On the 8th of July, a day-night doubleheader was scheduled between the Yankees and the Mets. Day-night doubleheaders aren't unusual as owners schedule them to get people to pay for 2 games of baseball in one day. A lot of the time it's done to make up a rainout. But this one was very unusual. In fact it was so unusual that nothing like this had happened since 1903. The unusual thing about this doubleheader was that the day game was played at Shea Stadium - home of the Mets - and the nightcap was at Yankee Stadium. Just like gravity, football and the Slinky, this was an accident. These games never would have come about without the help of Mother Nature. Flash back a few weeks ago to a Sunday night when the Mets were supposed to play the Yankees on ESPN at Yankee Stadium. It rained like crazy that night and the game eventually had to be called off. The problem was that this was the last game of an interleague series in the American League park and the Mets weren't scheduled to go play in Yankee Stadium again and it was unlikely that the teams could hook up on mutual off-days and play a make-up game. What to do? There is precedent for this sort of thing. Let's say the Reds were playing the Cubs in Cincinnati and the final game of the series was rained out. Add to that problem that the Cubs weren't coming back to Cincinnati for the rest of the season. However, the Reds would be going to Chicago for a series. What would happen is that they would play a game in Chicago with the Reds as the "home" team in addition to the regularly scheduled games with the Cubs as the home team. They could have done this with the Mets and the Yankees but I'm sure the Yankees wouldn't have cared to be the "home" team in Shea Stadium.
Then someone came up with the idea to play the day-night doubleheader at both stadiums. The idea was ingenious in its simplicity. Everyone I spoke to about it thought it was a great idea. People made an event out of the games. All the major sports networks had this as their lead story. Fox was going to carry the game at Shea with - of all people - Doc Gooden starting for the Yanks. Both teams were fighting for their respective divisional crowns. You heard stories about how folks could take that infamous #7 train to Queens and Shea then hop back on the subway and head for the Bronx and The Stadium. For this one day, stories about the Jets or Giants or the Nets and Knicks or the Islanders, Devils and Rangers, were on the back burner. This was New York City and baseball was once again king - even if for a day.
The games themselves lived up to the hype. It had the atmosphere of a college football rivalry or a World Series. The first game had the Doc coming back to where he initially broke in; everybody's favorite manager, Bobby Valentine was ejected for arguing an obstruction call; and the Yankees won a close game. Then it was on to Yankee Stadium where one of the best pitchers of this generation, Roger Clemens, added even more fuel to the fire. He brushed back Lenny Harris and Derrek Bell then hit Mike Piazza on the helmet. Later, Glendon Rusch, of the Mets, hit a Yankee batter on the leg but that didn't near settle the score as far as the Mets were concerned as they not only lost the services of Piazza but the game as well.
Everybody who follows sports was talking about this on Sunday. Did Clemens -despite his denials - mean to hit Piazza? What would happen Sunday night? Was Piazza seriously hurt and what would he say? Leaving those questions aside, the games made people pay attention to baseball - at least in New York. I know there are people who could care less about what happens in New York; and that's fine if they feel that way. But most baseball fans and the media - especially the media - do give a damn about what happens in New York. But could it happen elsewhere?
Not only could it happen elsewhere but it should. In fact it should be an annual event. Not just for New York but for other cities as well. The Dodgers and Angels, the Cubs and White Sox, and the A's and Giants all could schedule day-night doubleheaders in each other's park. It would be nice to see the Reds and Indians, Royals and Cardinals, Blue Jays and Expos (or Senators and Orioles), Marlins and Devil Rays, and the Astros and Rangers do the same thing but the distances between the cities would be too much for a day-night doubleheader. If the powers that be decide to schedule these games the most important thing they need to remember is when to schedule the games. It would be a mistake to schedule an Angels/Dodgers doubleheader on the same day as the Yankees/Mets doubleheader. One game would get more publicity than the other. If they schedule the doubleheaders on different days, the media's attention is focused on that one area for that day. This is something no other sport could offer. It's a marketing department's dream. Just think of the commemorative tickets and T-shirts and baseballs and cups that could be sold. It works for everyone. The fans will love it because it's something they can participate in. They could watch the day game at Wrigley Field, have a beer - or 10 - at the Cubby Bear Lounge; or have dinner somewhere then catch the El to Comiskey for the nightcap. The owners will love it because fans should fill the stands of each park and it's not like the owners are giving away an extra game for free. O.K., the players probably would hate it because of the travel inconvenience but it shouldn't be too big of a deal for them compared to having to wait in airports. Baseball shouldn't wait another 93 years for an opportunity like this to present itself.