Doubleheaders
I love doubleheaders! I have such fond memories of going to Crosley Field with my Dad and watching in his words, “two games for the price of one”. One time around Father’s Day we saw Giants’ pitchers Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry face off against the Reds’ Jim Maloney and Sammy Ellis in two terrific games. As I got older, my buddies and I would enjoy many Friday nights at Riverfront Stadium taking in “twi-night doubleheaders”, where the first game would start around 5:00 p.m. and the second would end late in the evening. Ernie Banks, Mr. Cub, said it so aptly, “Let’s Play Two!”
There are many types of doubleheaders in MLB history – the “classic” back to back games with the first one starting in early afternoon; the “twi-nighters”; the “seven inning” doubleheader games (2020 and 2021) in response to the pandemic; and the modern day “day/night” doubleheaders where owners can get two gate revenues in one day. We’ve also seen a handful of “home and home” doubleheaders where the Yankees and Mets on three occasions have played in each other’s park on the same day due to rainouts earlier in the season. Crazily, three tripleheaders are recorded in MLB history, all in the early years (1890, 1896, and 1920) and long before the players’ union was formed. The White Sox played the most doubleheaders in a season – 44 of them in 1943. The 1962 Mets would just as soon forget the doubleheader concept; that year they played 30 doubleheaders and were swept in 17 and split 10 of them.
For many years, MLB placed numerous, classic doubleheaders on teams’ schedules. At the peak of doubleheader play, in 1959, about a quarter of games played were part of a doubleheader. In 1979, that declined to around 10% of games, but still a sizable number. Over the last forty years, scheduled doubleheaders have become almost extinct. Play on the field is one reason, as starting pitchers are no longer on a four-day rotation, but rather, five. Much more significantly is the revenue impact. Team management cannot justify one gate and two games. Playing 81 home games means 81 times the turnstiles should be clicking.
As a result of the players’ lockout and the season beginning one week late, the 2022 season marks the return of scheduled doubleheaders. There are actually 31 doubleheaders on the schedule – 26 day/night ones and 5 of the “classic” variety. More than half of them have already been played, and 65% have resulted in a split (each team winning one game). Doubleheaders certainly take a toll on the players and lineup management, which is somewhat lightened by the rule change in 2012 that team rosters may be expanded by one player for each game of the doubleheader. Remarkably, the last week of the season in early October features three doubleheaders!
This past week in Cleveland the Guardians and the White Sox faced off in a day/night doubleheader. Even before the games, this one seemed destined for a split since the Guardians pitched their ace, Shane Bieber, in the first one, and the White Sox countered with theirs, Dylan Cease, but in the night cap. Gosh, I miss those days when the number one’s went head to head. The doubleheader played out according to script – Bieber throwing a complete game in Cleveland’s 4-1 opening win and Cease pitching six shutout innings in Chicago’s 7-0 victory in Game 2. It was still fun to witness; there’s just never enough baseball!
The 2022 slate of scheduled doubleheaders will certainly be an aberration going forward. Next season we are sure to return to ground zero. I’ll have that same feeling as in 1973 when my parents and I arrived in the fourth inning of Game One of a scheduled doubleheader between the Reds and Padres. We missed seeing San Diego score 3 runs in the first inning of the first game, and as it turned out the only runs scored all afternoon. You see, the rains came as the fifth inning ended. Fortunately, for the Padres, the first game was considered complete and a 3-0 San Diego win. Unfortunately, for my family, the second game of course was also washed out. On that day, I saw 2 innings for the price of one game! I don’t think that’s what Ernie Banks had in mind with his “Let’s Play Two!”
Until next Monday,
your Baseball Bench Coach