The Split Doubleheader

[Sodboy13]

This is probably old news to a lot of you, but reading about it today really started my gears a-grindin.

Looking at the White Sox website, games which were postponed in April are being made up in July as "split doubleheaders." This means they're not really doubleheaders - just two separate events in one day. The first game starts at 1:00, all the fans are forced to leave when that game ends, and then the second game gets underway at 7. Want to see 'em play two in one day? Buy two tickets.

Another garbage move by the Sox. First, it was denying upper-deck fans concourse access in the name of "security." Now it's abolisihng baseball's long standing summertime 2-for-1.

Do any other MLB teams engage in this practice? And if so, what are your thoughts about it?

[TBGKon]

This is probably old news to a lot of you, but reading about it today really started my gears a-grindin.

Looking at the White Sox website, games which were postponed in April are being made up in July as "split doubleheaders." This means they're not really doubleheaders - just two separate events in one day. The first game starts at 1:00, all the fans are forced to leave when that game ends, and then the second game gets underway at 7. Want to see 'em play two in one day? Buy two tickets.

Another garbage move by the Sox. First, it was denying upper-deck fans concourse access in the name of "security." Now it's abolisihng baseball's long standing summertime 2-for-1.

Do any other MLB teams engage in this practice? And if so, what are your thoughts about it?

I cant say that I'm agreeing or disagreeing with the procedure, but baseball teams are businesses and since they had already gone in the hole for one game, they have to make it up somehow.

[dfwabel]

Out of the nine currently scheduled doubleheaders, seven are day/night. Only the August 13 SF@PIT and the 9/26 CLE@SEA (makeup for the snow in CLE) have it as 2-for-1.

[mjrbaseball]

I guess I'm old enough to remember when 2-for-1 doubleheaders were a regular part of the schedule. Every team would have at least one Sunday doubleheader a month, plus most holidays (Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day), and a few time a year mid-week "twi-night" doubleheaders. ("Twi-night" meant twilight-night, typically 5:00 and 8:00.)

[NJTank]

Later this year the Mets will be doing their first split doubleheader its just a sign of the times.

[STL FANATIC]

My question is this?

Do the people who had their game postponed get to go to one of the games?

If so, then I have no problem.

If not, it's a money grab move which is pretty much to be expected, but I don't like it.

[NJTank]

Usually with rain checks you can go to any game, but they kind of want you to go to the make up.

[Burning River]

This has happened to the Indians in the past. They were not ORIGINALLY scheduled that way. If a Sold Out game was ppd, they had to reschedule the game and create a "Day/Night Doubleheader". Original tickets were honored. Two crowds of 42,000. I think If each game had 20,000 tickets sold, they might create a traditional double-header honoring both sets of tix, Then they have one game of 40,000.

This year they had to get creative. I think they play a traditional double-header at Seattle later this year. I'm not sure if Seattle is home for one and Cleveland (due to the make up game) is "home" in the other.

[VandyDelphia Mike]

Makeups for Phillies rain-outs were always two-games-for-the-price-of-one when the club called Veterans Stadium home. Since opening their new ballpark, rescheduled rain-outs have generally (but not always) become doubleheaders of the day-night variety, with two separate gates.

[HedleyLamarr]

Each team, after all, is trying to make the most money they can.

If the doubleheader is being scheduled on short notice (like the next day) or on the last day of the visiting team's last visit to that ballpark, it'll usually be the traditional 2-for-1 doubleheader.

If the doubleheader is planned out long in advance, they're usually the day-night, pay-for-both-games doubleheader

Of course, if the team is selling out a lot of games, even the short-notice DH's are pay-for-both....

[Jigga]

The R. Kelly treatment? You mean a golden shower???

You so nasty!

[IronChefShark]

I attended the Giants last two games against the Expos in the form of a 2-for-the-price-of-1 double header.

the latter was the makeup of a rained out Giants-Expos game in San Juan earlier in the year. MLB just said "screw it" and allowed the makeup game to be played at AT&T Park

[Gary]

The R. Kelly treatment? You mean a golden shower???

You so nasty!

just wrong on so many levels

But i've been to a Split Doubleheader where it was 2 for 1, I don't think you should pay for both personally

[OMMF]

This year they had to get creative. I think they play a traditional double-header at Seattle later this year. I'm not sure if Seattle is home for one and Cleveland (due to the make up game) is "home" in the other.

Yes, Cleveland will be the home team for the first game at Safeco Field that day.

[FiddySicks]

I went to a Giants Dodgers game in April a few years ago which I believe was the first rainout in the Parks history so they made it up during the last series of the year. We expected that the games would be a 2 for 1 double header but both games sold out seperately so it wasnt really feasable. They shuffled everyone out, and the new people shuffled in. Parking was even more of a disaster than it normally is.

[hormone]

I understand ($$$$) why they do the day/night DH. What I don't understand is let's say for example....I have tickets to a game today in Section 1, Row 1, Seat 1. Another person has tickets to tomorrow's game in the same seat. My game is rained out and I choose to go to the "traditional" DH tomorrow. Do I get my seat? How? What if the whole park comes back for the rained out game? Aren't they taking people's seats for game 2?

On a bit of a side note, I think they should have more DH games in the schedule again...that way the season doesn't have to start in "snow out" games or end in NY in late October with everyone wearing ski masks...since they will never reduce that silly 162 game schedule.

[no97]

I understand ($$$$) why they do the day/night DH. What I don't understand is let's say for example....I have tickets to a game today in Section 1, Row 1, Seat 1. Another person has tickets to tomorrow's game in the same seat. My game is rained out and I choose to go to the "traditional" DH tomorrow. Do I get my seat? How? What if the whole park comes back for the rained out game? Aren't they taking people's seats for game 2?

I was just going to say that. Sure there are going to be no-shows for the make-up game, but what are you going to do in this scenerio? The Day/Night double-header is the only answer for teams that sell-out virtually all their games. It may seem greedy, but I don't see any other way...

Moose

[Burning River]

Years ago, there were traditional double-headers on Sundays. I think players complained and then owners complained too because they were losing a gate. The season went to 162 games AND with no double-headers the season became longer too.

[jkrdevil]

On a bit of a side note, I think they should have more DH games in the schedule again...that way the season doesn't have to start in "snow out" games or end in NY in late October with everyone wearing ski masks...since they will never reduce that silly 162 game schedule.

There is something called a Players Union now. The players for the most part don't like playing 2 games in 1 day unless they have to. Especially the relief pitchers. So the scheduled double header for the most part has gone away.

AS far as split double headers go, why is this topic being brought out now? It's been Day Night double headers for at least the last 10 years at least probably longer (I started watching baseball in the mid 90's as a child). I can only really recall just a couple of traditional doubleheaders and those were Yankee games against the Tigers in the late 90's and the Devils Rays were the original crowds were sparse.

That said my favorite doubleheaders are when a Yankees-Mets game or Cubs-White Sox game gets rained out and you have 2 games in 2 ballparks on 1 day.

[hormone]

According to http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-g...p&type=lgns "The San Francisco Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates will make up two rainouts from last month in a traditional doubleheader Aug. 13. "

The Pirate/Giant dh will be "Traditional"