@Cubs Baseball: Records and Other Things Unusual

Instead of posting about politics, etc., today, I thought I would do some baseball, about some of the more interesting/unusual games I have been to over the {many] years.

People have asked me what the longest game was (in terms of innings) that I have ever been to.  While I am not sure, I think it is 16 innings, which worked out okay on the Cubs scorecard at the time because they had room for eleven innings, plus columns for AB, R, H, RBI, and E, which makes room for 16.

The unusual thing about this game (which was on May 22, 1990) was not that it went 16 innings, but that the score was 0 to 0 after twelve.  Then in the top of the thirteenth inning, the leadoff man for the Cincinnati Reds¹ hit a home run.  That was depressing for the fans of the home team.  But then, in the bottom of the thirteenth, the leadoff man for the Cubs. Luis Salazar, hit a home run, too.  And the game continued.  Until finally, in the bottom of the sixteenth, with one out, Ryne Sandberg singled and went to third on a E6 (Mark Grace was safe at first).  Andre Dawson was walked intentionally.  With one out and the bases loaded, Dave Clark came through, singling to center, and the Cubs won, 2 to 1.

The second longest game (in innings) that I have been to was probably 15 innings.  It was on August 13, 1976, and the Cubs beat the Dodgers on two singles and a wild pitch in the fifteenth.  The unusual thing about this game, though, was not its length,² but that it was the first game of a doubleheader.  (This was back when doubleheaders meant you got to see two games on one ticket; i.e., a real doubleheader.)  So, after fifteen innings, we had another nine innings to play.³ 

Something that could have only happened at Wrigley Field (after June 15, 1948, when the Detroit Tigers became the fifteenth team to get lights) happened on August 5. 1979.  It was a doubleheader against the Cardinals.  In the second game, some really dark clouds passed over the field.  So, at 3:30 pm, the umpires delayed the game for darkness – for six minutes – until the clouds passed by, it got lighter again, and the game resumed.

Sometimes, especially if you go to enough games, you see a record set or tied.  One that didn’t work out well was on June 30, 1979.  The game was tied 3 to 3 as it entered the eleventh inning.  At which point, the Mets got six runs in the top of the inning.  Sigh.  The Cubs came back to get five runs in the bottom of the inning, but that was all.  Double sigh.  The eleven runs tied the major league record for most runs scored by both teams in the eleventh inning of a game.  It has only been done two other times.  It’s just too bad the six and the five weren’t reversed – or that they didn’t get a total of thirteen runs.
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¹ On a side note, the Res were known as the Redlegs for a period back in the ‘50s.  “Reds” was apparently viewed as not an appropriate name at the time.  Ultimately, however, the Reds went back to “Reds,” on the theory, I think, that they had the name first so the other Reds could change their name if somebody had to.
² However, 15 innings only took three hours. 46 minutes.
³ Unfortunately, the second game did not go as well, but at least we won one.