When it comes to how long the game is played, baseball is distinctly different from all of the other mainstream sports. This is because, while sports like basketball, football and hockey have a set time period for each game, baseball is played in innings and there is no way to guess just how long it will go. With this rule in place for the many years of baseball, there have been some unbelievably long games, with these three being the longest.
1. Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Houston Astros on June 3rd 1989
(source: youtube.com)
Coming in as the third longest game in history is this barnburner. The game started off like many others with the Dodgers cruising to an early 4-1, but then in the bottom of the sixth, the Astros bounced back to tie the game up. Then what followed was several hours of no scores for a grand total of 15 innings. Teams were having to use position players or pitchers with zero rest to pitch as the bullpens were cleaned out by the late teens in terms of innings. The game finally ended in the 22nd inning after a 7 hour and 14 minute ordeal.
2. San Francisco Giants vs. New York Mets on May 31st 1964
(source: http://sheastadiumremembered.blogspot.ca/)
This game was without a doubt one of the most painful in MLB history to watch. First of all, this game was the second of a doubleheader which meant that fans already got to see a full, 9 inning ball game only hours prior. And secondly, this extremely long game actually went through a period of 16 straight innings of scoreless baseball, which would have been incredibly daunting. All in all, this game lasted 7 hours and 23 minutes and got up to 23 innings played.
3. Milawaukee Brewers vs. Chicago White Sox on May 8th 1984
(source: allfunkedup.sportsblog.com)
Now we have gotten to the longest game in history. The fans in attendance during this game actually spent over a third of their day at the ball park as this game didn’t finish until the 25th inning, and by that time, the game had been going on for a whopping 8 hours and 6 minutes. Both teams were tied in the seventh inning and then each scored two runs in the ninth, and then neither scored until the 21st inning. When Milwaukee scored three runs in the 21st, most people thought it was done but Chicago answered back in the home half to keep it going. Finally, four innings later, the White Sox were able to score and win the game.
