Eight hours and twenty-five minutes. That is how long it took. Most people think they know the longest major league baseball game, but there is a massive catch that usually trips up casual fans. Are we talking about time? Or are we talking about innings? Because the answers are wildly different, and the stories behind them are even weirder than the box scores suggest.
Baseball is the only major sport without a clock. That is its beauty, but it's also its curse. When a game refuses to end, it stops being a sport and starts becoming a test of human endurance.
Technically, the "longest" game in professional history didn’t even happen in the Big Leagues—it was a Triple-A matchup between the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Rochester Red Wings in 1981 that went 33 innings. But when we look strictly at the MLB record books, we have to talk about May 1, 1920. The Brooklyn Robins (who we now know as the Dodgers) played the Boston Braves. They went 26 innings. The wildest part? It ended in a 1-1 tie because the sun went down. There were no stadium lights back then. They just... stopped.
The 25-Inning Marathon: When the White Sox and Brewers Refused to Quit
If you want the record for the longest major league baseball game by time, you have to look at May 8, 1984. This wasn't some dead-ball era relic. This was modern baseball. The Chicago White Sox and the Milwaukee Brewers played for 8 hours and 6 minutes.
It actually took two days to finish.
They started on a Tuesday night. By the time they hit the 17th inning, the score was tied 3-3. But there was an American League rule at the time: no new inning could start after 12:59 AM. So, the umpires paused the game. Everyone went home, slept for a few hours, and came back on Wednesday to finish what they started.
Why didn't anyone score?
The pitching was dominant, sure, but fatigue is a hell of a drug. Tom Seaver—yes, that Tom Seaver—actually got the win for the White Sox. He pitched the final innings of the resumed game on Wednesday after having watched the first 17 innings from the dugout the night before.
Harold Baines eventually ended the misery with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 25th. Imagine being a fan who sat through 25 innings of baseball just to see a game end on a single swing of the bat. Honestly, it's poetic. But it also highlights why the "Ghost Runner" rule exists today. MLB hates this stuff now. They want games over in two hours and thirty minutes. They don't want 8-hour marathons that break their television schedules.
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The 26-Inning Tie: Leon Cadore and Joe Oeschger
Back to 1920. This is the stuff of legend. Leon Cadore pitched for Brooklyn. Joe Oeschger pitched for Boston.
They both pitched the entire game. All 26 innings.
Think about that for a second. In today’s game, a manager gets nervous if a starter goes over 90 pitches. These two guys threw roughly 250 to 300 pitches each. It’s a miracle their arms didn't literally fall off and land in the dirt. The game only lasted 3 hours and 50 minutes, which is hilarious when you realize some 9-inning Red Sox vs. Yankees games take longer than that today. They were flying through hitters.
The game was called on account of darkness. Total deadlock. 1-1.
Modern Day Misery: The 18-Inning World Series Game
You probably remember this one if you’re a Dodgers or Red Sox fan. Game 3 of the 2018 World Series. It is officially the longest game in World Series history. It lasted 7 hours and 20 minutes.
Max Muncy finally hit a walk-off homer in the 18th inning to give the Dodgers a win. By that point, the rosters were completely depleted. Position players were warming up in the bullpen. Managers Dave Roberts and Alex Cora were playing chess with a board that was missing half its pieces.
This game is the reason many older fans hate the new "Manfred Man" (the runner on second base in extra innings). They argue that the 18-inning grind is part of the soul of the sport. It tests depth. It tests who has the strongest bench. If you put a runner on second, you're basically "gaming" the system to force a conclusion.
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The Problem with the Ghost Runner
Since 2020, MLB has implemented the rule where every half-inning after the 9th starts with a runner on second base. This has effectively killed the longest major league baseball game as a phenomenon.
- Statistics show that most games now end in the 10th or 11th inning.
- The strategy has shifted to bunting and "small ball" to get that runner home.
- It protects pitcher health, which is the main reason the Players Association agreed to it.
But something is lost. There was a weird, cult-like energy that happened in a stadium during the 15th or 16th inning. The "drunk on exhaustion" feeling where the remaining 5,000 fans in the stands would bond over the absurdity of still being there at 2:00 AM.
The Physical Toll of "The Long One"
When a game goes past 15 innings, the human body starts to do weird things. Focus slips. Dehydration sets in.
In that 1984 White Sox/Brewers game, players were eating hot dogs in the dugout because they were starving. There is no "half-time" meal in baseball. You just keep going.
Pitchers are the ones who suffer most. When a team runs out of relief pitchers, they have to turn to "position players pitching." We see it a lot now in blowouts, but in the longest major league baseball game scenarios, it was a desperate survival tactic. Watching a backup catcher try to throw 75-mph "fastballs" to professional hitters in the 20th inning is peak entertainment, but it's also a recipe for a blown elbow.
Is the Record Safe?
Probably.
With the current extra-inning rules, it is statistically nearly impossible to reach 26 innings again. Someone will eventually hit a sacrifice fly or a groundout that scores that runner from second.
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The 1920 record of 26 innings is likely one of those "unbreakable" baseball records, right up there with Cy Young’s 511 wins or Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. Not because players aren't good enough, but because the rules simply won't allow the game to go that long anymore.
What You Should Know If You're a Stats Junkie
If you're looking at the books, keep these distinctions clear:
- Most Innings (MLB): 26 (Brooklyn vs. Boston, 1920)
- Longest by Time (MLB): 8 hours, 6 minutes (White Sox vs. Brewers, 1984)
- Longest Professional Game: 33 innings (Pawtucket vs. Rochester, 1981 - Minor Leagues)
The Pawtucket game actually featured two future Hall of Famers: Cal Ripken Jr. and Wade Boggs. Even the greats have to suffer through the marathons. Boggs famously went 4-for-12 in that game. Ripken went 2-for-13. It was a miserable, cold night in Rhode Island that eventually saw the game suspended at 4:07 AM.
How to Handle an Extra-Inning Marathon as a Fan
If you ever find yourself at a stadium and the game heads into the 12th, 13th, or 14th inning, you have a choice to make. Most people leave. Don't be those people.
- Move down. Most stadiums stop checking tickets for the premium sections after the 10th inning. This is your chance to sit behind home plate for the price of an upper-deck ticket.
- Hydrate. If you've been drinking beer since the 1st inning, you're going to hit a wall. Switch to water if the stadium hasn't shut off the fountains.
- Check the Bullpen. Watch how the managers are pacing. If you see a starting pitcher heading to the pen to warm up, you know you're witnessing something desperate.
The longest major league baseball game isn't just a stat. It's an event that breaks the rules of time. It turns a standard evening into a survivalist expedition. While the new rules might prevent another 25-inning saga, the history of these games reminds us that baseball, at its core, is a game about patience.
If you want to dive deeper into the box scores, check out the Baseball-Reference pages for May 1, 1920, and May 8, 1984. They read like fever dreams. You'll see Hall of Famers logging outs and obscure utility players becoming accidental heroes.
Next time a game goes to the 10th and you see that runner on second base, remember Leon Cadore and Joe Oeschger. They threw 26 innings each in the dirt and the dark, just because nobody told them they could stop. That is the true spirit of the game.
Actionable Insights for Fans
- Study the 2020 Rule Change: Understand that the "Automatic Runner" rule is technically a "temporary" rule that became permanent. It changes the way managers use their bench in the 9th inning.
- Track "Position Player Pitching" Stats: Websites like Baseball-Reference now track when non-pitchers take the mound. These are often the most entertaining moments of long games.
- Visit Cooperstown: The Hall of Fame has artifacts from the 33-inning Pawtucket game, including the original scorecard which is a mess of scribbles and exhaustion.