[AZTarHeel]

The Dodgers-Giants game of Sept. 9, 1999 didn't go 25 innings but it was close enough. Zarzour was asked to get loosened up when things reached the 14th inning.

Amazingly, it was 5-5 after five innings, then neither team could scratch a run across in the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th or 13th frames. Los Angeles had burned six pitchers (Chan Ho Park, Brad Clontz, Dennys Reyes, Frank Lankford, closer Scott Radkinsky and Mark Guthrie) and was getting ready to trot out the seventh, Scott Sauerbeck in the top of the 14th.

The long game gave Zarzour a chance to get acquainted with his new bullpen mates. It was an intriguing scenario for sure. On the one hand, everyone was curious about this 7-foot-2 newcomer, who had chosen baseball over hoops. But some of the guys also viewed this hard-throwing teen-ager as a threat. They had families to take care and mouths to feed at home. They didn't need some kid half their age to steal their jobs.

Zarzour had a good long conversation with Darren Dreifort, the Dodgers' No. 1 starter. He was the perfect mentor, trying to show the young Zarzour everything he could as the game went along. There was lots of small, but important, stuff the young pitcher had to learn for sure. Zarzour wished he could have brought a notepad into the dugout with him. There was lots of stuff he wanted to remember about all the batters he was watching, and the nuiances of the ballpark itself.

Zarzour also didn't know how much to cheer. In high school ball, chatter was encouraged, and he loved to stand at the steps and buzz during a game. Do pro players do that kind of stuff? He just followed others' lead in this department and tried to be encouraging to everyone he encountered wearing Dodger blue.

Finally, a team blinked in the 14th. Sauerbeck retired the Giants quickly, giving up a two-out single to Eric Chavez but nothing else. Then with two outs in the bottom of the 14th, the Dodgers finally put things away. Steve Finley poked a single to centerfield. Then Todd Zeile, being used only as a pinch hitter while he recovers from a nagging hand injury, swiped a base-hit down the first-base line. Finley raced to third.

Eric Young was walked, then Edgar Renteria, who was finding his stride as a Dodger after getting traded a few months ago from Florida, won the game with a base hit to right. Finley came home, and the fans roared their approval. Everyone sprinted out of the dugout to greet Finley at home. Zarzour joined them, wanting to jump right on top of the pile but staying behind the throng of teammates.

Game time: 5 hours and 19 minutes, on Baseball Cap Day at Dodger Stadium. Already, Zarzour had a Major League memory to last a lifetime...