Better late than never...
PLACE: Braves Field; Boston, MA
EVENT: Oeschger, Cadore Set Record For Longest Single Game, Most Innings Pitched
The first day of May marked the one-hundred-year anniversary of what was arguably one of the greatest pitching performances of the 20th century. In a game that would stagger the imagination of the average baseball fan, the Brooklyn Robins faced off against the Boston Braves on May 1st, 1920, in a game that...just...kept...on...going.
Boston RHP Joe Oeschger took the mound against Brooklyn righty Leon Cadore, and each pitcher went the distance in a twenty-six-inning marathon that ended in a 1-1 tie.
Twenty-six. Think about that. One inning less than three standard complete games. And it lasted three hours and fifty minutes.
Around 4,000 fans (the Brooklyn Daily Eagle estimated the crowd at 2,500; Baseball-Reference says 4,500) turned out on a cloudy, damp day to see the match-up, and it was posited by Boston Globe sportswriter James O'Leary that “every one of the 4,000 remained to the end. They saw the most wonderful pitching stunt ever performed, and some classy playing in thrilling situations, such as one sees only once in a lifetime.” Here's the rundown:
-Oeschger allowed only nine hits and four walks, striking out seven, while Cadore gave up fifteen hits and five walks, while striking out seven batters as well.
-A total of 186 batters came to the plate. Neither pitcher hit a batter or committed a balk, and only one wild pitch was thrown (by Oeschger).
-Fifteen batters between the two teams made ten or more plate appearances. Braves 2B Charlie Pick went 0-11 (that has to be a record, right?)
-Oeschger finished the game with nine no-hit innings. So he pitched the equivalent of a standard-length no-hitter at the end of a 26-inning performance.
-Brooklyn scored their only run in the top of the fifth. Oeschger kept them scoreless for the next 21 innings. Cadore put up 20 goose eggs against Boston.
While Oeschger said that “I won't say I wasn't a little tired” at the end of the game, Cadore said he felt this game affected him over the remainder of his career.
With the game closing in on the four-hour mark, as well as lingering cloud cover and fading sunlight, home plate umpire Barry McCormick erred on the side of caution and called an end to this seemingly-endless battle. According to news reports of the time, most of the crowd stayed through the entire game.
From The Brooklyn Daily Eagle; May 2nd, 1920:
PLACE: Braves Field; Boston, MA
EVENT: Oeschger, Cadore Set Record For Longest Single Game, Most Innings Pitched
The first day of May marked the one-hundred-year anniversary of what was arguably one of the greatest pitching performances of the 20th century. In a game that would stagger the imagination of the average baseball fan, the Brooklyn Robins faced off against the Boston Braves on May 1st, 1920, in a game that...just...kept...on...going.
Boston RHP Joe Oeschger took the mound against Brooklyn righty Leon Cadore, and each pitcher went the distance in a twenty-six-inning marathon that ended in a 1-1 tie.
Twenty-six. Think about that. One inning less than three standard complete games. And it lasted three hours and fifty minutes.
Around 4,000 fans (the Brooklyn Daily Eagle estimated the crowd at 2,500; Baseball-Reference says 4,500) turned out on a cloudy, damp day to see the match-up, and it was posited by Boston Globe sportswriter James O'Leary that “every one of the 4,000 remained to the end. They saw the most wonderful pitching stunt ever performed, and some classy playing in thrilling situations, such as one sees only once in a lifetime.” Here's the rundown:
-Oeschger allowed only nine hits and four walks, striking out seven, while Cadore gave up fifteen hits and five walks, while striking out seven batters as well.
-A total of 186 batters came to the plate. Neither pitcher hit a batter or committed a balk, and only one wild pitch was thrown (by Oeschger).
-Fifteen batters between the two teams made ten or more plate appearances. Braves 2B Charlie Pick went 0-11 (that has to be a record, right?)
-Oeschger finished the game with nine no-hit innings. So he pitched the equivalent of a standard-length no-hitter at the end of a 26-inning performance.
-Brooklyn scored their only run in the top of the fifth. Oeschger kept them scoreless for the next 21 innings. Cadore put up 20 goose eggs against Boston.
While Oeschger said that “I won't say I wasn't a little tired” at the end of the game, Cadore said he felt this game affected him over the remainder of his career.
With the game closing in on the four-hour mark, as well as lingering cloud cover and fading sunlight, home plate umpire Barry McCormick erred on the side of caution and called an end to this seemingly-endless battle. According to news reports of the time, most of the crowd stayed through the entire game.
From The Brooklyn Daily Eagle; May 2nd, 1920:
The laws of the time in many cities in the US prohibited baseball on Sunday, as it was the Sabbath (for Christians, anyway), and thus was considered a day of rest. This was one of several activities disallowed on Sunday, and it fell under the “blue law” statutes. As a primer on the subject, and a very good one, Bob Warrington wrote a very nice article on the legal battles for and against Sunday baseball in Philadelphia. There would be no continuation of the game the next day, since they played on Saturday. Brooklyn had to hop a train and head straight back home, in any case.
On top of this Herculean labor, the Robins returned home by train to lose to the Phillies 4-3, in a game that went thirteen innings. Then they had to come back to Boston to play the Braves, once more. On May 3rd, Boston beat the Robins, 2-1, in another marathon game that went nineteen innings.
Three days. Fifty-eight innings. No wins for Brooklyn. It sounds insane, but once again, both Brooklyn and Boston starters went the distance on May 3rd. LHP Sherry Smith allowed only two runs on thirteen hits in 18 1/3 innings, walking five and striking out three, while RHP Dana Fillingim gave up one run on twelve hits in 19 innings, walking four and striking out four. Of note: Fillingim went 12-21 with a 3.11 ERA in 1920 (ERA+ 97), then 15-10 with a 3.45 ERA in 1921 (ERA+ 105) in one of his best seasons in the majors, but was only 7-18 with a 5.06 ERA over the rest of the short remainder of his ML career.
Smith put up an 11-9 record in 1920 (33 games, 13 starts, 16 closing appearances) with a sparkling 1.85 ERA (ERA+ 173), and was slightly better than average over the rest of his career (56-67, 3.92 ERA, ERA+ 107).
Still, neither of these pitchers are names which will come to mind, for most fans of the game's history. But the nature of the game being what it is, anything can happen on the field. Had the Smith-Fillingim game happened earlier or perhaps even later in the year, it may not have been overshadowed by the Oeschger-Cadore history-making performance.
Lawrence “Scoop” Beal of The Times-Standard interviewed Oeschger on the 50th anniversary of this game in 1970. Oeschger was, at the time, a retired high-school teacher living in Ferndale, California, near Centerville Beach, on a road that bore his name. Indeed, in 1977, Joseph C. Oeschger Field was dedicated in his honor in Ferndale. He would throw out the first pitch of the Giants-Braves game on May 29th; that game went extra innings, with San Francisco pulling out the 3-2 win.
Many of his five siblings (three brothers, two sisters) lived nearby. At the time of his interview, his mother had only recently celebrated her 100th birthday.
As he tells it, there were around 2,000 fans at the game initially, then as the game progressed:
“...the word got around town on what was happening and more fans began showing up. At the end, the ballpark was two-thirds full.”
From The Times-Standard; May 1st, 1970:
He had a so-so 15-13 record in 1920, with a 3.46 ERA (ERA+ 87) for a Braves team that won only 62 games. He had his only twenty-win season the following year (20-14, 3.52 ERA, ERA+ 103), as Boston finished 79-74, good for fourth place in the NL. He spent the remainder of his career with the Giants, Phillies, and Robins, but faded fast (16-45 in 140 games, 5.14 ERA). All in all, a twelve-year ML career is impressive, in its own right.
Oeschger was still getting the occasional fan letter because of that game. He often sent back mimeographed copies of the box score, autographed at the bottom. (ed. Note: I have one of my own.) He would pass away on July 28th, 1986, in Rohnert Park, California, after a heart attack. He was 94 years old.
Cadore became a salesman and went through tremendous ups and downs, after baseball, but was able to regain stability in his personal and professional life by the 1950's. He passed away on March 16th, 1958, in Spokane, Washington, of stomach cancer. In Fred Lieb's obituary for Cadore in The Sporting News, he mentioned an exchange between Cadore and one of the VA nurses during his hospital stay. She reportedly told him that she didn't care much for baseball. He replied, “I don't care much for hospitals, either.” He was 66 years old.
On top of this Herculean labor, the Robins returned home by train to lose to the Phillies 4-3, in a game that went thirteen innings. Then they had to come back to Boston to play the Braves, once more. On May 3rd, Boston beat the Robins, 2-1, in another marathon game that went nineteen innings.
Three days. Fifty-eight innings. No wins for Brooklyn. It sounds insane, but once again, both Brooklyn and Boston starters went the distance on May 3rd. LHP Sherry Smith allowed only two runs on thirteen hits in 18 1/3 innings, walking five and striking out three, while RHP Dana Fillingim gave up one run on twelve hits in 19 innings, walking four and striking out four. Of note: Fillingim went 12-21 with a 3.11 ERA in 1920 (ERA+ 97), then 15-10 with a 3.45 ERA in 1921 (ERA+ 105) in one of his best seasons in the majors, but was only 7-18 with a 5.06 ERA over the rest of the short remainder of his ML career.
Smith put up an 11-9 record in 1920 (33 games, 13 starts, 16 closing appearances) with a sparkling 1.85 ERA (ERA+ 173), and was slightly better than average over the rest of his career (56-67, 3.92 ERA, ERA+ 107).
Still, neither of these pitchers are names which will come to mind, for most fans of the game's history. But the nature of the game being what it is, anything can happen on the field. Had the Smith-Fillingim game happened earlier or perhaps even later in the year, it may not have been overshadowed by the Oeschger-Cadore history-making performance.
Lawrence “Scoop” Beal of The Times-Standard interviewed Oeschger on the 50th anniversary of this game in 1970. Oeschger was, at the time, a retired high-school teacher living in Ferndale, California, near Centerville Beach, on a road that bore his name. Indeed, in 1977, Joseph C. Oeschger Field was dedicated in his honor in Ferndale. He would throw out the first pitch of the Giants-Braves game on May 29th; that game went extra innings, with San Francisco pulling out the 3-2 win.
Many of his five siblings (three brothers, two sisters) lived nearby. At the time of his interview, his mother had only recently celebrated her 100th birthday.
As he tells it, there were around 2,000 fans at the game initially, then as the game progressed:
“...the word got around town on what was happening and more fans began showing up. At the end, the ballpark was two-thirds full.”
From The Times-Standard; May 1st, 1970:
He had a so-so 15-13 record in 1920, with a 3.46 ERA (ERA+ 87) for a Braves team that won only 62 games. He had his only twenty-win season the following year (20-14, 3.52 ERA, ERA+ 103), as Boston finished 79-74, good for fourth place in the NL. He spent the remainder of his career with the Giants, Phillies, and Robins, but faded fast (16-45 in 140 games, 5.14 ERA). All in all, a twelve-year ML career is impressive, in its own right.
Oeschger was still getting the occasional fan letter because of that game. He often sent back mimeographed copies of the box score, autographed at the bottom. (ed. Note: I have one of my own.) He would pass away on July 28th, 1986, in Rohnert Park, California, after a heart attack. He was 94 years old.
Cadore became a salesman and went through tremendous ups and downs, after baseball, but was able to regain stability in his personal and professional life by the 1950's. He passed away on March 16th, 1958, in Spokane, Washington, of stomach cancer. In Fred Lieb's obituary for Cadore in The Sporting News, he mentioned an exchange between Cadore and one of the VA nurses during his hospital stay. She reportedly told him that she didn't care much for baseball. He replied, “I don't care much for hospitals, either.” He was 66 years old.
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