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Baseball is one of the few sports where the game can last an indefinite amount of time. While both teams might inherently try to win as quickly as they can, sometimes things don’t work out that way.
Throughout this article, we’ll highlight several of the longest MLB games recorded based on the number of innings in each game. For consistency, we strictly refer to the quantity of innings when covering the lengthiest matches. For some, nine innings is too many, so check out how crazy some of the 20+ inning games were throughout baseball history!
Playing Time: 4 Hours, 47 Minutes
An old-time classic team of the Boston Americans (later known as the Red Sox) takes a spot on the list of longest games in MLB history. It is one of the lengthiest games and oldest on this list, taking place on September 1, 1906, a whopping 118 years ago.
The game ended in an Athletics victory 4-1, and the match is one of the three 24-inning games to ever occur in baseball history, a rare sight in the modern MLB. This game took place in the so-called ‘dead ball era’, when home runs were a rarity, making it less of a surprise that so few runs were scored over such a long period.
Playing Time: 4 Hours, 48 Minutes
Tied with the Athletics vs. Americans 1906 game, the Athletics would go for another 24 inning bout 39 years later. On July 21, 1945, the Athletics would score in the bottom of the 4th inning before Tigers right fielder Roy Cullenbine scored to tie the game 1-1 in the 7th.
Despite all the effort expended on both sides, 24 innings wasn’t quite long enough to separate the combatants. With no lights at Shibe Park stadium in Philadelphia, the game was called off at the end of the 24th when it got too dark to see. There were no replays back in 1945, meaning the game would go into the stat books as a tie. However, this grueling encounter wouldn’t prevent the Tigers from going on to win the World Series later that season.
Playing Time: 6 Hours, 6 Minutes
A more recent 24-inning game in the MLB occurred on April 15, 1968, when the New York Mets battled the Houston Astros in one of the most extensive MLB games recorded. It’s also the lowest scoring, since only one run was scored in all that time, with pitchers on both sides allowing a mere 20 hits combined over 24 innings.
1968 was dubbed ‘the year of the pitchers’, perhaps giving a clue as to why this lengthy game would result in just a single run. Neither team would go on to have a successful season, with the Astros finishing last in the National League table and the Mets just one spot above them.
Unlike the other 24-inning games, this one would take an entire six hours and six minutes before the Astros scraped out a win 1-0. Although this game didn’t have the most innings, it’s certainly up there as one of the longest.
Playing Time: 7 Hours, 4 Minutes
If you thought 24 innings was a lot, wait until you hear about the St. Louis Cardinals vs New York Mets 25-inning clash on September 11, 1974. This match was a close one right the way through, with the Cardinals and Mets tied 1-1 by the 2nd inning and 3-3 by the 9th.
The game was won in unusual fashion, when Bake McBride of the Cards hit a single, advanced on a wild pickoff throw, and then came around to score after a misplay in the outfield. Just another entry into the long list of Mets hard-luck stories over the years.
Playing Time: 8 Hours, 6 Minutes
Tying the 1974 Cardinals vs. Mets, the Chicago White Sox played the Milwaukee Brewers on May 8, 1984. Little did the players know, this game would be suspended at 1:00 am local time after 17 innings, only to be completed within eight more innings the next day.
The Cardinals-Mets game was the longest MLB game by time ever, testing the patience of spectators as it took 8 hours and 6 minutes to complete over 2 days.
The score stood at 3 apiece when local rules ensured that it would have to carry over to the next day, and would remain tied right the way through to the 25th inning. The Brewers took a 6-4 lead in the 25th, but their joy was to be short-lived. In the end the White Sox snagged the win 7-6 after a long and hard-fought battle, which is remembered as one of the longest in the baseball record books.
Playing Time: 3 Hours, 50 Minutes
The longest MLB game ever occurred on May 1, 1920, between the Brooklyn Robins and Boston Braves. Despite having the most recorded innings in any professional baseball match, the game only took place for three hours and fifty minutes, as both teams would score only 1 run each by the 6th inning, making it relatively speedy in terms of time compared to our other entries.
Pitchers dominated throughout, with both Joe Oeschger of the Braves and Leon Cadore of the Robins each pitching all 26 innings in a heroic effort. It’s a record that will never be broken in our era of relief pitchers. Eventually though, everybody involved decided to call it quits as darkness descended so the pitchers’ arms were spared any more punishment. In the end, since there were no floodlights at Braves Field, it was called off in the 26th inning as a 1-1 tie, making it the most innings ever played in a single game of Major League Baseball.
Playing Time: 7 Hours, 20 Minutes
Given how long ago most of the games on our list occurred, it may be a surprise to see such a recent entry showing up on this page. Most ball fans will be able to remember this encounter in Game 3 of the World Series, which the Dodgers would go on to win by a score of 3 to 2.
In fact this game is the longest post-season Major League Baseball game in terms of both innings and time. It was notable for the dominance of pitchers on both sides, with the first score coming in the 13th inning of the game. The Dodgers sealed the deal with a walk off homer from Max Muncy in the bottom of the 18th, ending this marathon encounter. Despite that Herculean effort, in the end the Sox would go on to claim the Championship in Game 5 of the series.
Ross has been writing about sports for over a decade, spcecializing in the NFL, soccer and boxing. His written work has appeared on a number of online publications over that time.