"It was a baseball game.
One team won.
One team lost.
But it was a special baseball game, so special it was given its own name.
The Longest Game." From the beginning of Steven Krasner's book "The Longest Game (1996).
OK, I know many people don't know baseball like I do, but I will give you a quick run of the ground rules before I write this latest journal.
A baseball game usually lasts 9 innings, but if the score is tied after 9 innings, the game goes into extra innings until the tie is broken. On Easter Weekend 1981 (April 18-19) and on June 23, 1981 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the longest game in baseball history was played between the Pawtucket Red Sox and Rochester Red Wings and became a part of Pawtucket Red Sox and became a part of baseball history and folklore. I personally did not see this game. The game began at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 18 and 32 innings later at 4 a.m. on April 19, it was still tied by the score of 2-2.
I was almost 14 at in 1981 and woke up Easter morning to see the front page of the Providence Journal Bulletin was dominated by this marathon baseball game. The game had to be called at 4am after the commissioner of the AAA League was finally contacted and he called the game due to the cold and length of the game. The commissioner was the only one to call the game, but since he couldn't be reached all night, the game was allowed to continue.
We had Easter dinner with our family and the talk at the table was mostly about the Longest Game in Baseball History. I had seen many 10 or 12-inning games on TV or in person at McCoy Stadium, but 32 innings was something new and historic to me.
The Longest Game was to be completed on June 23 before the regularly scheduled game between the Red Wings and PawSox. The Red Wings were retired in order in the top of the 33rd inning. Then, the PawSox loaded the bases before Dave Koza hit the game winning single that allowed Marty Barrett to score from third, and the Longest Game was in the books: PawSox 3, Red Wings 2.
There is a display at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York and when you go to a PawSox ballgame at McCoy Stadium, you can drink your soda or beer from a commemorative Longest Game cup with the line score all around the cup. My family and I had a huge collection of these cups from many years of attending PawSox games. We are proud to drink from them even today. From the PawSox Souvenir Shop or from www.pawsox.com, you can purchase the book "The Longest Game" by Steven Krasner for $5. It is full of illustrations and more of a children's book, but for die-hard baseball fans like me, it is a souvenir worth having in your collection.
My friend Leslie saw my copy of "The Longest Game" and thought it was only 16 innings long. I said, "Try 33 innings." She didn't turn the book over and see the rest of the line score that decorates the cover.