As the Mets and Phils finished up their second consecutive five-hour contest Saturday evening, the Mets Twitterverse was abuzz with folks trying to figure out if New York had ever experienced back-to-back 300+ minute games. Turns out, not only had the Mets not done that previously . . . NO TEAM had ever done that. There had been three instances of a team playing two five-hour games in a three-game span. Ironically, the Mets were the last team to do THAT, back in 1986.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of five-hour games history, here are the list of 2014’s qualifiers:
5:55 4/2/14 Cubs at Pirates
5:17 4/16/14 Red Sox at White Sox
5:11 5/1/14 Dodgers at Twins
5:49 5/2/14 Rays at Yankees
5:29 5/5/14 Giants at Pirates
5:16 5/21/14 Tigers at Indians
5:16 5/24/14 Red Sox at Rays
5:23 5/30/14 Mets at Phillies
5:32 5/31/14 Mets at Phillies
(Thanks to Doug Kern for the 2014 five-hour list.)
Thanks to the gloriousness that is Retrosheet, I was able to filter out all 277 5+ hour games in history through 2013. Here are some factoids about those games:
First five-hour game: 8/23/38 Braves at Pirates.
Most five-hour games on one day: 2, done five times (once in 2006, once in 2009, three times in 2013)
Most five-hour games, year: 21 (2013).
Last year without a five-hour game: 1966.
Most popular day of week: Saturday (56).
Day game / night game: Day (97), Night (180).
Lowest attendance: 2,389 (5/2/56, Giants at Cubs).
Highest attendance: 65,813 (4/11/92, Red Sox at Indians).
Fewest outs recorded: 59 (9/22/07, 10 innings, Blue Jays at Yankees).
Most outs recorded: 150 (9/11/74, 25 innings, Cardinals at Mets).
Five-hour games as single game or first/second game of double-header: Single game (260), first game of double header (4), second game of double-header (13).
Home park hosting most games: Oakland (16 games at O.co Coliseum and its prior names).
Most runs, both teams : 33 (Padres 17, Giants 16 – 5/23/70, White Sox 17, Tigers 16 – 9/14/98).
Fewest runs, both teams: 1 (seven times, most recently Red Sox 1, Rays 0 – 7/17/11).
| ALL-TIME 5-HOUR GAME RECORDS BY TEAM THROUGH 2013 |
|||
| TEAM | W | L | PCT |
| MIA | 3 | 0 | 1.000 |
| NY1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| ARI | 10 | 2 | .833 |
| PIT | 12 | 3 | .800 |
| PHI | 12 | 5 | .706 |
| CHA | 11 | 5 | .688 |
| NYA | 17 | 10 | .630 |
| OAK | 17 | 10 | .630 |
| COL | 5 | 3 | .625 |
| SEA | 9 | 6 | .600 |
| WS2 | 4 | 3 | .571 |
| TEX | 9 | 7 | .563 |
| HOU | 11 | 9 | .550 |
| CAL | 6 | 5 | .545 |
| BAL | 13 | 11 | .542 |
| CLE | 13 | 12 | .520 |
| BRO | 1 | 1 | .500 |
| BSN | 2 | 2 | .500 |
| FLO | 2 | 2 | .500 |
| KC1 | 1 | 1 | .500 |
| KCA | 4 | 4 | .500 |
| MON | 5 | 5 | .500 |
| CHN | 11 | 12 | .478 |
| SDN | 11 | 12 | .478 |
| ATL | 6 | 7 | .462 |
| LAN | 11 | 14 | .440 |
| CIN | 7 | 9 | .438 |
| BOS | 13 | 17 | .433 |
| SFN | 7 | 10 | .412 |
| ANA | 4 | 6 | .400 |
| MIL | 6 | 9 | .400 |
| NYN | 9 | 16 | .360 |
| DET | 6 | 12 | .333 |
| SLN | 7 | 14 | .333 |
| MIN | 5 | 11 | .313 |
| WAS | 1 | 3 | .250 |
| TOR | 3 | 10 | .231 |
| TBA | 2 | 7 | .222 |
| SE1 | 0 | 2 | .000 |
I know none of these games lasted very long, but it’s still an amazing 3 game run-the Dodgers in 1920:
Saturday, May 1, vs. Boston: 26 innings, 1-1.
Sunday, May 2, vs. Philadelphia: 13 innings, Brooklyn lost 4-3
Monday, May 3, vs. Boston (Yeah, weird scheduling): 19 innings, Brooklyn lost 2-1
All three games were complete games for both pitchers. 58 combined innings, 6 combined pitchers…
Between May 4 and May 14, the Dodgers also played games of 11, 10, and 14 innings.
Donald …. I knew about the 26-inning contest … I DIDN’T know about the series! Thanks
And lest we not forget, the Yankees and Red Sox played consecutive five-hour games against each other in the postseason. In fact the shortest of the three games played in Boston in that series was 4:20, a nine-inning game but an absolute slugfest.