This sounds like a video game gone haywire: Leon Cadore and Joe Oeschger each pitched 26 innings on May 1, 1920, completing the longest game in major-league history, and tying them for the most innings pitched in a single game, a record that still holds - and may never be broken. The game was eventually called a tie due to darkness. Cadore, mixing “curves and slow stuff,” shut out Boston for the last 20 frames.

Leon Joseph Cadore was born in Chicago on November 20, 1891, the first of three children of the former Georgianna Jeannot and George Cadore. The family moved to Brooklyn when Leon was a baby, and his father worked as a telegraph operator on Wall Street. After Georgianna Cadore died young, her only son was sent to live with relatives in Idaho and Washington.

Cadore was a Brooklyn favorite who spent his childhood in the borough and earned respect for his combat service in World War I. Lieutenant Cadore was one of the white officers assigned to command a “colored” unit, the 369th Infantry Regiment. After landing in France, the regiment saw hard combat in the final weeks of the war.

The 369th, nicknamed “the Harlem Hellfighters,” captured a reported 1,000 German troops the day before the November 11 armistice ended the fighting. The French government awarded the unit the Croix de Guerre for its service in defense of the nation. The Hellfighters proved the racists wrong. In a letter home, Leon wrote, “Every man in my regiment fought with the courage of a lion.”

Cadore returned to Brooklyn in 1919 and joined the ranks of the National League’s elite pitchers. He finished in the top 10 in several categories. His adjusted ERA of 125 was the best of his career.

A popular teammate, “Caddy” entertained with card tricks and other sleight of hand while using those same skills on the mound. He was a roommate of Casey Stengel while with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and later on he provided the prop for one of Stengel’s most famous stunts.

Stengel, playing for Pittsburgh, butchered a fly ball and let in three Brooklyn runs. The Ebbets Field fans hooted at him, but it was all in fun; he had been a popular Dodger. Later in the game, Cadore, sitting in the Brooklyn bullpen, caught a tiny sparrow. He handed it over to Stengel, who stashed it under his cap. When he came to bat, with the crowd still razzing him, Casey tipped his cap and gave the fans the bird.

Overall, Cadore played a decade in the majors, primarily with the Brooklyn Robins, and won 68 games. He married Maie Ebbets, daughter of Brooklyn Dodgers owner Charles Ebbets.

(excerpted from SABR, BR Bullpen & Wikipedia)