Longest game?

[NCASAUmp]

Last night, I had the longest game I'd ever called. It was a local SP league's church championship "if game" that went 13 innings. It was a GREAT game.

Bottom of 7, home team is down 5-0. They hit 2 runs in, then knock a 3-run home run to tie it up. No one scored until the 12th, when the visitors hit 2 runs in. The home team answered with 2 runs of their own. Top of the 13th, the visitors didn't score. Bottom of the 13th inning, the home team hit a 2-run home run to win the game. We started the game at 8:52 PM, and I was expecting to see the clock say 10:45 or 11:00 when I went to gather my things. Surprisingly, my cell phone said it was only 10:17. An hour and 25 minutes!

This league was so evenly-matched by all 6 teams, each team had a turn at being in 1st place during the regular season. This final game only showed just how evenly this particular league was matched up. Both teams in the championship game were great teams with excellent defense, and, above all, great sportsmanship. I know we knock "AA" leagues a lot, and church teams don't always act in true church-like fashion, but this matchup was certainly an exception. I greatly enjoyed calling this game.

So what was your longest game, either in innings, or in time played?

[azbigdawg]

Ive gone 11 in SP....14 in FP. Used the tiebreaker for the SP game, it also was a great back and forth game

[7in60]

We had a 7 INN women's FP playoff game go 2:20 two summers ago. Had to play all 7 because run differential was a tiebreaker. A well-played game does not take 2h to finish, so it was not fun.

[greymule]

Two years ago, in West Windsor, NJ, a Little League district 12u softball game took 4:08. No delays for weather, injury, or anything else out of the ordinary. Score was 25-23 or something like that. Umps received their $25 each.

[Texas Aggie]

I've done very minimal softball work, but I had an intramural game in college that was similar to this. By the time we were in extra innings a lot of folks for the next game were in the stands and getting into it. I think we went 3 or 4 extra innings, even with the tiebreakers in there and it all came down to a play at the plate where I called the runner safe.

[Dholloway1962]

Quickest game was 57 minutes 7 inning game. 18 yr old pretty much 3 up/3 down with 1 HR, 1-0

[Skahtboi]

The longest I have ever done, in innings, that I recall, was 14 innings. Don't know the time on that one, but it seemed to zip by pretty fast for essentially being two complete games.

In a story similar to greymule's, I was working a Dixie tournament many years ago. I think the age was 12U. Not sure, now. Anyway, I had a friend on the field next to mine working the same tournament. Our first game started at the same time. When I finished my second, and last game of the night, he was still on his first game. I think that they had that game run just under four and a half hours. I felt sorry for him, but was mighty relieved that it wasn't me.

[TwoBits]

Not my game, but my brother did a game with the bottom 2 seeds in a high school district in our state's smallest class. 7 innings, 3 1/2 hours, final score 35-32.

To top Holloway, the quickest complete game I've had was a 7 inning 14 and under rec league game in 45 minutes, final score 5-3. Neither team could hit well but could put the bat on the ball. Both teams had slow pitchers, but they could lob a strike pretty consistently. A lot of 8 pitch or less innings that night.

[Andy]

I have had a couple of ten inning FP games as I recall - both games competitive with evenly matched teams. As I recall, both games were decided by errors. Those are the kind of games that are fun to call, and you hate to see one team have to lose.

My longest time game that I remember was a HS JV FP game, start time 4:00 pm, we walked off the field at 7:20 pm. Here's the kicker - it was a five inning run rule! Neither team had a pitcher and they couldn't hit, field, or throw.....other than that, it was a good ball game. I was BU. My PU partner's strike zone had gotten so big as the game went on, if the ball didn't bounce on the way to the plate, it was pretty much a strike - even then we had numerous walks.

The game was played in early March when darkness hits about 6:00 pm. As the sun started going down, a school maintenance guy drove over in his golf cart and started turning on the field lights - I wanted to go strangle him!

I recall going to the bottom of the fifth inninng with the home team down by about 8 runs. Thankfully (?) they scored 18 runs in the inninng by a variety of errors, walks, and maybe one or two legitimate hits.

What a nightmare that game was.....

[whiskers_ump]

21 innings in 18U National tournament, on a Thurs. Talk about throwing
a tournament behind.

Game ended on an obs call by PU, not me, I was BU during rundown between
HP and 3rd.

Some of you probably know my partner. Alan Butcher.

[NCASAUmp]

Originally Posted by whiskers_ump

21 innings in 18U National tournament

And let me guess... You still got just one game fee for it.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by NCASAUmp

And let me guess... You still got just one game fee for it.

Hey, you screw it up that bad, you should be paying the other umpires a waiting fee.

[argodad]

My longest was a 14 inning HS varsity game. We don't use a tie breaker in FL. It was tied 8-8 at the end of seven. Nobody scored again until the bottom of the 14th.

[Skahtboi]

Originally Posted by whiskers_ump

Some of you probably know my partner. Alan Butcher.

Allen.

[whiskers_ump]

Originally Posted by NCASAUmp

And let me guess... You still got just one game fee for it.

Yeah, Alan tried to get the fans to take up a collection in the 14th and again
in the 20th inning, but to no avail.

However, all the UICs and TD knew I was involved in the game, cause that
was my 3rd ITB game of the tournament.