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how long was the longest baseball game

The longest professional baseball game on record lasted 33 innings and took 8 hours and 25 minutes of actual playing time, spread over two dates in 1981.

Quick Scoop

  • The longest professional baseball game ever was between the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Rochester Red Wings (Triple‑A International League) in 1981.
  • It went 33 innings , with 8 hours 25 minutes of playing time, starting on April 18–19 and finishing on June 23 after being suspended overnight.
  • In MLB , the longest game by innings was a 26‑inning 1–1 tie between the Brooklyn Robins (Dodgers) and Boston Braves on May 1, 1920.
  • The longest MLB game by time lasted 8 hours 6 minutes : Chicago White Sox vs Milwaukee Brewers, 25 innings, May 8, 1984.

Longest Game Details

  • The Pawtucket–Rochester marathon is widely recognized as the longest game in professional baseball history , with players and fans on hand into the early morning before it was halted at 4:09 a.m. and later resumed.
  • The final score was Pawtucket 3, Rochester 2 , with the decisive run scored in the 33rd inning when play resumed in June.

MLB Marathon Classics

  • The 1920 Brooklyn Robins vs Boston Braves game reached 26 innings but was called a 1–1 tie due to darkness, even though both starting pitchers astonishingly threw all 26 frames.
  • The 1984 White Sox vs Brewers matchup in Chicago went 25 innings over two days and set the MLB record for total duration at 8:06.

Fan Experience Angle

  • Articles and fan stories often describe these ultra‑long games as a mix of endurance test and badge of honor for anyone who stayed to the final out.
  • Modern pace‑of‑play rules and extra‑inning formats make another 30+ inning epic very unlikely, which is part of why these historic games have a near‑mythic status among baseball fans today.

TL;DR:
If you’re wondering “how long was the longest baseball game?” — the record‑setter ran 33 innings and 8 hours 25 minutes in the minors, with MLB’s longest stretching to 26 innings (or 8+ hours by time).

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.