Andrew Koo wrote an article for BP today about position players pitching in extra innings. He noted that 2013 marks the sixth straight year in which this has happened, and chalks it up to increasing reliever specialization: if all your relievers are used to going no more than 2 innings per outing, you're much more likely to run out of pitchers in an 18-inning game. I would add the diminishing run environment -- less offense means that tie games last longer.
But that's not what I'm here to write about. I'm here to write about Jose Oquendo.
On May 14, 1988, Oquendo threw four innings against the Atlanta Braves and picked up the loss in a 7-5, 19-inning affair. Absent any evidence to the contrary, I'm going to claim that Oquendo owns the record for most innings pitched in a single outing by a position player. Let's go through the box score for this and dive into the blissful craziness that was the end of this game.
