A Kids Take on Baseball History:
The Longest Baseball Game in the Minors
32 innings and 2 months after the first pitch, the Pawtucket Red Sox defeated the Rochester Redwings in the the longest game in pro baseball history.

Wade Payson-Denney
7th Grade
MLN Kids' Editor 2003

It took 65 days, 21 hours, and 16 minutes from start to finish. It was a game in which Cal Ripken Jr. and Wade Boggs both played in. It was three innings away from becoming a quadruple-header. We’re talking of course, about “The Longest Game.”

On April 18, 1981, the Rochester Redwings and Pawtucket Red Sox played in what would turn out to be the longest game in professional baseball history. The Paw Sox ended up winning the game 3-2 in the bottom of the 33rd inning.

The game started on April 18, 1981 and ended June 23, 1981. After the 32nd inning, at 4:09 am, on April 19, the game was called. The game was to start at the top of the 33rd inning on June 23, the next time the Redwings would be playing in Pawtucket.

Once IL president Harold Cooper heard about this marathon contest, he called the game. The umpire’s rule book left out one important rule. It left out the rule that stated if a game goes past 12:30 in the morning, it would be called.

On June 23, the game resumed. It was a game that drew national attention because of its length and because of the MLB player’s strike. The game would be part of a double-header. The second game would immediately follow the first. In the bottom of the 33rd inning, after just 18 minutes of play, the game ended on a bases loaded 2-2 curveball hit from Dave Koza to drive in Marty Barrett.

The Iron Man’s nickname probably stuck after this game. He played all 33 innings!

The Iron Man only went 2-13 in the game. If you think that’s bad, it gets worse. Redwings’ center fielder, Dallas Williams, was 0-13! That was the worst single game performance in baseball history.

After getting the game tying hit in the bottom of the 21st inning, the Paw Sox’ Wade Boggs stated, “ A lot of people were saying, ‘ yeah, yeah, we tied it!’ And then they said, ‘Oh, no, what did you do, we could have gone home!”

The actual game time lasted more than eight hours! It was the longest game in baseball history. It is probably one of the few 'unbeatable records' in all of sports.