May 31, 1964: The Mets' Longest Day

May 31, 1964: For the New York Mets, to borrow the title of a 1962 movie about the D-Day invasion, this was The Longest Day. For one of their players, to borrow the title of a 1945 movie about alcoholism, it was The Lost Weekend.

The day before, the Mets' top farm team, the Buffalo Bisons of the Class AAA International League, had played a doubleheader. This team had several players from the original Met team of 2 years earlier, which had gone 40-120, suggesting that these players weren't even ready for the major leagues at this point, and might never be: Craig Anderson, Larry Burright, Elio Chacon, Cliff Cook, Sammy Drake, and the man who became the unwilling symbol of Met ineptitude, Marv Throneberry.

But the '64 Bisons also had 3 players who turned out to be not only good enough to make the major leagues, but good enough to help the Mets find glory in 1969: Cleon Jones, Ron Swoboda, and one player who fell into both categories, '62 and '69: Ed Kranepool.

Kranepool had graduated from James Monroe High School in The Bronx, as had Hall-of-Famer Hank Greenberg. He debuted with the Mets while still only 17 years old. It was soon clear that he wasn't ready. He was sent down to Class A. Then he was sent down to Class D, equivalent to today's "Rookie Leagues." A banner appeared at the Polo Grounds, reading, "Is Kranepool over the hill?"

He then bounced up and down between Buffalo and the Polo Grounds over the next 2 years, before the Mets moved to the new Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadow-Corona Park, in Queens. After the 2nd game of his May 30 doubleheader in Buffalo, he got the call again, and flew to New York, to play in the Mets' Sunday doubleheader with the San Francisco Giants. Attendance was 57,037 -- not because it was Memorial Day weekend and the weather was nice, but because the Giants still had former New York baseball hero Willie Mays.

For the opener, manager Casey Stengel put Kranepool at 1st base, and batted him 6th. Al Jackson, probably the Mets' ace at this point, started against future Hall-of-Famer Juan Marichal. The Mets got a home run from Jim Hickman in the 2nd inning, and the Mets led 3-0 after 3. But Harvey Kuenn and Orlando Cepeda each got 3 hits, and the Giants won, 5-3. Kranepool went 1-for-4.

For the nightcap, a term that didn't seem to fit at the time, since the game started in daylight, the Giants started Bobby Bolin, and the Mets started Bill Wakefield. At first, it looked like a wipeout: The Giants led 6-1 after 3 innings, and held that lead going into the bottom of the 6th. But the Mets scored 2 in that inning, and 3 in the 7th, on a home run by Joe Christopher, to tie it.

What followed was one of the longest scoreless stretches in baseball history. The game went to extra innings. Many, many extra innings. In the top of the 10th, Tom Haller tripled with 2 out, but was stranded. In the bottom of the 10th, Charley Smith led off with a single, but was caught stealing 2nd. Larry Bearnarth walked Jim Davenport and Kuenn in the top of the 11th, but got out of it. Amando Samuel led off the bottom of the 11th with an infield single, but the Mets couldn't get him home.

Cepeda led off the top of the 12th with a double, but the Giants couldn't get him home. With 2 out in the bottom of the 13th, Samuel singled, and so did Roy McMillan, but Samuel was thrown out at 3rd. Jesús Alou led off the top of the 14th with a single, and Mays drew a walk. But Cepeda grounded to short. McMillan tagged Alou, stepped on 2nd to eliminate Mays, and threw Cepeda out at 1st. It was a triple play.

Haller led off the top of the 15th with a single. Chuck Hiller bunted him over to 2nd. Matty Alou grounded out, putting Haller on 3rd. Davenport drew a walk. But Cap Peterson struck out. Hickman led off the bottom of the 15th with a single. Smith bunted him over to 2nd. Chris Cannizzaro drew a walk. But, by this point, the Mets were out of pinch-hitters, and their pitchers had to bat, and Galen Cisco grounded into a double play.

Christopher led off the bottom of the 17th inning with a single, but Kranepool grounded into a double play. With 1 out in the bottom of the 18th, Cannizzaro reached on an error, and Cisco bunted him over to 2nd, but Samuel grounded out. Christopher singled with 2 out in the bottom of the 19th, but in right field, Jesús Alou made a great catch to rob Kranepool and end the inning.

With 1 out in the top of the 20th, Haller singled, but Hiller grounded into a double play. With 1 out in the bottom of the 20th, Smith singled, but Cannizzaro and Cisco struck out. Frank Thomas singled with 2 out in the bottom of the 21st, but Christopher popped up. Cisco's error at the start of the 22nd inning led to the opposing pitcher, Gaylord Perry, reaching 1st base. Cisco got Jesús Alou and Mays out, but hit Cepeda with a pitch to move Perry to 2nd. But he got Haller to fly out.

Cisco got the 1st 2 outs in the top of the 23rd inning. But Jim Davenport hit a triple to right field. Using his last pinch-hitter, Giants manager Alvin Dark sent former Milwaukee Braves catcher Del Crandall up to bat for Perry, and he doubled to right, and Davenport scored. Jesús Alou singled Crandall home. In the bottom of the 23rd, Bob Hendley came in to pitch for the Giants, and struck out Cannizzaro and John Stephenson, and finally ended the proceedings by getting Samuel to fly to right. Giants 8, Mets 6.

The 2nd game was 3 innings short of the longest in Major League Baseball history by innings, but it set a new record for the longest by time: 7 hours and 23 minutes. Combined, the 2 games lasted 9 hours and 52 minutes, and 32 innings. Over the 2 games, Mays went 2-for-13, but had 2 walks and 2 RBIs. Kuenn, Cepeda and Jesús Alou each got 6 hits. Haller didn't play in the 1st game, but got 4 hits in the 2nd. Matty Alou did not bat in the 1st game, and went 0-for-6 in the 2nd. The 3rd Alou brother, Felipe, had been traded to the Milwaukee Braves.

Ed Kranepool went 4-for-14 with an RBI. He had played 50 innings in 2 days. But he was up for good: He made the National League All-Star Team in 1965 (at only 20 years old), and was a member of the Mets' 1969 "Miracle" World Championship team, and their 1973 National League Pennant team.

On April 15, 1968, the Mets lost to the Houston Astros, 1-0 in 24 innings at the Astrodome. Kranepool went 2-for-8 with a walk. On September 11, 1974, the Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3 in 25 innings at Shea Stadium. Kranepool only appeared as a pinch-hitter in that game, and did not reach base.

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May 31, 1964 was a Sunday. These other games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Kansas City Athletics, 4-2 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. So, between them, the New York teams played 41 innings, and came away with a record of 0-3. Mickey Mantle singled in 2 runs as a pinch-hitter.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Colt .45s, 4-1 at Connie Mack Stadium (formerly Shibe Park) in Philadelphia. The Colts became the Astros the next season.

* The Cleveland Indians swept a doubleheader from the Washington Senators, 9-6 and 8-3 at District of Columbia Stadium (later Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium) in Washington.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-4 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Sandy Koufax was the winning pitcher, but Roberto Clemente hit a home run off him.

* The Chicago White Sox swept the Detroit Tigers, 5-3 and 8-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline went 3-for-8 with an RBI.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Braves, 4-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Billy Williams won the game with a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Ernie Banks went 1-for-4. Hank Aaron went 3-for-4 with an RBI, although those 3 hits did not include a home run.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-5. Hamon Killebrew went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.

* A doubleheader was split at the 1st Busch Stadium (formerly the last Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. The Cincinnati Reds won the 1st game, 6-0. Bob Purkey pitched a 6-hit shutout. The St. Louis Cardinals won the 2nd game, 2-1. Bob Gibson went the distance for the win. Over the 2 games, Frank Robinson went 2-for-5 with 3 walks and an RBI, and Pete Rose went 0-for-8 with a walk.

* And the Baltimore Orioles beat the Los Angeles Angels, 2-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the Angels groundshared with the Dodgers until their stadium in suburban Anaheim could be built. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-3 with an RBI.