This day in baseball: Babe’s walkless marathon

Babe Adams of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitched an entire 21-inning game without issuing a single walk on July 17, 1914.  It was the longest game pitched by a single pitcher in big league history in which that pitcher did not concede a base-on-balls.  In the top of the 21st inning, Larry Doyle’s home run proved the deciding hit, giving the New York Giants the 3-1 victory.  Rube Marquard of the Giants, who also went the distance in the game, allowed only two walks and gained the victory.

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Babe Adams (Wikimedia Commons)


2 thoughts on “This day in baseball: Babe’s walkless marathon

  1. i wonder if he was thinking, “damn, i haven’t walked anyone yet” or was it just another 21 inning game for a pitcher in 1914.

    1. I would be curious to know if he thought anything of it. I’d be surprised if he did. If it were me, by about the tenth inning, I would’ve been too weary to care, just grinding to the end.

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