On July 2nd, 1963, at 12:31 A.M. in San Francisco, Willie Mays homered off Warren Spahn in the bottom of the 16th inning to give Juan Marichal a 1-0 victory in the National League’s longest game ended by a home run

In 1963, my family lived in Santa Cruz, California. On the night of July 2nd when the Giants were playing the Braves, I was just three years old and no doubt asleep in my bed in the apartment building where we lived then (pictured above).

But today I am wondering if my mother and father may have stayed up to listen to this game. I think there is a good chance they listened to the beginning of the game at least.

Both my parents were big sports fans. One of the many things I inherited from them, like my once-red hair and my stubbornness. Both of my parents are gone now (my mother 43 years ago, my father 5 years ago), so I cannot ask if they might remember this game.

In a season with 162 games, only a few regular season games stand out in the memory of the average baseball fan. Might this have been one of those games for one of my parents? As Giants fans they, of course, loved Mays and Marichal after all.

I suspect most of those who played in this game 62 years ago now are now long gone, like my parents. Like most of those who were in the stadium that night and most of those listening to the game on the radio at home or in a bar or in their cars going somewhere.

But here I am this morning. Still here, thinking about a game I no doubt slept through and wishing I could… go back in time to relive it all with my parents.