Joseph Carl Oeschger was an all-around athlete who began his career in Ferndale and went on to professional baseball, where he distinguished himself as a major league pitcher for 12 years. On May 1, 1920, he set a record never equaled by pitching in the longest game ever played. He and the opposing pitcher each pitched a full 26 innings before the game was called because of darkness, with Oeschger of the Boston Braves and Leon Cadore of the Brooklyn Dodgers ending in a 1–1 tie.