Twin Bills

Doubleheaders are a staple of college softball.  The only difference between games in Florida and the rest of the season is that the games down South don’t always go back-to-back.  The weather’s nice, so you don’t mind.  Back home, though, you play two as fast as you can, before the April snow or thunderstorms roll in.  Players and fans have twenty minutes between games to eat and do whatnot.

Doubleheaders used to be a part of baseball, too, before the national pastime felt a need to take every last cent from its fans.  Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day—they all called for a twin bill.  But now, two games on the same day offends the bottom line.  I mean, how can you charge people twice for parking?  Oh, wait, you can do that with a day-night doubleheader.  Clear the stands and lots after game one, and charge ’em when they come for game two.  Even then, the doubleheader has fallen out of favor.  The day-night variant is treated at best as a necessary evil.

Yesterday, a rainout led the White Sox to play an old fashion doubleheader, the games back to back like in the old days.  Why, if they did more of that, baseball could get its schedule in order and keep from going into November, but we wouldn’t want that, now would we?  I have a sneaking suspicion the Commissioner would love nothing more than to play the World Series at a neutral site, with game seven scheduled for the Thanksgiving Day weekend.

The great thing about twin bills is the chance to win two.  Conversely, the bad thing about doubleheaders is what the White Sox did against the Angels last night.  Thank you, non-existent pitching.