Baseball is supposed to be a game without a clock. That’s the romantic version of the story, anyway. But on a freezing Saturday night in April 1981, that lack of a clock turned into a literal nightmare for two Triple-A teams in Rhode Island. When people talk about the longest major league game—or the longest game in professional baseball history, to be more precise—they usually point to a few different record-holders depending on whether they mean innings or time on the wall.
It was Easter weekend. McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket was the setting. The Pawtucket Red Sox were hosting the Rochester Red Wings. By the time the game was finally paused at 4:07 a.m. the next morning, the players looked like extras from a zombie movie.
Eight hours. Twenty-five minutes. Thirty-three innings.
Most fans think the 26-inning draw between the Brooklyn Robins and Boston Braves in 1920 is the one to beat for the big leagues. And technically, for MLB proper, it is. But the 1981 Pawtucket game is the true "Longest Game" in the collective memory of the sport because it actually reached a resolution. It didn’t end in a tie because of darkness. It ended with a walk-off hit by Dave Koza in the 33rd inning, months after the first pitch was thrown.
The Night the Rules Were Forgotten
Here is the weirdest part about the 33-inning marathon: it should have been stopped hours earlier. There was a rule on the books in the International League that stated no new inning could start after 12:50 a.m. Simple, right?
Not quite.
The home plate umpire, Dennis Sarcone, didn't have the rule in his manual. He called league president Harold Cooper, but Cooper couldn't be reached. So, they just... kept playing. They played through the 15th. They played through the 20th. They played until the sun was basically threatening to come up over the Atlantic. By the time 4:00 a.m. rolled around, there were nineteen fans left in the stands. Nineteen. The team gave them all season passes. Honestly, they probably deserved a share of the franchise for staying that long in 30-degree weather.
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Wade Boggs was there. Cal Ripken Jr. was there. Two future Hall of Famers were stuck in a game that felt like it was never going to end. Ripken went 2-for-13. Boggs went 4-for-12. Imagine being a scout at that game. You'd be out of coffee and out of patience by the 25th inning.
The game was finally suspended in the 32nd inning when the league president finally woke up or got the message and realized his umpires were still out there. They finished the 33rd inning two months later when Rochester came back to town. It took 18 minutes to settle the score.
MLB’s Own Battle With the Clock
If we’re strictly looking at the longest major league game within the American or National Leagues, the 1920 marathon is the king of innings. May 1, 1920. Leon Cadore of Brooklyn and Joe Oeschger of Boston both pitched the entire game. Yes, you read that right. Twenty-six innings. One pitcher each.
In today's world of pitch counts and "arm care," a manager would be arrested for letting a guy throw 26 innings. Oeschger and Cadore basically threw three full games back-to-back. The game ended in a 1-1 tie because it got too dark to see the ball. There were no stadium lights back then.
Then you have the 1984 clash between the Chicago White Sox and the Milwaukee Brewers. This is the one that holds the record for the longest MLB game by time that actually finished. It went 25 innings and took 8 hours and 6 minutes. It had to be played over two days because of a curfew rule. Harold Baines eventually hit a walk-off home run to end the misery.
Why These Records Are Likely Safe Forever
The "zombie runner" rule changed everything. Since 2020, MLB has placed a runner on second base to start every extra inning. Purists hate it. But from a logistical standpoint, it has effectively killed the possibility of another 25-inning game.
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Most games now wrap up in the 10th or 11th. The data shows that the probability of scoring a run with a guy on second and nobody out is so high that the game almost forced-quits itself. You won't see another 8-hour game unless there's a rain delay from hell or a literal power outage.
The Physical Toll of Extra Innings
Playing the longest major league game isn't just a statistical anomaly; it's a medical event. Players lose significant weight during these marathons. Catchers are the ones who really suffer. Their knees basically turn to dust by the 20th inning.
In the Pawtucket game, Russ Laribee went 0-for-11 with a sacrifice fly. Think about that for a second. You go to the plate eleven times and you don't get a single hit. That’s a career-worst slump condensed into one night. On the flip side, Dave Koza, who eventually drove in the winning run, became a local legend.
The psychology of it is fascinating. After about the 15th inning, the adrenaline is gone. It's replaced by a weird, manic sort of humor. Players in the dugout start wearing rally caps—sometimes five or six at once. They start eating whatever is left in the clubhouse. In 1981, they were supposedly burning broken bats in trash cans to stay warm. It’s less like a professional sport and more like a survivalist reality show at that point.
Notable Marathons by the Numbers
- Pawtucket vs. Rochester (1981): 33 innings, 8 hours 25 minutes.
- Brooklyn vs. Boston (1920): 26 innings, 3 hours 50 minutes (they played fast back then!).
- White Sox vs. Brewers (1984): 25 innings, 8 hours 6 minutes.
- Cardinals vs. Mets (1974): 25 innings, 7 hours 4 minutes. (The Mets lost after a pickoff error. Imagine playing 7 hours to lose on a bad throw to first).
The Fans Who Stayed
There is a specific bond between people who witness the longest major league game. In the 1974 Mets-Cardinals game at Shea Stadium, the crowd started at 13,000 and ended with about a thousand people. Those people didn't stay because the baseball was good. By the 20th inning, the baseball is usually terrible. Everyone is tired. Pitchers are throwing 84 mph meatballs. Batters are swinging at everything just hoping to put it in play.
People stay for the "I was there" factor.
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It’s a badge of honor. To say you saw a game go into the "third shift" of the day is a flex for any real baseball fan. Even now, you'll find older fans in Rhode Island who swear they were one of the 19 people left at McCoy Stadium. If everyone who claimed they were there was actually there, the stadium would have been packed with 50,000 people.
What This Means for Today's Game
We probably won't see this again. The pitch clock, the ghost runner, and the way bullpens are managed have tightened the game. But the history of the longest major league game serves as a reminder of what baseball used to be: a war of attrition.
It was a game where the only thing that mattered was the last out. No matter how long it took. No matter if the sun was coming up. No matter if the concession stands had been empty for six hours.
If you're looking to dive deeper into this kind of baseball lore, here is what you should do next. First, go watch the documentary fragments of the 1981 Pawtucket game; the footage of a young Wade Boggs is surreal. Second, if you ever find yourself at a minor league park, check the program for the "longest game" record. Most parks have a weird 18 or 19-inning outlier that tells a story of a night where the rules just... stopped working.
The 33-inning game wasn't just a game. It was a glitch in the matrix of sports. And honestly? It’s kind of a shame we’ve optimized that weirdness out of the modern era.
Actionable Insights for Baseball History Buffs:
- Visit the Hall of Fame: The Cooperstown archives hold the official scorecard from the 1981 Pawtucket game. It is a messy, beautiful disaster of ink and exhaustion.
- Check the Box Scores: Look up the September 11, 1974, Mets vs. Cardinals game. It features one of the weirdest stat lines in history for a losing team.
- Understand the Ghost Runner: If you want to see why long games are dead, track the "Innings Pitched" stats since 2021. You'll notice a sharp drop in games going past the 12th inning.
- Read "Bottom of the 33rd": Dan Barry wrote a definitive book on the Pawtucket game. It’s widely considered the best account of how that night felt for the players and the few fans who refused to go home.