Previous Story
‘Longest game ever’
|
Posted on Dec 31 2008
The finals series in the 2008 Budweiser Saipan Major League between the Ford Rangers and Rock Steady made it into the record books as the most stretched title series since the league was established in 1982.
No thanks to the rolling power outages and Mother Nature that tested the finalists’ patience.
The best-of-five championship showdown took about three weeks to conclude with Rock Steady outlasting the Ford Rangers, 3-2.
Game 1 was set for Aug. 9, but it rained the night before the series opener making the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield unplayable.
The Ford Rangers and Rock Steady waited for two more days before Game 1 was played. The Ford Rangers handed the then undefeated Rock Steady its first loss of the season with a 15-10 win in Game 1.
On Aug. 13, Rock Steady was leading the Rangers, 10-3, at the top of the seventh inning of Game 2 when the lights went off.
The Rangers and Rock Steady went to the “Tan Ko” field the next night, but were not able to play due to the power outage, anew. When Game 2 resumed on Aug. 15, the Rangers did not have enough players allowing Rock Steady to win and tie the series.
Game 3 was played on Aug. 18, but was halted at the top of the ninth due to the power outage with the game tied at 6-all. The match continued on Aug. 19 with the Rangers escaping with a 9-6 win in extra inning to move a win away from clinching the title.
Rock Steady swept the last two games, which were also stretched out, to complete a come-from-behind title win.
Game 4 was played a few minutes after Game 3 finished.
Rock Steady was leading, 8-3, at the top of the seventh inning when darkness filled the ballfield, forcing the cancellation of the game for the nth time.
The continuation of Game 4 was set for Aug. 22, but was cancelled anew due to a soggy field.
On Aug. 25, Rock Steady claimed Game 4 with an 8-4 victory, to tie the series. Game 5 was scheduled on the same night, but the power went off around 8pm with the Rangers leading, 2-1, at the top of the third inning.
Finally, on Aug. 29, the title series ended with Rock Steady winning the deciding Game 5, 5-3.
