Sunday marked the 40th anniversary of the longest game in professional baseball history.

It all happened between the International League's Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox (now the Worcester Red Sox) back on April 18, 1981 at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket.

The game lasted a record 33 innings and took more than eight hours to complete over two different days. 

On day one, the matchup was stopped at 4:09 a.m. on April 19 by then-International League President Harold Cooper after 32 innings and a 2-2 tie. 

The two teams met back up on June 23 to complete the game, and it only took 18 minutes to finally end the contest. The Red Sox came away with the 3 to 2 win after a bases-loaded single by Dave Koza. About 5,800 fans came out to see the end of the resumed game, as the contest had attracted national attention. 

At the time the Red Wings were the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, while the PawSox were the top farm team for the Boston Red Sox.

The losing pitcher, Steve Grilli, wasn't even with Pawtucket, or in the Red Sox system at all, when the game began in April. 

Two future Baseball Hall of Famers took part in the game, Cal Ripken, Jr. for Rochester and Wade Boggs for the Red Sox. A number of artifacts from the game also made their way to Cooperstown, including Koza's bat, the game-winning ball, the lineup cards and a scorecard.