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The longest baseball game took 33 innings to win
- adam_patarino 1y agoImagine doing a beer an inning
- brudgers 1y agoIf you are doing that at a normal game, you've got a problem...it might be accepted behavior in your social circle, but you have problem.
- nkrisc 1y agoThat's quite a bit of alcohol to be drinking, but that alone does not make it a "problem". Ill-advised? Sure. But whether it's a "problem" depends on other factors - for example there's a big difference between drinking a can of <5% ABV beer and >9% ABV beer per inning. Drinking too much alcohol one time does not a problem make.
- verdverm 1y agoAnyone who can drink a beer per inning is not doing it as a one time thing. If you drink infrequently, you won't be capable of doing this and remaining in a capacity becoming of public places with children around
- CivBase 1y agoTo be fair, OP didn't say anything about being at the game. Could be at home. 9x 4% 12.5oz beers in 3 hours is quite a lot, but it's definitely something that could be accomplished without the person necessarily having a problem. I know plenty of people who are not alcoholics but have stories of one-off nights like that with friends. Definitely don't do this in a public, child-friendly venu though. That would be grossly irresponsible.
- smcl 1y agoA lot of HNers are quite puritanical about alcohol and think it cannot ever be enjoyed responsibly, and that anyone who has ever overdone it a bit has a serious problem. As you and others have said, this is maybe a bit much to have over 3 hours, but doesn't necessarily mean anything on its own. This is roughly six 500ml beers (plus one half), at a rate of one beer every 30 minutes. The bigger issue would be fetching the beer and going to the toilet - you'd be up and down constantly.
- ofalkaed 1y agoYou assume the game goes at a decent speed and finishes. Such games tend to end once people are too drunk to play.
- brudgers 1y agoCompetitive drinking is a sport worthy of early retirement.
- gwbas1c 1y ago"drinking a can of <5% ABV beer ... per inning" is binge drinking: From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binge_drinking#Definitions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binge_drinking#Definitions > the term has been described in academic research to mean consuming five or more standard drinks (male), or four or more drinks (female),[12] over a two-hour period. > Drinking too much alcohol one time does not a problem make When I was in college, a lot of people would define alcoholism in their heads so that they didn't call themselves alcoholics, when in fact they were exhibiting textbook alcoholism. (Not that I have a perfect past myself.) Needless to say, "a beer an inning" isn't the kind of behavior that I will publicly glorify; nor will I try to handwave it away as "not a problem."
- arolihas 1y ago5 drinks in 2 hours once in a blue moon isn't that bad. It's not a problem.
- CivBase 1y agoA single session of binge drinking does not an alcoholic make. An "alcoholic" is defined by their regular abuse of alcohol, not a single instance of binge drinking. Binge drinking can obviously be a symptom of alcoholism, but IMO it's not appropriate to declare people you don't know are alcoholics based on a comment about an theoretical instance of binge drinking.
- brudgers 1y agoA baseball season has a minimum of 162 games. Even if you play one-beer-per-inning only 1 in 20 games (5% of the time) and only when watching your team, that’s more than once a month for the six month regular season. Alcohol causes problems besides alcoholism.
- CivBase 1y agoWho said anything about doing this for an entire season? Of course that would be stupid.
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- brudgers 1y agoA one time nine beers game would not normally be constructed as “one beer per inning.” Because one-beer-per-inning is a drinking game that involves an intent to drink nine beers…and because beer sales typically cut off at the seventh inning, one -beer-per-inning requires buying multiple beers at a time, so it is unlikely to happen accidentally. But to be clear, if you’re young nine beers probably won’t kill you (particularly if you train) and can youthful folly. But at 47 or 55 or 60 it is another story…not one that is usually a happy story.
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- ksherlock 1y agoThat's the 9-9-9 challenge - 9 innings, 9 beers, 9 hotdogs.
- bluedino 1y ago9 beers is a lot but it's not THAT many. - a drunk
- simpaticoder 1y agoIt's a lot, but not egregiously so especially when you consider it's spread over 3 hours. That's 3 beers an hour for 3 hours...if you're big (like over 200lb) you're going to be drunk but certainly upright. If you're smaller, well, results may vary.
- 3eb7988a1663 1y agoMaybe it is my Wisconsin upbringing, but three beers an hour is not even a notable level of intake. Moving at a good clip, sure, but in no way a record setting kind of ordeal. There are Power Hours which is a shot of beer every minute. Depending on the cleanliness of the pour, available glasses, you are looking at 5-7 beers in an hour.
- arolihas 1y agoA lot of teetotalers here
- freedomben 1y agoIndeed. And even among those who do drink, many don't seem to understand very well how widely variable tolerance can be between people. Even someone who only drinks occassionally can still have a much higher tolerance than someone else. Where two drinks might make somebody tipsy or even drunk, to another person they might barely even feel it.
- grahar64 1y agoThe longest test cricket match lasted 11days and was called off because one team had to catch a boat home
- kryptiskt 1y agoIsner-Mahut in 2010 Wimbledon took 11 hours over 3 days and ended 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68. It can't be repeated since they introduced tie breaks in the fifth set as a direct result of the travesty.
- stevage 1y agoWhat was the story? They're obviously limited to 5 days these days...
- Ashendar 1y agoBasically up to World War II all cricket tests were timeless. So basically the game would go until one team dismissed the other twice while scoring more runs. The match mentioned here refers to the Timeless Test played between England and South Africa in the latter in 1939. It seems a combination rainfall and rolling the pitch (i.e. playing surface) rejuvenated the pitch, making it relatively easy to bat on. Combined with some patient batting, this enabled the teams to run up some large scores. Typically the pitch starts to deteriorate after several days play, making it more difficult to bat on.
- cbm-vic-20 1y agoThe stadium where this game was played was recently torn down, as the team ownership and city could not come to an agreement regarding tax incentives, and the team moved away.
- jaskerr 1y agoIt was dumber than that. Governor Raimondo worked out a loan with the Fenway group that bought the franchise that would keep the team in Pawtucket. The speaker of the House wouldn’t let the bill come to a vote, so the deal died. (I don’t remember his name; I do remember he was from West Warwick.)
- more_corn 1y agoAfter 33 innings can we really say that anyone really won?
- supportengineer 1y agoThe advertisers won.
- fred_is_fred 1y agoDid you read the article? It was a AAA baseball game in 1981 with about 20 people left in the stands by the end.
- gwbas1c 1y agoWhen I used to go to McCoy stadium in the 1990s, their were signs all over the stadium commemorating the game. They even had the score printed on cups.
- tclancy 1y agoHung onto one of those cups for a decade or so. No idea where I got it as I was not at that game.
- jaskerr 1y agoI still have a couple of those commemorative cups. They live in the cupboard, used only occasionally.
- geoffharcourt 1y agoThe scoreboard running all the way around the circumference of the cup was awesome. My dad worked in RI for a few years as a kid and we went to a bunch of games at McCoy. I didn't realize until I was older how many long-time big leaguers appeared in that game!
- bhickey 1y agoI remember that. Wasn't the scoreboard painted on the main ramp leading up to the stands? This is 30+ years ago so my memory is hazy.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- xupybd 1y agoA test cricket match can last for up to five days and is the longest format of the game, with each team having two innings. Each day consists of about 90 overs and typically lasts for 6-7 hours, including lunch and tea breaks.
- chupchap 1y agoAnd then it can still end in a draw
- fsckboy 1y agoi'm no expert on cricket, but an ordinary game is "1 baseball inning" with one team running through its "batters" (i don't know cricket terminology except googly) and then the other team running through its batters. it would be useful to know how long such I game usually lasts—I have attended onesuch, and they did break for tea but it did draw to a close in one afternoon—and what differences there are with this longer format of which you speak. is it just the additional inning that makes for such an extended weeklong outing?
- ahmedfromtunis 1y agoNo matter how many videos or articles I've read, I still can't wrap my head around the rules of baseball. Is there any guide for us non-americans to help us gain enough grasp on the rules to, at least, understand the dynamics of the game? Learning the basic of (american) football was much easier. I'm not writing any treaties any time soon, but at least I can follow the games and enjoy the "craftsmanship" of the players.
- ta1243 1y agoThe rules aren't important. What's important is, it's linear. Every time I throw this ball, a hundred different things can happen in a game. He might swing and miss, he might hit it. The point is, you never know. You try to anticipate, set a strategy for all the possibilities as best you can, but in the end it comes down to throwing one pitch after another and seeing what happens. With each new consequence, the game begins to take shape.
- whartung 1y agoThere's a lot of truth here. As they say "In baseball, anything can happen, but often doesn't". Oh boy, is that true. Also, baseball is the most random of the major sports in the US. Consider the playoffs, statistically, any team getting into the playoffs has an equal chance of winning the World Series. It's just that dynamic. The other interesting consideration about baseball is that when the ball is out of control, is when the scoring happens. This is in contrast to most every other sport where control of the ball is necessary to score. If the ball is there bouncing around in the outfield, and runners are on base, guess what's happening. It's also why single players do not dominate that game. The random nature, and all they can do is get the ball in play. After that, good luck predicting it. I love the game. I love the anticipation of the pitch, how the infield basically freezes and gets ready. My heart skips whenever the ball is hit well. Single? Double? Home run? GRAND SLAM!? Oh, nope, foul. Next pitch! Play ball!
- rkomorn 1y agoThere's also a lot of depth to the strategy of the game. Handedness, pitcher/batter tendencies, etc. I'll never be convinced moving the NL to the DH was the right move for people who actually liked the sport.
- post_break 1y ago10cent beer night is up there with this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxTtzLUteDA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxTtzLUteDA
- elteto 1y agoPlease, no one tell Peter Thiel about the 33 innings. He might claim the umpire is the Antichrist.
- dangus 1y agoYou might want to take an HN break if he’s living this deep in your head.
- sylens 1y agoThere is a great book about this called “Bottom of the 33rd” that really goes into the stories of every person involved in that game to the point where it seems like a nexus event for more than half of baseball
- christophilus 1y agoI find 1 inning is more than my attention span can handle.
- stevage 1y agoI wonder about all the staff, and whether they got paid for all the overtime.
- dangus 1y agoIt’s AAA ball in 1981, so I’m gonna guess no.
- LorenDB 1y agoAnd we've hugged it. https://web.archive.org/web/20251020203233/https://www.mlb.com/news/the-longest-professional-baseball-game-ever-played https://web.archive.org/web/20251020203233/https://www.mlb.c...
- VoidWhisperer 1y agoI can load it fine, and it loads quickly.. I'd be very surprised if HN could hug the mlb website to death, considering it probably sees significantly more traffic than we'd end up causing them, especially with an ALCS game going on right now
- BobbyTables2 1y agoA 33 inning baseball game seems like the stuff from which nightmares are made. Must be even worse for the players…
- jacobo37 1y agoseems like it took 33 innings to lose too ...
- bahmboo 1y ago33 innings to lose
- 1659447091 1y agoHow fitting that Cal Ripken Jr. was a part of this game and played every inning. The Iron Man played 2,632 consecutive games breaking Lou Gehrig's "unbreakable" streak of 2,130