What happened to the old fashioned doubleheader? You know – the one where you could buy one ticket and they would play two games – the second game starting about 30 minutes after the first game ends. The last time I attended one was September 10, 2004 when the Chicago Cubs hosted the Florida Marlins.

After deciding not to go to the White Sox game last night because of the chance (ok, guaranteed chance) of rain, because a trucker slammed into the el station one stop North of the US Cellular Field stop and I wanted to see the wife’s annual ice show (she’s an instructor), the White Sox game was eventually postponed due to the rain around 9:40 pm CT.

Knowing that this was Baltimore’s only visit to Chicago this season, I was excited about the possibility of attending the old fashioned doubleheader on either Saturday or Sunday. However, the White Sox scheduled a day-night doubleheader – meaning fans wanting to attend both games must:

1) Buy a ticket for the first game. The White Sox screwed all Friday night ticket holders by making their tickets only usable for today’s game at noon or weekday games the week of 5/5 (upper level only!). From the Ticketmaster website –>

“This game has been rescheduled from Friday, 4/25 7:11pm to Saturday, 4/26 12:05pm due to weather. Fans should retain their 4/25 tickets and parking passes and use them for this rescheduled contest on 4/26 at 12:05pm. Customers may exchange their 4/25 tickets at the US Cellular Field Box Office for best available Upper Level seating for the 5/6, 5/7 or 5/8 games only. No refunds or exchanges other than those mentioned here.”

I doubt anyone will be at this game. How many people can plan to attend a White Sox game Friday night only to cancel their Saturday afternoon plans in order to come back? Come on White Sox – we know you want the extra revenue from the game, but since fans cannot get any refund you will get most of it anyway when they exchange their tickets for games that will not sell out.

2) Exit the ballpark after Game 1 and linger around the area for an hour or two until the gates are re-opened for Game 2 (time between the final out of Game 1 and the first pitch of game 2 is most likely 3 hours).

3) Buy a ticket for the second game.

Now the day-night doubleheader can be fun around some ballparks such as Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, and AT&T Park, but US Cellular Field is not the best area to hang around. The only bar / restaurant I have been to around US Cellular Field is Jimbo’s – a dive bar that is similar to my suggested dive bar around Wrigley Field.

I have not decided if I will go for both games today. If I do, I might find out there are other restaurants around US Cellular Field in my 3 hours between games.