World's Longest Baseball Game aims to raise $300K for cancer equipment, research

You may have been familiar with stagings of world's longest hockey games over the years at a Strathcona County property.

But there's another sport involved. Saiker's Acres is home to another such multi-day effort in support of cancer treatment and research: the World's Longest Baseball Game.

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Brent Saik has been organizing longest-game efforts since 2003, including seven hockey games and two baseball games, raising $7.8 million to help Edmonton's Cross Cancer Institute buy equipment and fund research.

Saiker's Acres is located about 11 kilometres east of Sherwood Park, on Range Road 220 south of Highway 630/Wye Road.

The goal this year: to play 100 consecutive hours of baseball starting Thursday through Labour Day Monday and raise $300,000.

By 11:30 a.m. Thursday, they'd raised $192,291.

Dr. Brock Debenham, head of radiation oncology at the Cross Cancer Institute, told CTV News Edmonton money raised from the game will be put toward buying a magnetic resonance simulator (MR-sim).

"We're so fortunate that Brent and his family have done so many events to support cancer care in Alberta, and it really allows us to bring all the new treatments that are available across the world to Edmonton and northern Alberta."

A magnetic resonance simulator, while similar to a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine, allows doctors to better pinpoint tumors and avoid healthy tissue, leading to better outcomes and fewer side effects for patients.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Brandon Lynch