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	Wednesday, June 14
	Two games, two parks for Mets, Yankees ESPN.com news services
	NEW YORK -- This is Ernie Banks' dream, taken one step further. Banks loved doubleheaders because they meant he could play two games in one day. Now, the Mets and Yankees are about to play two in one day, but in two different New York ballparks. With all parties agreeing Tuesday, a June rainout will become part of a unique baseball bonanza for New York: A day game between the Mets and Yankees at Shea Stadium on July 8, followed a few hours later by a night game between the same teams, 10 miles away at Yankee Stadium. This is the ultimate day-night doubleheader, the solution to a schedule squeeze created by a rainout last Sunday, the final game of the season's first interleague series between the teams at Yankee Stadium. It would be the first time teams played two games at different ballparks on the same day in 97 years, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, baseball's statistician. On Sept. 7, 1903, which was Labor Day, the New York Giants beat the Brooklyn Superbas (the team's nickname eventually became the Dodgers) 6-4 in the morning before 9,300 at Washington Park in Brooklyn. In the afternoon, rookie Henry Schmidt's four-hitter led Brooklyn to a 3-0 win before 23,623 at the Polo Grounds. That split doubleheader was on the original NL schedule. "I think it's fine," Yankees manager Joe Torre said before Tuesday night's game against Boston. "It'll be different. It takes you back to the old days when they relished doubleheaders. They loved to rain out games so you could play a doubleheader on a Sunday and get more people." Yogi Berra, who managed both teams, appreciated that issue. "They don't want to get cheated out of an attendance," he said. Berra recalled playing day-night doubleheaders with the Yankees three or four times in Boston. "It's lousy, but sometimes you got to do it," he said. "You hang around and play cards between games." For the Yankees and Mets, the only game will be bridge -- as in "Triborough." They will be doing a commuter dash from Queens to the Bronx. The teams have just one mutual day off, Aug. 31, for the rest of the season. But playing in New York that day would be a problem for the Yankees, who have a night game in Seattle on Aug. 30. A makeup game that day also would give the Yankees a stretch of 41 straight days on which they have games. The alternative is to make up the game when the Yankees and Mets play at Shea in July. That series begins with a night game, Friday, July 7, followed by day games on Saturday and Sunday, July 8-9. The proximity of the stadiums makes the unusual double dip possible. Friday was ruled out because of traffic concerns. Traveling from Queens to the Bronx over the Triborough Bridge on a Friday evening in July is no picnic, even with a police escort. That left Saturday or Sunday -- which is likely to be switched to a night game by ESPN. The teams agreed on the Saturday doubleheader and the players' association approved it. "We think it's a great idea," said Gene Orza, associate general counsel for the union after talking with player representatives for both teams. "There are some potential promotional aspects. If we can get players to take the subway, maybe we can have some fun with it." That would mean jumping on the No. 7 train, made famous by reliever John Rocker, and then transferring at Grand Central for the No. 4, a ride of about one hour. The police-escorted bus would be quicker but less interesting. "There is some inconvenience to the players," Orza said, "but on balance, it's positive." The plan is for a seven-hour gap between the first pitches, the day game at Shea starting at 1:15 p.m., the night game at Yankee Stadium starting at 8:15 p.m.. Extra innings could make this arrangement an adventure. "It is certainly unique," said Jeff Idelson, a spokesman for the Cooperstown, N.Y. "We would treat it like a postseason game. We would want at least the first pitch from each game." Unique is not new for the Mets and Yankees. On April 15, 1998, the teams had a day-night doubleheader at Shea, but not against each other. Forced from their home when a beam fell at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees moved to Shea for a day, defeating the Anaheim Angels in an afternoon game. The Mets then defeated the Chicago Cubs that night, the first time in this century that four teams have played in the same stadium on the same day. Doubleheaders can be disruptive. On May 30, 1922, Max Flack of the Chicago Cubs was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Cliff Heathcote, between games of a Memorial Day doubleheader. They simply walked from one clubhouse to the other, changed uniforms, and played against their former teams in the second game. Ostensibly, the signs had been changed. Some players create their own personal twin bills. Playing for the Mets in Chicago on Aug. 4, 1982, Joel Youngblood drove in the winning run with a base hit and then was traded to Montreal. He rushed to join his new team for its night game in Philadelphia and delivered a hit for the Expos, becoming the first player to get hits for two different teams in two cities on the same day. For that achievement, he ought to throw out the first pitch at the Mets-Yankees doubleheader.