Let's Play Two!

posted by Mr. November


As I watched the Yankees win game one of a doubleheader against the Texas Rangers this afternoon (despite Mr. Torre's best efforts to blow it; I swear he has a "single white female"-like obsession with Luis Vizcaino), I started to wonder about the shortcomings of the MLB schedule makers.

Back in the day (what day, you ask? I have no clue...I'm only 30), teams played doubleheaders regularly. Now, in 2007, you only see two games in one day if the weather doesn't cooperate. And since MLB begins its season the week after Christmas (well, at least it seems that way), the weather rarely cooperates. What's the best solution to these early-season rain, snow, and cold-outs? Simple...more doubleheaders.

If the schedule-gods had teams play more doubleheaders, and I mean planned doubleheaders, ones factored into the schedules when they are first released, MLB would be able to start their season a bit later. I'm not one of those folks who complains about the season going too long; I have no problem with 162 games, and October (and even sometimes November) baseball makes me smile. But the early season rainouts and games played in football weather are a joke. That's not baseball.

All we need is everyone involved, the teams, the union, and the owners, to agree to play more doubleheaders throughout the season (maybe 2 or 3 per month, starting in May), and we can avoid the early-April weather problems. The season would start a few weeks later, and still end in October. And I don't want to hear about doubleheaders ruining rotations - rainouts can ruin rotations too. More doubleheaders would be a treat for the fans, too.

Where's Ernie Banks when you need him?