3 Consecutive Ties

I was going to post something like this last night at about 5:30 when the game ended in a tie again, but I was also curious as to whether or not this was a record.

According to today's (September 1, 2008) Nikkan Sports, this is the first time that a full "card" ended in 3 extra inning ties.

There was just one other case where a pair of teams ended in three consecutive ties. On May 28-30, 1976, Lotte and Nippon Ham tied three in a row, 0-0 in 11 innings, 2-2 in 9 innings, and 4-4 in 9 innings respecitvely. At the time, the time limit was 3 hours for entering extra innings, thus the pair of 9 inning ties. Furthermore, the third tie was the first game of a double header, so the full card was not filled in ties.

So, how long does it take to tie 3 games in a row? 13 hours and 32 minutes.

Seeing the game last night, it was frustrating to watch. Both the Hawks and Lions had chances, and neither could make anything happen. Kishi and Wada were both superhuman, Kishi threw 171 pitches over 9 innings, and Wada threw 145 in 10 innings, his 2nd straight NPB start where he threw 10 innings. Hopefully the Hawks don't make it a habit of needing him for that long.