35 years ago today, the longest professional baseball game in history began
On this day in 1981, a baseball game started between the Pawtucket Red Sox (PawSox) and the Rochester Red Wings and didn't finish until June.
1,740 fans of the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate showed up on that cold April night at McCoy Stadium in Rhode Island but only about 17 lasted until the game was halted at 4:07 a.m when the horrified league president got word and told them to shut it down.
"Of all the games I've played in, that's one of the few that I easily remember," Cal Ripken Jr. said in 1996, 15 years later. "It's still fresh in my mind. We've all played in marathon nine-inning games and extra-inning games, but that game was different."
Ripken played third base for the Red Wings and recorded 2 hits in 13 at-bats. The following year he made it to the big show and became the American League Rookie of the Year and AL MVP the next season.
"When I doubled in the tying run in the 21st inning, I didn't know if the guys wanted to hug me or slug me," Boggs said in 2006. "But, being competitors, we did want to win the game."
Ripken Jr.
And not all four hit games are equal.
"I remember calling my father the next day and telling him I got four hits," Boggs said. "He said, 'That's great.' I said: 'Yeah, but I was up 12 times. We went 32 last night.'"
When the Red Wings came back to McCoy Stadium on June 23, the game mercifully concluded rather quickly when PawSox first baseman Dave Koza drove home Marty Barrett with no outs in the bottom of the 33rd.
The Red Wings pitcher who gave up the winning run, Steve Grilli, wasn't even on the team's roster back in April.
"What it took them eight and a half hours to accomplish," Grilli said, "I undid in about two minutes."
Boggs.
Bruce Hurst, a PawSox pitcher who threw 5 scoreless innings in April and went on to play 15 seasons in the majors, said later:
- Iron Man Cal Ripken Jr. played all 33 innings
- 822 total pitches were thrown to 246 batters
The Baseball Hall of Fame now houses several pieces of memorabilia from the game including the official scorer's scorecard.
Syracuse Chiefs first baseman Tyler Moore walks past a collection of visiting players who have played in the majors as he heads to the batting cage in McCoy Stadium before a game against the Pawtucket Red Sox in Pawtucket, Rhode Island on July 30, 2014.
