I've been trying to think of another day in my lifetime where both the White Sox and the Cubs had a doubleheader on the same day. I'm not sure that it's happened before. The Cubs are playing two at Wrigley against the Pittsburgh Pirates today, while the Sox are in Cleveland for a pair.
If this were midsummer, it might be an exciting day of baseball. Four games to watch. Can't beat that, right? Unfortunately, this is not midsummer. It's September 30, and these games don't mean a damn thing to any of the teams involved. Both the Sox and Cubs are out of it. I believe both Cleveland and Pittsburgh were eliminated from contention sometime before the All-Star break. That begs the question, why bother playing these makeup games?
The Sox and Indians got rained out Tuesday night, thus leading to this doubleheader. Why not just wipe that rained out game off the schedule? Attendance is terrible at the park formerly known as Jacobs Field today. Neither team is in the hunt. There was no intensity in Game 1, a 5-1 Cleveland victory. What's the point?
Back in the old days, they didn't bother making up rained out games between bad teams. I recall being at old Comiskey Park on July 18, 1989, as a 13-year-old kid. The Sox and Yankees played to a scoreless tie through four innings, and then it rained buckets. Game rained out. They never made it up. Why? Because both the Sox and the Yankees sucked that year. The Sox finished 69-92, the Yankees 74-87.
No need for two teams that are up the track to play that precious 162nd game. It would have been a waste of time, much like the makeup games that are being held today in Chicago and Cleveland.
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