Record broken at world's longest baseball game near Edmonton

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The world’s longest game of baseball was played over the weekend east of Sherwood Park.

Brent Saik is no stranger to a long game. Whether it’s more than 250 hours of playing hockey or more than 100 hours of playing baseball, the length of the game is more important than the score. After seven longest hockey games and two longest baseball games, on Monday afternoon the group was closing in on the third annual baseball game, coming in at just over 101 hours.

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“You’re forcing your legs and your body to move, but you’re really excited,” said Saik.

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For several years, Saik has hosted the World’s Longest Hockey Games in the winter and the World’s Longest Baseball Games in the summer at Saiker’s Acres, east of the city. The games are fundraisers that have brought in a collective nearly $8 million for cancer research, treatments and cures.

“It’s amazing. I’m just hoping that it keeps going,” said Saik.

This year’s baseball game was no different. With a fundraising goal of $300,000, the group had raised a little more than $250,000 by 10:30 a.m. Monday when the tally was last updated.

Fundraising for cancer is a cause close to Saik’s heart, beginning with his dad.

Saik’s dad died of cancer in 1994, which was when Saik first encountered the Cross Cancer Institute. His dad insisted that Saik continue the family legacy of community support, prompting him to start a golf tournament fundraiser that brought in $35,000 in 1996. In 2003, Saik hosted the longest hockey game but sadly his wife, Susan, died of cancer shortly after the first hockey game.

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He continued hosting the hockey games and raising money, which in turn led to the longest baseball games. He said that he knew his late wife and dad were watching.

“They’ve watched hockey games, and now they get to watch a ball game,” said Saik.

Many of Saik’s friends and family have grown up around the games and he is appreciative of their support to continue to make them bigger and better every year. A favourite moment from this year’s event, he said, was catching up with a cousin who helped out as an umpire.

“He was just a baby when all this started, but I got to spend some time with him. I haven’t seen him in a while and just seeing family I haven’t seen in a while, coming to visit, it’s been awesome,” said Saik.

Shortly after 2 p.m. Monday, the game was in its 369th inning, with the Cure team leading the Hope team with a score of 745-616. As member of the Hope squad, Saik said he hadn’t lost his belief that the team could still pull out a win.

“We’re not gonna lose, we’re just going to run out of time. That’s what I keep telling them. (I) never lost a game, I just ran out of time,” said Saik with a laugh.

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Saik invited anyone still looking to donate to head to the game’s website. The game was set to break the record at 4 p.m., but in true fundraising spirit planned to extend by a couple of hours to 6 p.m. before tucking the bats away for another year.

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