Longest, weirdest ball game in history to celebrate its 40th anniversary Although I didn’t cover that unforgettable, marathon baseball game during the spring — and summer – of 1981, I feel as if I did, thanks to countless hours of research and scores of interviews with the participants. Over time, I’ve come to feel the soreness in Dave Huppert’s knees, ankles, quads, hamstrings and right shoulder after the Rochester Red Wing caught 31 of the record-setting 33 innings that night and morning before the game was suspended on April 19 at 4:07 a.m. I can visualize Cal Ripken Jr. and his Wing mates gathering broken bats for kindling to fuel a trash barrel fire they started in the dugout to keep warm during that raw Rhode Island weekend at Pawtucket’s McCoy Stadium.