Remember those gamedays where you couldn’t feel your fingers and toes from a late-night ball game? Your eyes would grow heavy and the concessions stand would close, but you stayed -- right? OK, maybe not all of you stayed.
It’s all right if you didn’t.
Still, with how the sports world is at the moment amid the coronavirus pandemic, I would give just about anything to watch a 23-inning game at the tail-end of a double-header. Wouldn’t you?
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On May 31, 1964, the Giants played the New York Mets.
The Mets organization is the only team in MLB history to play three games of at least 23 innings, as MLB.com' David Adler points out. They didn’t win any of those three. On this date, they fell to San Francisco, 8-6 in that second game.
It was tied 6-6, heading into the top of the 23rd inning. That’s when Del Crandall, who was pinch-hitting for Gaylord Perry, hit a line-drive double to right field allowing Jim Davenport to score. After that, Jesús Alou singled to second base to score Cap Peterson.
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Perry would walk away with the win after pitching 10 innings. He gave up seven hits, struck out nine and walked one.
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I'll admit, I would sometimes groan at the thought of a game going into extras. That usually was because there was an early game the next day or I would just be exhausted from the pregame festivities. It sounds pretty selfish.
The Giants played the Mets in 32 innings throughout that long day of baseball.
That sounds pretty amazing right about now.