JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Last night's marathon Game 3 of the World Series was epic. The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays played for almost seven hours for a record-tying 18 innings. The game ended in a dramatic home run for the Dodgers, and LA now leads the Series 2 games to 1. Steve Futterman reports.
STEVE FUTTERMAN: For the hardy souls who stuck it out at Dodger Stadium last night for all six hours and 39 minutes, this was their reward. Listen carefully. You can ever so slightly hear a crack of the bat.
(SOUNDBITE OF BAT STRIKING BALL)
UNIDENTIFIED SPORTS FAN #1: (Inaudible).
FUTTERMAN: As the ball soars to center field, the crowd gets louder. One man yells, come on, baby.
UNIDENTIFIED SPORTS FAN #2: (Shouting) Come on, baby. Come on. Come on, baby.
FUTTERMAN: Then elation as it sails over the fence.
(CHEERING)
FUTTERMAN: At Dodger Stadium, they immediately started playing the song "I Love LA," which they do after every Dodger win. This was the call on ESPN Radio.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED SPORTSCASTER: ...The wall at the track.
(CHEERING)
UNIDENTIFIED SPORTSCASTER: Gone. Freddie Freeman. A home run in the center field. Freeman walks it off in the 18th.
FUTTERMAN: The 18 innings equaled the longest World Series game ever. Ironically, the other one also took place here in 2018. As last night's game kept going and going and going, fans like Joe Delgato knew they were witnessing something special.
JOE DELGATO: No, I think I'm getting double my money. And it's in the World Series, so I have no complaints at all. Edge of my seat to where I'm kind of tired and I'm a little sore, but other than that, there's no complaints. I can't complain.
FUTTERMAN: He stayed the entire game, but as it went on and on, some fans gave up, like Wilbur Chu.
WILBUR CHU: Yes, we're leaving now.
FUTTERMAN: Why?
CHU: We're just - we got work tomorrow, and yeah, we got to get home, go to bed. I'm hoping they're winning. We're going to listen to them when we drive home, so...
UNIDENTIFIED SPORTS FAN #3: (Chanting) Let's go, Dodgers. (Clapping).
UNIDENTIFIED SPORTS FANS: (Chanting) Let's go, Dodgers. (Clapping).
FUTTERMAN: As the victory celebration continued, Ted Humphrey was taking it all in. He may have been unique among the 52,000 fans. He's only been to two World Series games - the two longest ever.
TED HUMPHREY: I've been to two World Series games at Dodger Stadium. They both went 18 innings.
FUTTERMAN: That's remarkable.
HUMPHREY: It's the only two I've ever been to.
FUTTERMAN: Beyond the length, this game set all sorts of records. The Dodgers' great Shohei Ohtani got on base nine times - two home runs, two doubles and five walks. It also featured the most players ever used in a Series game - 46 - including the most pitchers - 18 - and the most strikeouts - 34.
For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman at the World Series in Los Angeles.
(SOUNDBITE OF CIRCLES AROUND THE SUN'S "MONEY'S NO OPTION") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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