Minor Leagues
Ojeda attended Redwood High School and College of the Sequoias in Visalia, California. Upon graduation, he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Boston Red Sox in 1978.
Though his first professional season with the New York-Penn League's Elmira Pioneers went poorly (1-6 with a 4.81 ERA), in 1979, as a starting pitcher for the Winter Haven Red Sox of the Florida State League, Ojeda went 15-7 in 29 games started earning a promotion to the triple A Pawtucket Red Sox for 1980. With a good earned run average, Ojeda was called up to the majors in July 1980. He made his major league debut on July 13 at Fenway Park against the Detroit Tigers, and was winning 4-1 until the sixth inning when the Tigers scored three runs to tie the score, and knock Ojeda out of the game. The Red sox eventually won 8-4.
Ojeda's first victory was on August 2 against the Texas Rangers. Ojeda gave up no runs with four strikeouts over six innings. Two starts later, on August 11, he was removed from the game after having faced only three batters without getting an out, and was sent back to Pawtucket.
On June 23, 1981, Ojeda was the winning pitcher in the longest professional baseball game in history. The game between Pawtucket and the Rochester Red Wings started on April 18 but was suspended after 32 innings. Ojeda started the 33rd when play was resumed two months later and got credit for the win when Pawtucket won in the bottom of the inning after eighteen minutes. The first 32 innings had taken over eight hours.
Read more about this topic: Bob Ojeda
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