May 1, 1920: The Longest Game In The History of Major League Baseball Is Played in Boston

     On May 1, 1920, the longest game in the history of Major League Baseball was played at Braves Field in Boston. The game against the Brooklyn Robins was called with the scored tied 1-1 due to darkness after 26 innings of play. Joe Oeschger got the start for the Boston club, while Leon Cadore got the call for the club from Brooklyn. Both starters established a major league record by going the distance in the contest. The runs came in back-to-back innings with Brooklyn striking first in the fifth on an RBI off the bat of Ivy Wilson, before Boston's Tony Boekel knocked in the equalizer with an RBI of his own in the sixth. Excellent defense bailed each starter out of numerous jams as the game marched toward the record books. Cadore gave up 15 hits, walked 5 men, and struck out 7. On the flip side, Oeschger allowed just 9 hits, walked 4, and equaled his counterpart by striking out 7. We might see the day that a game extends past 26 innings, but we will never see the day when two starting pitchers turn in that kind of performance.

Here's the digital box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BSN/BSN192005010.shtml I thought the box score out of the newspaper was pretty neat.

On a sidenote: On May 1, 2012, I started this page, and On This Day I say Thank You for supporting the page.