How the Game Has Changed – May Day Anniversary

Today, is the anniversary of the longest game (by innings) in MLB history … line score below … a 26-inning, 1-1 tie (called on account of darkness) between the NL’s Brooklyn Robins and Boston Braves, played on May 1, 1920.  It’s also an anniversary that provides a pretty good indicator of how the game has changed over the years.  In this one, both starting pitchers went the distance.

May 1, 1920

Brooklyn              000 010 000 000 000 000 000 000 00           1   9   2

Boston                  000 001 000 000 000 000 000 000 00           1 15  2

Starting pitchers Leon Cadore of Brooklyn and Joe Oeschger of Boston (NL) each threw more than 300 pitches (analysts estimate Cardore at 345 and Oeschger at 319) in completing their 26-inning, record-setting starts. Cadore gave up 15 hits and five walks, while fanning 7; while Oeschger allowed only nine hit and four walks, while also striking out seven batters.   Oh, and here’s another sign of how the game has changed, the time of the 26-inning contest was only 3 hours and 50 minutes.

By way of comparison, there have been two 25-inning games in MLB history, with the Cardinals topping the Mets on September 11, 1974 and the White Sox besting the Brewers on May 8, 1984.  Those contests saw the use of 13 and 14 pitchers, respectively. The Cardinals win took 7 hours and 4 minutes to complete, while the White Sox took 8 hours and 6 minutes to defeat the Brewers.