Is it just me, or has there been an exorbitant number of extra-inning games in the Majors this year? And I'm not talking about your run-of-the-mill 10- or 11-inning matchups, either. No. It seems like at least once every couple of days there's a game that goes deep into extras, sometimes more. The number of dueling deep extra-inning games this season has been remarkable.
Last week you had that crazy game between the White Sox and Mariners that was 0-0 until Chicago put up a five-spot in the top of the 14th, only to see Seattle tie it on Kyle Seager's two-out grand slam in the bottom half of the inning. That one only went 16, though, with the White Sox winning 7-5. Then came the fun of Saturday. The Blue Jays beat the Rangers in 18, but that wasn't even the longest game of the day! That would be the 20 innings played by the Marlins and Mets. Baseball that was so bad, you couldn't look away.
I'm not sure if it was good pitching, terrible hitting, or a combination of both, but two bad teams playing for more than six hours was must-see TV. This game was so long that it started three hours before the Yankees and Mariners in Seattle, yet that one ended first. It's a good thing they decided not to play a doubleheader (officially at least) after Friday's rainout. Even more remarkably, this was the second time this season the Mets and Marlins hooked up for a game that went 15 innings or more. Matt Harvey and Jose Fernandez started both games, marking the first time since 1884 that's happened. And if a 20-inning, 2-1 game on Saturday wasn't enough, they played 10 on Sunday. 30 innings in two days.
Not to be outdone, today we had a 14-inning game between the Reds and Cubs at Wrigley and an 18-inning contest between the Yankees and A's in Oakland. Fortunately for those of us on the East Coast, that game was a 12:35 p.m. start in California, meaning it still ended earlier than a normal 7:00 game, although not by much. The same can't be said for Oakland's first 18-inning game this season. They played 19 against the Angels on April 29-30, and that ended at like 5:30 in the morning Eastern time. Yes, that's right. The A's have one-up on the Mets and Marlins. They're the first American League team to play two 18-inning games in the same season since the 1971 Senators. (Yes, it was so long ago, the Senators still existed.)
Even the NHL has gotten into the act. The Blackhawks and Bruins played two full games last night. It was the longest game of this season's playoffs, and the fifth-longest Stanley Cup Final game in history.
Jim Caple talked about this in his column on ESPN.com today, and I have to say I agree with him. When games get that long, they really get fun. He absolutely right. When a nine-inning game takes four-and-a-half hours because of the endless pitching changes and at-bats that take forever, it's excruciating. But long extra-inning games are some of the most memorable ones. (Would anybody be talking about a 2-1 game between two of the worst teams in baseball if it hadn't lasted 20 innings?)
Remember Robin Ventura's grand slam single in the 15th inning in Game 5 of the 1999 NLCS? Or that incredible Yankees-Red Sox game (the Derek Jeter diving into the stands game) in 2004? What about that Astros-Braves game in the 2005 NL Division Series that went 18 innings and Roger Clemens pinch hit because Houston was out of position players? Then, of course, there's the Mets and the Astros in that classic Game 6 of the 1986 NLCS, a 16-inning, pennant-clinching Mets win. And lest we forget the 2008 All-Star Game?
It's not just in the Majors either. One of the most well-known games in the history of professional baseball was the 33-inning game between the Rochester Red Wings and Pawtucket Red Sox in 1982. People still talk about that one 30 years later! I remember a couple years ago in the NCAA Tournament, Texas and Ohio State played one that took like 22-23 innings, and the Texas closer threw 10 innings of relief! Last year in a conference tournament (I think it was the Southern Conference), the first game of the night session lasted 20-something innings and ended at like 1:30 in the morning, resulting in the following game getting underway at roughly 2 a.m.! The longest game I've ever attended in person was a 16-inning softball game that I still remember pretty vividly.
One of the things that I like so much about extra-inning games is watching managers try to figure out their pitching. That's why extra-inning National League games are better. The pitcher hitting adds a complete other element to factor in. Double switches with guys you don't really want to take out of the game, just to buy another inning for the reliever. Starting pitchers pinch-hitting and pinch-running because you're out of bench players. Position players pitching for the same reason. Remember that Mets-Cardinals game that went 20 innings a couple years ago? St. Louis utility infielder Jeff Mather took the loss and Kyle Lohse ended the game in left field.
For the most part, American League teams don't have to worry about running out of position players in long extra-inning games. Sure, the bench might run thin and you might not be able to avoid a lefty-lefty matchup in the 16th, but the DH makes running out of position players far less likely. It's still possible, but uncommon. Of course, the DH also creates other fun situations in the AL. Like last year when the Orioles were playing the Red Sox, ran out of pitchers and put DH Chris Davis on the mound. The Red Sox did the same thing with Darnell McDonald (who was only DHing because he had pinch-run for David Ortiz). That was the first time since 1925 that a game ended with two position players on the mound, although it was Hall of Famers Ty Cobb and George Sisler in the second game of a season-ending doubleheader that day.
You have the unlikeliest of heroes, the strangest of situations, the most memorable of moments in long extra-inning games. Baseball doesn't have a clock. They play until someone wins. If it takes 20 innings so be it. Because, after all, those are ultimately the games everybody remembers the most.
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