This 18-inning Astros-Braves marathon is worth a revisit

In its new series "Hidden Classics," MLB is digging into its archives and dusting off big games you might have forgotten about from your favorite stars of yesteryear. Stay tuned to MLB.com/HiddenClassics and MLB's YouTube channel for more Hidden Classic games.

If you’re a fan of a certain age, you probably remember the big details of the Astros’ 18-inning, six-hour marathon win over the Braves in Game 4 of the 2005 NLDS. It was MLB’s longest playoff game by innings (later tied three more times) and elapsed time (later surpassed by Giants-Nationals, 2014 NLDS Game 2). Chris Burke hit the walk-off homer in the bottom of the 18th.

But when’s the last time you really took in those 18 breezy frames? Do you remember everything? Like, say:

• Each team hitting a grand slam, the only time that’s happened within a single playoff game
• Astros manager Phil Garner choosing Brad Ausmus (80 career home runs) instead of Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell (449 homers) to pinch-hit with two outs in the bottom of the ninth … and Ausmus coming through with a game-tying dinger
• Houston’s Luke Scott missing the foul pole on a potential walk-off blast in the 10th by (maybe) six inches
• Roger Clemens making his second career relief appearance (21 years after his first), and also logging his only pinch-hit at-bat

Give a baseball game enough innings, and you know it will deliver some amazing coincidences and quirks. Did you know Tim Hudson started both this game for Atlanta, and the next 18-inning playoff game (that Giants-Nats NLDS showdown in ‘14)? Or that poor Adam LaRoche was on the losing club in each of those 18-frame affairs?

While the real 2005 game officially clocked in at 350 minutes, this week’s installment of “Hidden Classics” takes you from start to finish in under 20. Watch the full condensed game in the video player above, or on MLB’s YouTube channel.

And for previous editions of “Hidden Classics,” check out:

• Ken Griffey Jr. and the Mariners’ final game at Seattle’s Kingdome
• Albert Pujols’ 5-for-5, three-homer game at Wrigley Field
• A vintage Pedro Martinez-Roger Clemens pitchers’ duel at Yankee Stadium
• Kirby Puckett’s superhuman 6-for-6, 2-homer game (with a homer robbery on defense!)
• Barry Bonds’ upper-deck homer (and showdown with Mariano Rivera) in the Bronx
• The Phillies’ 10-run comeback against Tommy Lasorda’s Dodgers in 1990
• A 1999 Mets-Yankees showdown that set the stage for the ‘00 Subway Series