NEW YORK -- This is Ernie Banks' dream, taken one step
further.
Banks loved doubleheaders because they meant he could play two
games in one day. Now, the Mets and Yankees are about to play two
in one day, but in two different New York ballparks.
With all parties agreeing Tuesday, a June rainout will become
part of a unique baseball bonanza for New York: A day game between
the Mets and Yankees at Shea Stadium on July 8, followed a few
hours later by a night game between the same teams, 10 miles away
at Yankee Stadium.
This is the ultimate day-night doubleheader, the solution to a
schedule squeeze created by a rainout last Sunday, the final game
of the season's first interleague series between the teams at
Yankee Stadium.
It would be the first time teams played two games at different
ballparks on the same day in 97 years, according to the Elias
Sports Bureau, baseball's statistician.
On Sept. 7, 1903, which was Labor Day, the New York Giants beat
the Brooklyn Superbas (the team's nickname eventually became the
Dodgers) 6-4 in the morning before 9,300 at Washington Park in
Brooklyn. In the afternoon, rookie Henry Schmidt's four-hitter led
Brooklyn to a 3-0 win before 23,623 at the Polo Grounds. That split
doubleheader was on the original NL schedule.
"I think it's fine," Yankees manager Joe Torre said before
Tuesday night's game against Boston. "It'll be different. It takes
you back to the old days when they relished doubleheaders. They
loved to rain out games so you could play a doubleheader on a
Sunday and get more people."
Yogi Berra, who managed both teams, appreciated that issue.
"They don't want to get cheated out of an attendance," he said.
Berra recalled playing day-night doubleheaders with the Yankees
three or four times in Boston.
"It's lousy, but sometimes you got to do it," he said. "You
hang around and play cards between games."
For the Yankees and Mets, the only game will be bridge -- as in
"Triborough." They will be doing a commuter dash from Queens to
the Bronx.
The teams have just one mutual day off, Aug. 31, for the rest of
the season. But playing in New York that day would be a problem for
the Yankees, who have a night game in Seattle on Aug. 30. A makeup
game that day also would give the Yankees a stretch of 41 straight
days on which they have games.
The alternative is to make up the game when the Yankees and Mets
play at Shea in July. That series begins with a night game, Friday,
July 7, followed by day games on Saturday and Sunday, July 8-9. The
proximity of the stadiums makes the unusual double dip possible.
Friday was ruled out because of traffic concerns. Traveling from
Queens to the Bronx over the Triborough Bridge on a Friday evening
in July is no picnic, even with a police escort. That left Saturday
or Sunday -- which is likely to be switched to a night game by ESPN.
The teams agreed on the Saturday doubleheader and the players'
association approved it.
"We think it's a great idea," said Gene Orza, associate
general counsel for the union after talking with player
representatives for both teams. "There are some potential
promotional aspects. If we can get players to take the subway,
maybe we can have some fun with it."
That would mean jumping on the No. 7 train, made famous by
reliever John Rocker, and then transferring at Grand Central for
the No. 4, a ride of about one hour. The police-escorted bus would
be quicker but less interesting.
"There is some inconvenience to the players," Orza said, "but
on balance, it's positive."
The plan is for a seven-hour gap between the first pitches, the
day game at Shea starting at 1:15 p.m., the night game at Yankee
Stadium starting at 8:15 p.m.. Extra innings could make this
arrangement an adventure.
"It is certainly unique," said Jeff Idelson, a spokesman for
the Cooperstown, N.Y. "We would treat it like a postseason game.
We would want at least the first pitch from each game."
Unique is not new for the Mets and Yankees.
On April 15, 1998, the teams had a day-night doubleheader at
Shea, but not against each other. Forced from their home when a
beam fell at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees moved to Shea for a day,
defeating the Anaheim Angels in an afternoon game.
The Mets then defeated the Chicago Cubs that night, the first
time in this century that four teams have played in the same
stadium on the same day.
Doubleheaders can be disruptive.
On May 30, 1922, Max Flack of the Chicago Cubs was traded to the
St. Louis Cardinals for Cliff Heathcote, between games of a
Memorial Day doubleheader. They simply walked from one clubhouse to
the other, changed uniforms, and played against their former teams
in the second game. Ostensibly, the signs had been changed.
Some players create their own personal twin bills.
Playing for the Mets in Chicago on Aug. 4, 1982, Joel Youngblood
drove in the winning run with a base hit and then was traded to
Montreal. He rushed to join his new team for its night game in
Philadelphia and delivered a hit for the Expos, becoming the first
player to get hits for two different teams in two cities on the
same day.
For that achievement, he ought to throw out the first pitch at
the Mets-Yankees doubleheader. | |
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