Thirty-three years ago today the longest game in professional baseball began. Some of you older guys will remember that on that Saturday night before Easter, the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate in Pawtucket hosted the Rochester Red Wings. After 32 innings the score remained tied, 2-2, and the game was suspended after 4 a.m. by an angry league president, who had been telephoned while sleeping. There were 19 fans remaining in the stadium, all of whom received lifetime passes to future Pawtucket games.

Rochester scored a run in the top of the seventh and Pawtucket tied it at 1 by plating a run in the bottom of the ninth. Each team scored a run in the 21st inning with wade Boggs, who went 4 for 12 in the game, doubled home a run for the Sox. Jim Umbarger, who went on to have a decent MLB career mostly with Texas, then entered the game and pitched 10 innings of scoreless relief.

The game was resumed June 23 before a sellout crowd that watched the contest end in less than 20 minutes when Rochester failed to score in the top of the 33rd and Pawtucket scored a run in the bottom of the frame to win.

Bob Ojeda got the win by pitching one inning and Steve Grilli, who had pitched in the majors prior to this game and was hoping to return to MLB took the loss. Ojeda was the sole survivor of a 1993 boating accident that claimed the lives of two of his Indian teammates and Grilli is the father of current Pirate pitcher Jason Grilli.