May 24, 1973: New Yorkers listen to baseball with their breakfast in 19-inning win over Dodgers

“The law of averages had to catch up with you.” – Rusty Staub, May 25, 1973, after driving in the decisive run in a very long game.1

Marathon games dot the histories of the New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Brooklyn Dodgers played 26 innings against the Boston Braves on May 1, 1920. The game was called due to darkness with the score tied 1-1. The Mets, on May 31, 1964, fell to the San Francisco Giants, 8-6, in 23 innings, and in the second game of a doubleheader no less.

On May 24, 1973, the Mets and Dodgers went well past most newspaper deadlines. Joe Durso of the New York Times filed his story after 11 innings. Ross Newhan of the Los Angeles Times filed his in the middle of the 14th inning, at which time the score was tied, and the teams had collectively stranded 26 runners.2 Numbers were piling up, both for success and futility. There were wasted opportunities galore, and by time the game ended, the teams had stranded 40 runners (Mets 18, Dodgers 22).

Manny Mota, though, was 0-for-9 in the game, his batting average tumbling from .352 to .320, yet Dodgers manager Walt Alston said that his left fielder was “the only guy to hit the ball hard in critical conditions, but right at somebody.”3

The Mets won with four runs in the 19th inning.

The Mets’ starting pitcher was Tom Seaver (5-3), who had defeated the Dodgers 13 times since coming into the NL in 1967, losing only four times. Seaver came up short, by his standards. He left the game for pinch-hitter Jim Fregosi, the ex-Los Angeles Angel, in the seventh inning with the Mets trailing 3-2 and two runners in scoring position.

Many of the Los Angeles spectators left the game around the time that Dodger starter Tommy John (3-2) departed in the seventh inning. They did not really need to worry about traffic on this night. By the time the game ended, it was 1:35 A.M., and there were probably more fans listening on radios in New York as they were having breakfast at 4:35 A.M. (the game was not televised) than watching from the stands in Los Angeles.

The Dodgers got to Seaver for two tainted runs in the second inning. Willie Davis singled, advanced to second on Joe Ferguson’s grounder, and scored when Mets first baseman Jim Beauchamp was unable to handle a grounder by Willie Crawford. Crawford advanced to third on a hit by Ron Cey and scored on Bill Russell’s fly ball.

The Mets got a run back in their half of the third. Seaver singled and advanced to third on Wayne Garrett’s single. Seaver scored when Félix Millan hit into a double play. The double play was one of four pulled off by the Dodgers in the game. The Mets turned five, including two after the ninth inning.

In the bottom of the third, Bill Buckner singled, took second on a groundout by Mota, and scored on Davis’s second hit in as many innings.

The Mets made it 3-2 in the seventh. With one out, Tommy John surrendered a double to Bud Harrelson that scored George Theodore. Theodore had singled and advanced to second on a single by Jerry May. It was May’s first game appearance with the Mets. The former Pirate had been acquired from Kansas City 10 days earlier. After Harrelson’s double, Pete Richert came on in relief. Richert temporarily stopped the bleeding.

Phil Hennigan, who had been with Cleveland for four seasons, came on to pitch the seventh inning for the Mets, retiring the side in order.

Neither Richert nor Hennigan survived the eighth inning. In the top of the inning, the Mets tied things up at 3-3. Cleon Jones doubled and came home on singles by Staub and Theodore. Richert was replaced by George Culver, who pitched a double-play ball to Duffy Dyer. Dyer had replaced May behind the plate in the seventh inning after May was pulled for pinch-runner Ted Martinez.

Hennigan’s second inning was problematic. He allowed a single to Willie Davis, who finished the game with a modern National League record-tying six hits. Davis then stole second base and advanced to third when Dyer’s throw went into center field. After Ferguson walked, Mets manager Yogi Berra made a pitching change.

Tug McGraw came into the game with two runners on and pitched in and out of trouble for five innings. He stranded three runners in the eighth and left the bases jammed in the 10th inning after loading them with none out. With the bases full and two out, Alston sent up the well-traveled former Met Chris Cannizzaro to pinch-hit for pitcher Jim Brewer. With the Mets in 1964, he had caught all 23 innings of the Mets-Giants marathon. He grounded out, and the game continued. McGraw, after retiring the side in order in the 11th inning, stranded two runners in the 12th.

After the game, Alston allowed, “You have to give the Mets credit for getting out of that many jams.”4

The Dodgers were changing pitchers at a rapid rate. Culver left for pinch-hitter Ken McMullen in the bottom of the eighth. Brewer worked the ninth and 10th innings without incident before leaving for Cannizzaro. Charlie Hough brought his knuckler to the mound in the 11th.

George Stone came on to pitch for the Mets in the 13th and held the Dodgers scoreless until the Mets rallied in the top of the 19th. He matched zeros with Hough through the 15th inning.

In the 14th inning, the Mets looked to push across a run. With one out, Ed Kranepool, who had played all 23 innings of the 1964 marathon, singled to the opposite field. Garrett hit a ball to right field that was misplayed by Crawford. It rolled to the wall, and Crawford chased it down. Kranepool, who had gone halfway on the play (assuming the ball would be caught), sprinted around the bases as fast as his slow legs would take him. Third-base coach Eddie Yost waved Kranepool home, but the relay from Crawford to Davey Lopes to catcher Ferguson arrived at home well before Kranepool.

Hough, after five innings of work, was removed for pinch-hitter Steve Garvey. Doug Rau came on to pitch for the Dodgers in the 16th inning. In his first three innings of relief, Rau struck out four batters.

The Mets reached Rau in his fourth inning of relief. Jones singled and was driven home by Staub’s double down the left-field line. Staub said, “I was just trying to poke the ball somewhere; keep it in play.”5 Staub took third on Mota’s throw home. Ken Boswell, pinch-hitting for Stone, singled to score Staub and moved to second on a bunt by Theodore. Dyer walked, and Kranepool, who had replaced Beauchamp at first base in the eighth inning, put the icing on the cake with a two-run double, scoring Boswell and Dyer.

Jim McAndrew pitched the bottom of the 19th to close out the Mets’ win, and was credited with a save. He was the 21st Met to appear in the game. After retiring the first two batters, he yielded a single to pinch-hitter Von Joshua (the 18th Dodger in the game), but retired Lopes on a grounder to send the remaining fans home. Stone was credited with his first win of 1973. His six shutout innings lowered his ERA to 0.69.

“I wore out two gloves,” Mets shortstop Harrelson said afterward. He had gone through his fielding glove and the golf glove he wore at the plate.6

“Just woke up. Reading you fine” – Telegram to Mets radio broadcasters from fan in Connecticut as the clock passed 4:00 A.M. in New York. 7

The game was the longest in the history of Dodger Stadium in terms of both time (5:42) and innings played (19).

The record for time stood until Game Three of the 2018 World Series, when the Dodgers and Red Sox completed 18 innings in 7 hours and 20 minutes. The record for the longest regular-season game, in terms of time, stood until March 29, 2019, when the Dodgers and Diamondbacks played for 6 hours and 5 minutes.

The Mets had limped into town with several wounded players. Jones went 3-for-9 in the game while nursing a wounded wrist and was replaced by Jim Gosger after scoring the lead run in the 19th. Millan played the entire game with a bad ankle. John Milner had a pulled hamstring. He appeared as a pinch-hitter, walked, and was promptly removed for pinch-runner Jon Matlack, who was scheduled to pitch the next game. The catching situation was a mess. Jerry Grote was out with an injury, Neither Dyer nor May was hitting the batboy’s weight.

The Dodgers dropped to 24-19, while the Mets improved to 20-17, and fans in New York got to hear broadcaster Bob Murphy’s happy, if somewhat sleepy, recap.

Sources

In addition to the sources shown in the Notes, the author used Retrosheet.org Baseball-Reference.com, and the following:

Associated Press. “Mets Outlast L.A. in a.m. Marathon,” Journal News (Rockland County, New York), May 25, 1973: 1D.

Durso, Joseph. “Mets-Dodgers Tied at 3-3, After 11 Innings on Coast,” New York Times, May 25, 1973: 29.

United Press International. “Mets Defeat Dodgers in 19 Innings over Period of 5 Hours, 42 Minutes,” Buffalo Evening News, May 25, 1973: 46.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN197305240.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1973/B05240LAN1973.htm

Notes

1 Associated Press, “Mets Supply Fans with Breakfast Juice,” Evening Press (Binghamton, New York), May 25, 1973: 6-B.

2 Ross Newhan, “Dodgers and Mets Tied in 14th, 3-3; 25 Left Stranded,” Los Angeles Times, May 25, 1973: C1, C9. Although the headline says 25, the actual number in the middle of the 14th inning was 26. The Dodgers stranded two runners in their half of the inning.

3 Gordon Verrell, “Mets Win 5-Hour 42-Minute Struggle,” Long Beach (California) Press Telegram, May 25, 1973: C1.

4 Verrell.

5 Joe Donnelly, “Mets, 7, Dodgers 3,” Newsday (Long Island, New York), May 25, 1973: 144.

6 Donnelly.

7 Verrell.