Ernie Banks was famous for saying “it’s a beautiful day for baseball, let’s play two!” So, Thursday would’ve been a dream day for Banks, as for just the fourth time ever, the Mets and Yankees will both play two, at home, on the same day!
In this case, it’s let’s play four, as a pair of rainouts on Wednesday night led to two straight doubleheaders in NYC Thursday, giving the baseball world basically 10 straight hours of baseball – the Mets and Rockies kicking off Game 1 at 12:10 p.m. with Game 2 30 minutes after Game 1’s conclusion, while the Yankees and Blue Jays have call times of 4:10 and no earlier than 7:10.
It’s rare that the Mets and Yankees are home at the same time – it happens once or twice a season, unavoidably – but, this is just the fifth time they’ll play four, and they’ll do it on a day forecast to have temperatures in the mid-80s with low humidity…a beautiful day for baseball, indeed.
Below is a look at the first three double-doubleheaders in Mets-Yankees history.
9/13/08: Braves at Mets, Rays at Yankees
New York went 2-2 on that mid-September day, both teams splitting twin bills with their division rivals – with both losing Game 1 and winning Game 2.
For the Mets, Game 1 saw the Braves score three in the eighth to win 3-2 and ruin what had been a strong Johan Santana outing, while Game 2 was a 5-0 win behind eight strong from Jon Niese and homers from David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Carlos Beltran.
Over in the Bronx, Tampa Bay roughed up Mike Mussina in a 7-1 Game 1 win, but in Game 2, the Yankees came back from down 4-1 to take a 6-5 win, holding off a ninth inning rally that featured a rare earned run off Mariano Rivera and ended with the tying run on base.
4/13/97: Giants at Mets, A’s at Yankees
An early season double-dip caused by unpredictable April weather saw a 1-3 day for NYC. The day started in Queens at just after noon, and by 12:30, Jeff Kent had hit a three-run homer for San Fran that jumpstarted a 7-1 Game 1 win – and later that afternoon, a back-and-forth Game 2 that included two homers for the Giants’ Mark Lewis (who hit all of 48 homers in just over 3,000 career plate appearances) ended with a 7-6 Mets loss, the game ending with Steve Bieser representing the tying run at second base.
Across town, the Yankees kicked off their double-dip Sunday at 1:05, and in Game 1, a gem from Mike Mussina and homers from Bernie and Jeets led to a 3-2 win, the only NYC W of the day. That’s because in Game 2, the A’s hung an early four-spot on starter Ramiro Mendoza, and went on to win 7-4.
9/21/82: Expos at Mets, Indians at Yankees
The first instance of four games in NYC in one day came nearly 40 years ago, and also saw the home sides go 2-2 on the day. In Queens, the Mets won Game 1 in extras on a walk-off homer by Ron Gardenhire, who hit just four home runs in his career, but the Expos took the nightcap thanks to a complete game from future Yankee Scott Sanderson.
Meanwhile, in the Bronx, Cleveland took Game 1 with a late rally, scoring four in the ninth off Rudy May and Goose Gossage – after the Yankees had hung eight on Indians starter Len Barker – to win 9-8. In the nightcap, Dave Righetti went the distance in a 6-2 win.
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