Albert Pujols' walk-off HR ends season's longest game in 19th inning

Albert Pujols' walk-off HR ends season's longest game in 19th inning

The opposing Red Sox managed only 6 hits in 19 innings (6 for 60).

Pujols himself could do no better than an unusual 2-for-9 line, but the second was was a big 'un.

How long did that "longest game" record last? Less than 24 hours. Today (Sunday), the Tigers and Blue Jays played another 19-inning name. Technically both games were the same length, since they each ended with no outs in the bottom of the 19th, but today's game was a bit longer in that it took four batters to get that winning run in, while yesterday's game ended on the first batter in the bottom of the 19th.

The longest game in the history of pro baseball went 33 innings, of which 32 were played on the scheduled day, and the 33rd when the game resumed, months later. It was a 1981 AAA game, but it featured two future Hall of Famers, Wade Boggs (4-for-12) and Cal Ripken, Jr. (2-for-13),

The longest major league game was played in 1920, and went 26 innings. Its details are familiar to all of us baseball nerds. It ended in a 1-1 tie, and the two starting pitchers went the distance (how times have changed!). Joe Oeschger of the Braves pitched a rather spectacular no-decision, allowing only 13 base runners in 26 innings, but he was actually a sub-par hurler who could muster no better than 82-116 for his lifetime record. In one two-year stretch, he went 11-36, and he was 6-18 in yet another poor season. The other pitcher in that game, Leon Cadore, was 68-72 in his career. Neither man was memorable, yet every true student of baseball recognizes their names, and associates them together, like Ralph Branca and Bobby Thompson.