An opening day game between two teams who haven’t seen the playoffs in recent history doesn’t often make the record book. But April 5th 2012 was different for the Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland.
With blustery winds off Lake Erie freezing Cleveland’s home fans, this game went on for 16 innings. That’s over 5 hours of baseball. That’s the longest opening day in baseball history.
Now, it might seem like a very long baseball game would be dull, especially after I tell you that it was tied for 7 innings, but this game wasn’t devoid of excitement.
With blustery winds off Lake Erie freezing Cleveland’s home fans, this game went on for 16 innings. That’s over 5 hours of baseball. That’s the longest opening day in baseball history.
Now, it might seem like a very long baseball game would be dull, especially after I tell you that it was tied for 7 innings, but this game wasn’t devoid of excitement.
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00:00It's opening day April 5th, 2012. We're at Progressive Field where Cleveland and Toronto are tied at four in the
00:0716th inning.
00:09Upon entering the 16th inning, this became the longest opening day in history, and it's not over yet.
00:15Opening day holds hope for every team in the league, and these two clubs have a lot of reasons to hope for better times ahead,
00:22and they would like those better times to begin now.
00:26Or, I don't know, maybe two hours ago would have been fine, too.
00:30Look, we all like baseball here,
00:32but it's cold,
00:33nobody expected to have to eat dinner at the ballpark when the game started at three, and it's been tied for seven innings,
00:38so some of the fans you've seen here tonight might want to ask,
00:42why won't this game end?
00:45Especially this guy. He looks really cold. To properly answer that question, they have to rewind.
00:51This episode of Rewinder is presented by T-Mobile. Get free MLB TV with T-Mobile. Redeem today at T-Mobile.com
00:59slash MLB.
01:01This was a sellout crowd so excited they tailgated in the parking lot before the game.
01:06Had more of a football kind of an atmosphere.
01:09But it's been five hours at this point, and as you can see, just the diehards remain.
01:15This game's already lasted an hour longer than the game with the most innings ever.
01:21In 1920, the Boston Braves and the Brooklyn Robins, or Dodgers, got through 26 innings
01:27in just under four hours. Fewer commercials in 1920. Just the one for Miracle Tonic, I think.
01:35I mean, tonight's game could overtake the record for longest game by innings. We'd just need 11 more.
01:41Which, if we take the average inning time thus far,
01:45carry the two,
01:47would take approximately another three hours.
01:51But even if the game does not go another three hours,
01:53it's already in the record book as the longest opening day. There have been a couple 15-inning openers in baseball history.
02:01A marvelous one in 1926 between Washington and Philadelphia.
02:05I think back then people really wanted the games to go as long as possible because what else are they going to do for fun?
02:12Read?
02:13Make butter?
02:14Cough into a rag?
02:17The other 15-inning opener was played in Cleveland, just like tonight.
02:21That one was in 1960, so it's possible that someone who attended that record-tying game
02:28is also at this record-breaking game. Any 72-year-olds around here?
02:34Maybe this guy?
02:36No, hey, there's a Toronto fan.
02:38And I understand why he's still here. This could very well be the year Toronto turns things around,
02:44and he's got a chance to say he was there when it all started.
02:48The Blue Jays won the World Series in 1993. Hooray!
02:52Since then,
02:53things have not been as celebratory.
02:57That's an 18-year playoff drought.
02:59They've missed the playoffs for the amount of time it takes a baby to become a man.
03:04Their drought is the legal drinking age in Canada.
03:08For a decade, Toronto has been almost exactly 500,
03:12which is just kind of good enough to keep hope alive.
03:16You can't write them off, but you can't uncork champagne either.
03:20In the past four years, they've finished fourth in the AL East.
03:23And you might think, oh, actually, I can write them off then.
03:27But look,
03:29two of these are winning seasons.
03:31These aren't really bottom-of-the-division numbers,
03:35unless you're in the most dominant division in baseball, which, unfortunately, our feathered friends are.
03:41The Jays have more wins than any other team that hasn't seen the playoffs in more than a decade,
03:47which I don't think makes them feel any better.
03:50For a long time on the Blue Jays, the attitude was simply,
03:53third place was the best you could do.
03:56The Red Sox and the Yankees were just unbeatable.
03:59But in 2009, Alex Anthopoulos became GM,
04:02and he loaded up on young players full of hope and enthusiasm.
04:07And the attitude shifted.
04:08Also probably helped that those young guys were added to build around Jose Bautista,
04:13a breakout star and the two-time reigning home run leader.
04:17When he did it in 2010, detractors said it was a fluke.
04:20When he did it again in 2011, detractors got real quiet all of a sudden.
04:26Now, last season wasn't all Bautista celebrations and upbeat attitudes.
04:30There were reasons Toronto lost half their games.
04:34Pitching was a little ugly.
04:36Pitching was a little ugly.
04:38As was their defense.
04:41The guy protecting Bautista, Adam Lind, faded in the second half of the season.
04:45And the less protection, more pressure combo messed up Joey Batts.
04:50But all that stuff is easy to ignore when assessing this year's prospects,
04:53because one, Toronto wants to.
04:56Two, Anthopoulos made moves to remedy pitching and defensive ills.
05:01Three, Lind said he was in better shape.
05:03And four, the league added another wildcard spot.
05:07So yeah, 2012 might just be the year the Jays bust up their drought.
05:12This team does not plan to top out at third place.
05:15Veteran Omar Vizquel likened the Jays' new attitude to that of the 2010 World Series runner-up Rangers.
05:23And look what happened in spring training.
05:26That's the best record in spring ball.
05:28Playoffs here we come.
05:30So no, this guy isn't going home before the end.
05:33He wants to tell his grandchildren he was there the moment the great turnaround began.
05:38But all these Cleveland fans want to tell their grandchildren that too.
05:43Just about their team.
05:47In 2007, the Seas took the Red Sox to Game 7 in the ALCS.
05:52Since then, things have been less good.
05:56Before I throw up last year's record, I want to talk about it a bit.
06:00Nobody expected anything from Cleveland in 2011.
06:03Why would they?
06:04But the ball club started 30-15.
06:09They led their division for 95 days.
06:12And they did it with dramatic flair.
06:15Their greatest strength was the bullpen.
06:17Dubbed the bullpen mafia, they killed with ruthless precision.
06:21A bullpen good enough to inspire t-shirts was just what you needed.
06:25When it takes your offense a while to get going.
06:29But the good times didn't last.
06:31Injuries decimated the franchise.
06:33They used the DL 22 times.
06:35Only 10 players from the 2011 opening day roster stayed healthy the whole season.
06:41And they had offensive problems.
06:43Sure, sometimes the offense got going late in games.
06:46But sometimes it just never got going.
06:50They finished 15 games behind the Tigers.
06:53Very disappointing.
06:55Although, you can't help but wonder, what could they do if they were healthy?
07:012012 was playoffs or bust.
07:04And the way opening day started, it sure looked like everything was going to plan.
07:10They scored four runs in the bottom of the second.
07:12Justin Masterson left the game after the eighth with the Seas up 4-1.
07:16He threw 10 strikeouts, allowing just two hits.
07:19And the one run, which was a Batista-Homer.
07:21So forgive him.
07:23Then, closer Chris Perez of the Bullpen Mafia came on in.
07:27And instead of firing the gun and committing quick, clean murder,
07:32he bobbled it and shot his team in the leg.
07:37And we've been tied at 4-4 ever since.
07:40Not that this game has been devoid of excitement.
07:42The home team got extremely close to ending this three times.
07:46Our potential heroes tonight were Casey Kochman, Jason Kipnis,
07:51and Azdrubal Cabrera.
07:53Let's start with Kochman.
07:54This game could have ended in the ninth.
07:56Imagine.
07:57Cleveland had a runner on third and just won out.
08:00Casey Kochman had a chance to bring home the W.
08:03Which would have been a nice little underdog story.
08:05The first baseman is new to the franchise this year.
08:08Last year he was with the Rays and he actually wasn't on the roster for opening day.
08:13He did eventually get called up and, surprisingly, had a career year.
08:17Cleveland signed him in February after considering other, more desirable, players.
08:22Kochman's not bad.
08:24He has a very good glove.
08:25But Cleveland needed offense.
08:27And even in his career year, Kochman was not a power hitter.
08:31He could, however, get on base.
08:33And maybe even bring a guy in from third.
08:40Kochman is not our hero.
08:43Okay, two outs.
08:44The Seas still had a chance to end this in the ninth with their next batter.
08:48Jason Kipnis.
08:49Called up in late July last season,
08:51he smashed 7 homers and brought in 19 runs in just 36 games.
08:56All despite having a warmup routine a trainer called ballistic.
09:01And tonight the young power hitterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
09:04stranded the runner on third.
09:06Okay, but.
09:08Bottom of the 12th, Cleveland had another chance to end it.
09:10Bases were loaded and potential hero number three
09:14as Druble Cabrera was at the plate.
09:17This was very promising.
09:19Last season, Cabrera gave the Cleve a reason to believe.
09:23As a big hitter and as a leader,
09:25he was largely responsible for their surprise early run.
09:28Now, Cabrera didn't start out as a star.
09:31Before 2011, he had just 18 home runs
09:34in slightly more than three years in the bigs.
09:37But then, during last year's spring training,
09:39veteran teammate Orlando Cabrera, no relation,
09:43saw as Druble hitting homer after homer
09:45and asked him why he doesn't do that in games.
09:49The younger Cabrera said he was only concerned
09:51about batting average and on-base percentage.
09:54Swinging hard would mess that all up.
09:56And Orlando was like, you should hit homers in games.
10:01Orlando was right.
10:03As Druble did get worn down as the season progressed,
10:06but that's not an issue tonight.
10:08This is game one.
10:09He couldn't be fresher.
10:11But Toronto got a little fancy.
10:14They brought in 44-year-old Vizquel off the bench
10:17as a fifth infielder.
10:19Flustered, Cabrera swung on the first pitch
10:22into a double play.
10:26And everyone you see here had to text home,
10:29nevermind, not leaving yet, could you take the dog out?
10:32And now, JP Aaron Sebia, part of the Blue Jays'
10:35youth movement, has a chance to be the hero.
10:38For Toronto.
10:40For Cleveland, he has a chance to be the villain
10:42who makes all these people regret their decision to stay.
10:45With two runners on, can JP Aaron Sebia end this game?
10:50Maybe.
10:50In 2010, he hit 32 dingers in the minors,
10:53which impressed the Jays so much,
10:55they traded away competent catcher Mike Napoli
10:58and gave JP the starting job the following season.
11:01In his very first big league pitch,
11:03Aaron Sebia hit a homer.
11:06He had another homer and two more hits that game too.
11:09So, very nice day for him.
11:12The 2011 season wasn't bad for the catcher either.
11:15But before we head for the exits,
11:17let's remember that he wasn't the most consistent last year.
11:21And also, he doesn't have a hit tonight.
11:24It's hard to predict what Aaron Sebia can do right now.
11:27Sometimes he smashes, sometimes he whiffs.
11:31But opening day is all about optimism.
11:33And this young man has the potential
11:35to rise to the occasion,
11:36to be the guy to kick off his team's historic turnaround,
11:40to throw question marks and cold water
11:42on another team's potential historic turnaround,
11:45and to send these cold, tired fans home
11:47to their warm beds and comfy pillows
11:50and their office reruns or sleep aid of choice.
11:53Welcome to a moment in history.
11:58Long drive, deep left.
12:01And that is gone.