Brooklyn Robins/Boston Braves Played 26 Inning Epic in 1920

Published on October 7th, 2021 11:43 am EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


The longest game in Major League Baseball history took place in 1920. What was the longest game in the history of Major League Baseball?

There are two ways to determine the longest ever game - total innings played and total length of time needed to finish the game.

In this article, we'll cover the leaders for both categories.

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In terms of longest game ever played in terms of total innings, you have to go all the way back to 1920.

On May 1st, 1920, the Brooklyn Robins and Boston Braves played a 26-inning epic that finished with a score of 1-1.

This was before the days of ballpark lights and night games, so the game was eventually called due to darkness.

There were a few unbelievable points about this game.

To start, the game took less than 4 hours to complete, even though it ran for 26 innings.

Second, the two starting pitchers - Leon Cadore and Joe Oeschger - pitched the ENTIRE 26 innings for their respective clubs.

Imagine how many different pitchers would be used in a 26-inning game in this day and age?

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In terms of longest total playing time, this record belongs to the Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers, who played a 25-inning classic on May 8th, 1984.

The game needed to be played over two days - at the time, there was a rule in place that a new inning could not be started after 1 am local time.

So, with the game heading into the 18th game, play was called.

There would be seven more innings played the next day as the White Sox would eventually win by a score of 7-6.

In total, the game took eight hours and six minutes to complete, which remains the longest game (in terms of running time) in the history of Major League Baseball.

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