[Eckstein 4 Prez]

October 4, 1876

It was a meaningless late-season game in St. Louis. The Red Caps had already clinched their fifth straight league championship, and the Brown Stockings were mired hopelessly in the second division.

Unsurprisingly, Boston jumped right out to a quick lead in the top of the first, as George Wright of the Red Caps drilled a two-out triple down the right field line that scored Ross Barnes and Orator Jim O'Rourke. That was all either pitcher allowed in the first three innings, as both starters Al Spalding of Boston and Tricky Nichols of St. Louis generally kept the other side in check.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Brown Stockings were able to get a run of their own going, as a walk and three singles led to St. Louis tying the game at 2. However, this deadlock did not last long, as Boston's 38-year-old catcher Dave Birdsall led off the fifth with a double and was singled home by Harry Schafer to give Boston a 3-2 lead.

Again, St. Louis was able to answer, as a two-out, one-on double by Andy Leonard in the bottom of the fifth made it a 3-3 game. In the top of the sixth, Boston's first two hitters, Barnes and O'Rourke, got back-to-back singles but ended up being stranded when George Wright, Joe Simmons and Eddie Booth were retired in order.

The next couple of innings passed without incident, then Boston loaded the bases in the top of the eighth with only one out and the dangerous Joe Simmons at the plate. However, St. Louis was again saved as Simmons hit a hard grounder right at second baseman Jimmy Wood, who was able to complete the 4-6-3 double play. In the bottom half of the same inning, Boston's Ross Barnes committed two errors, but Spalding got Harry Deane to ground into an inning-ending double play before any runs could score.

In the top of the ninth, it was Boston's turn to benefit from poor defense. Pinch-hitter Juice Latham and Birdsall both reached on errors to lead off the inning. The next batter, pinch hitter Herm Doscher, hit a grounder that was an attempted 6-4-3 double play, but Doscher beat the throw at first. Suddenly, the Red Caps had runners at first and third with one out. For the next batter, Harry Schafer, the Brown Stockings pulled the infield in. This strategy worked perfectly as Schafer hit a grounder right to shortstop Rit Harrison, who looked the runners back then threw to first for the out. After Charlie Gould was induced to ground out, the game remained tied at 3.

After the Brown Stockings didn't really threaten in the bottom of the ninth, the game went into extra innings. In both the tenth and eleventh innings, the Brown Stockings went down 1-2-3 while the Red Caps stranded runners in scoring position. Both teams went down in order in the twelfth. It was starting to look like the teams could be in for a long haul.

In the top of the thirteenth, Joe Simmons of Boston managed to single and steal second, but he was again stranded as backup catcher Doug Allison flied out to end the inning. St. Louis also got a runner into scoring position in the thirteenth, as Charlie Waitt led off the inning with a single, then advanced on a grounder to first. However, neither George Seward nor Harry Deane could advance Waitt, and he too was stranded for the inning-ending play.

The 14th, 15th and 16th innings were all pretty uneventful. Each team managed only one baserunner for the three innings, and both of those runners were immediately erased by double plays. The game was now approaching the longest game in professional base ball history. No one could remember what the longest game on record was, but it was known that no game had eveer gone past the 18th inning - which represented two full games. Now this meaningless little Boston-St. Louis matchup was poised to make history.

In the top of the 17th, Sam Jackson led off for Boston as a pinch-hitter for pitcher Pidgey Morgan. Jackson hit a grounder to second baseman Jimmy Wood, but Wood's throw went over the head of first baseman Herman Dehlman and Jackson wound up on second base when the dust settled. It looked as though St. Louis would again escape the inning when Schafer then struck out swinging and Charlie Gould grounded out, but this time Chick Fulmer (who entered the game in the 8th inning after Ross Barnes was pulled for a pinch runner) knocked a base hit to center to score Jackson and give Boston a 4-3 lead. Although St. Louis got Orator Jim O'Rourke out to end the inning, the damage was done. St. Louis would have to score in the bottom of the 17th.

First up for the Brown Stockings was shortstop Rit Harrison. He hit a harmless fly to left for the first out. Next was right fielder John Kenney, who grounded to third. The final hope for St. Louis was third baseman Joe Battin, who drilled a Charles Witherow pitch into the left-center gap for a double. Since St. Louis' bench had already been cleared, the next hitter was pitcher Bill Parks. Against all odds, Parks too knocked a base hit into the outfield, which scored Battin from second to tie the game at 4. Then first baseman Herman Dehlman singled, and suddenly St. Louis was on the verge of winning the game. Any hit by catcher Tom Barlow would finally, mercifully end the game. Yet again the baseball gods refused to let things end, as Barlow flied to center to end the 17th inning with the game still tied.

Now it truly seemed that the game would last forever. The 18th, 19th and 20th innings passed, and neither team even got a runner into scoring position. Boston threatened in the top of the 21st, as Levi Meyerle led off with a double and then was bunted over to third, but a pop out and a ground out ended that threat. In the top of the 22nd, Charlie Gould started the inning with a single and then was bunted to second, only to have star hitter Orator Jim O'Rourke line into an unassisted double play at second base. Boston again got a runner into scoring position in the top of the 23rd with an error and a ground out to advance the runner, but again could not bring the man home. In each of these three innings, St. Louis could manage nothing in the way of offense. The teams had played over 2 1/2 full games, and still were not done.

In the 24th inning, both teams went down in order and the game seemed, in the words of one observer, "like it might just last till Doomsday." Finally, a rally came together in the top of the 25th. Boston got a one-out double from O'Rourke, and George Wright was intentionally walked. The next hitter, Joe Simmons, hit a fielder's choice to third and the Brown Stockings took the out at second base. With the winning run only 90 feet away, Levi Meyerle stepped up to the plate. Finally, the dwindling crowd figured the game had to end.... but it was not to be. Meyerle hit a feeble grounder back to the mound, and the game continued tied at 4. In the bottom half of the inning, St. Louis too got a runner on second with one out after a single and a sacrifice bunt, but they too failed to get the runner home and the eternal game marched on.

The 26th inning was another in which both teams went down in order, thus assuring that at least three full games were to be played between the clubs. In the top of the 27th, Boston got a walk, a single and an error on left fielder George Seward, but got no runs out of it thanks to a double play that erased the first runner. In the bottom of the inning, Rit Harrison got a one-out single that was misplayed by center fielder Joe Simmons, thus giving St. Louis a runner on second with one out. They too failed to capitalize, as Kenney and Battin were retired in order.

In the 28th inning, both Boston and St. Louis were yet again retired in order. Although Boston got a leadoff single in the 29th from Schafer, the next three hitters failed to advance him, and St. Louis could manage nothing in the bottom half of the inning.

The 30th inning started with a walk to George Wright, then Joe Simmons flied to center. Then Levi Meyerle singled, advancing Wright to third. This would have been cause for celebration, but Boston had already stranded runners in scoring position eight times since the game had entered extra innings. However, this time was finally to be different. Meyerle stole second, and Barlow's throw sailed into the outfield, scoring George Wright. Then Doug Allison singled Meyerle home, and shortly after Harry Schafer doubled to knock in Allison. Boston had finally put some runs on the board, and led 7-4.

The bottom of the 30th was something of an anti-climax, as exhausted hitters Rit Harrison, John Kenney and Joe Battin all grounded out to finally end the game.

The statistics for the game were nothing short of overwhelming. Each team had used every player they had available for the game. Boston had 25 hits in 111 at-bats, while St. Louis went 14 for 102. Boston's leadoff man Harry Schafer set a record that may never be broken with 14 at-bats in the game, yet three of his teammates were right behind him with 13. Some sort of futility record was set by Harry Deane of St. Louis, who went an anemic 0 for 12 for the game.

(Note: I was actually just trying to get to the end of the season tonight, but when I saw this game I knew I had to write something up about it. In all of the OOTP games I've played and simmed, I've never seen a game go above 24 innings. Also, the 1870s conditions are actually not very conducive to long games because of the high number of singles and errors - games above 11 innings are very, very rare. In fact, I just looked over the entire 1876 season so far, and I've had a grand total of 17 other extra-inning games. Of these, 9 were decided in the 10th inning, 4 made it to the 11th, 2 to the 12th, and there were one 13-inning and one 14-inning contest. In view of this, I think this game is truly something amazing - it's truly almost as anomalous as an unassisted triple play.)

Edit: since I don't have photos of most of the pitchers who ate up all those innings, I'm going to change my avatar to Orator Jim O'Rourke, who was the leader in hits for the game with 4.