one making the personnel decisions though. The Padres definitely went all in to win now. They also just extended Musgrove for 5 more years. But, their starting pitching is not all that great. Clevinger has not been the pitcher he was in Cleveland. The last time LA faced Snell, they beat up on him. Darvish has flashes, but he also can be beaten. They traded their best rookie pitcher in Gore. Now they did get Hader, and he is lights out when he is right. Over the last few weeks though, his ERA is over 7. Pads have 12 games left with the Dodgers. 6 of the 12 are in LA. 9 of the 12 are also in September. They have 57 games left after the game they played today. They won so right now they are 11.5 games back of LA. Also, while the Dodgers finish with 6 at home against Colorado, they have to play the White Sox and Giants at home. They have about a 25% chance of catching LA to win the division. Doubt that will happen, which means they will have to go the wild card route to even get to the Dodgers who right now would have a bye in the wild card round. If they get through that, and their opponents would be either the Mets or Braves most likely, then they would possibly meet up with the Dodgers in the playoffs. So now it is just a race to the finish. Pads have never had the better team on paper. They might have that now but a lot depends on how Soto performs in his new uni, Tatis coming back and being Tatis, which at this point is not a given. The healthier the Dodgers get, the better they are. I also have to believe that one of the factors in not going whole hog is the chemistry that exists in this clubhouse. These guys really believe they are the best.
As much as I hate the Pads, I really would like to see them be a better team, because it’s even MORE SATISFYING to crush them.
BTW, a friend’s son is one of those nerdy analysts who works in the Blue Jays front office. He studied this stuff at the University of Oregon, and worked for the Marlins before the Jays lured him away.
Anyway, she is thrilled that White is now a Blue Jay- She says that Frasso is really a good prospect, but there’s little reason to get excited about Brito.
These guys:
Frasso, 23, has a 0.74 ERA in 10 starts this year between Low-A Dunedin and High-A Vancouver, with 57 strikeouts against 10 walks in 36⅔ innings. The right-hander played college ball at Loyola Marymount, and was drafted by Toronto in the fourth round in 2020.
Brito, who just turned 20 last month, was signed this June out of Bani in the Dominican Republic. In 12 games and 29 innings in the Dominican Summer League for Toronto, Brito had a 1.86 ERA and 32 strikeouts against just one walk.
Toronto also got SS Alex De Jesus. The farm has a lot of depth in the SS/UT area, and the Dodgers just drafted a bunch more.
Meanwhile, let’s blow these losers out again tonight
Well in the dugout they don’t appear to be disappointed with the deadline outcome. I stayed out of all the trade talk as I thought Pat is gonna get us to at least 110 wins! Ain’t no team gonna beat that this year unless Dodgers do! And that is more than possible.
Man, it’s so nice to see Outman & Vargas in the dugout.
Vin Scully R.I.P.
There are no words.
The Dodgers need to win the World Series this year with a Special Vin Scully patch on their uniforms.
What does the patch say?
“It’s Time For Dodger Baseball!”
Oh my God Joe just reported that Vinny has passed away. This hurts my heart
Once he lost his wife, I think He lost his love for life.
Rest in peace Vinny,The greatest dodger ever
Vinny is with his wife, Sandy, Tommy Lasorda, Tommy Davis, Roy, Gil, Junior and all of the rest of the Dodgers with the Big Dodger in the Sky!
My keyboard is wet with tears!