Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds battle it out in the longest game of 2011 MLB season
The longest game this season was played between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Cincinnati Reds. It carried on for a lengthy 19 innings and the game that started in the May 25, finished on the 26th. The game will be remembered for more than
its length though.
The Phillies grabbed the win with the help of a position player who came out to pitch in the midst of a tied match. The pressure was more than intense as a simple mistake could lead to the Phillies defeat. Wilson Valdez kept his cool throughout and by the
time the 19th inning finished, he became the first position player to have won a game since Brent Mayne on August 22, 2000. Rocky Calavito of the New York Yankees was the first position player to perform the feat way back in 1968.
After the epic extra inning game wrapped up, the Baseball Hall of Fame called upon Valdez and asked for the cap he wore in the match to be donated to them. His team-mates, along with those of the Reds and thousands of fans who were snickering when he was
first called in the 19th inning to relieve Danys Baez certainly didn’t expect this to be the outcome of Charlie Manuel’s genius move.
The game witnessed many loyal Phillies’ fans that stayed up past 1 a.m. and cheered for their team even after six hours of sitting on painful plastic stadium chairs. Even though Philadelphia triumphed at the end of it all, both teams were tested for their
strength, durability and reliability. Every player that was present at the game was set to battle it out again within twelve hours of the first match being wrapped up.
Calling the match a marathon would be more appropriate. The managerial and forward planning skills of manager’s from both teams were tested as well. Where the Reds’ Dusty Baker decided to save relief pitchers for the next day, Philadelphia’s Manuel took
his chances on non-experienced infielders and that turned out to be the smarter move.
The game was the longest in the history of Citizens Bank Park as well. A total of 16 pitchers were called up to the mound and in the duration of 19 innings a whopping six hundred pitches were thrown. Both teams combined to unleash 38 hits in the game but
they totalled to a mere nine runs. One would expect more from a six hour plus game. As expected, bull-pens from both sides were beyond the point of exhaustion.
However, this year’s longest game pales in comparison to the ultimate longest game in all of Major League Baseball history which took place in 1984 between the Chicago White Sox and the Milwaukee Brewers. The game came to an end after a jaw dropping eight
hours and six minutes through a two day duration where 25 innings were pitched.
The game was halted at 1 a.m. on May 8, 1984 and later resumed the next day. The White Sox emerged victorious and their winning pitcher Tom Seaver was more than ready to start the scheduled game later in the day.
Inning wise, the game fell a measly one inning short of the game between the Boston Braves and Brooklyn Dodgers where 26 innings were pitched in 1920 before it was called a tied game.
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