April 15, 1998: A Strange Doubleheader at Shea

Darryl Strawberry (left), interviewed by

Al Trautwig of the MSG Network

April 15, 1998: An accident at the old Yankee Stadium -- the fall of an "expansion joint," from the extension of the left-field stands in the 1927-28 off-season, crushing a seat -- forces some reschedulings.

The New York Yankees switch series with the Detroit Tigers, so that the upcoming series that was going to be in New York would be in Detroit, and the next one set for Detroit would be in New York. Two games with the team then known as the Anaheim Angels were postponed until August, while the one set for today is moved across town to Shea Stadium.

Then, the New York Mets would host the Chicago Cubs. For the 1st time since 1954, a ballpark would host games by 2 different home teams on the same day.

The Yankees won the opener, 6-3. Darryl Strawberry, the former Met who had hit more home runs at Shea than any other player, hit one more, and the scoreboard operator raised the Home Run Apple to half its height, so that the New York skyline could be seen, but not the word "Mets." David Wells was the winning pitcher.

The Home Run Apple in its usual display

In the regularly-scheduled game, now a nightcap, the Mets beat the Cubs, 2-1. Rick Reed was the winning pitcher, and helped his own cause with a home run. The Cubs' only run came on a home run by Sammy Sosa, his 3rd of the season. No one yet had any idea of how many Sosa would hit.
 

The Yankees returned home on April 27. But if George Steinbrenner's greed still wasn't making a new Yankee Stadium happen, this accident turned the tide, and convinced the City of New York to build it. From this moment forward, the old Yankee Stadium, the most history-laden building ever constructed for sports on planet Earth, was doomed.

But Shea was also becoming unsuitable. As it turned out, the teams replaced their stadiums at the same time. The Yankees played the last game at the old Yankee Stadium on September 21, 2008. The last game at Shea Stadium came 7 days later. After both new stadiums hosted exhibition games, the 1st regular-season game at Citi Field was played on April 13, 2009, and the 1st at the new Yankee Stadium came 3 days after that.

With the building of Citi Field, the Mets built a new Home Run Apple for center field. They restored the old one, and put it in the parking lot. It now serves as a meeting place for fans, much as the "Big Bat" smokestack did at the old Yankee Stadium. That still stands, because it still functions as a smokestack for the complex, but is now a bit of a walk from the new Stadium. There is no one single "Meet me at... " location at the new Stadium.

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April 15, 1998 was a Wednesday. These other MLB games were played that day:

* The Montreal Expos beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-4 with a walk.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-6 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Cal Ripken went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-0 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. Greg Maddux pitched a 6-hit shutout.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-3 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland. Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Alex Rodriguez went 1-for-5.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 4-1 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-3 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-3 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants, 1-0 at Candlestick Park (then named 3Com Park at Candlestick Point) in San Francisco. Kevin brown pitched a 4-hit shutout. Tony Gwynn went 0-for-4. Barry Bonds went 2-for-3 with a walk.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Colorado Rockies were rained out at Coors Field in Denver. The game was made up the next day. The Dodgers won, 4-3. Todd Hollandsworth singled home the winning run in the top of the 10th inning.

*The St. Louis Cardinals and the Arizona Diamondbacks were rained out at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The Cards won the opener, 5-4. Mark McGwire went 0-for-4. The D-backs won the nightcap, 8-2. McGwire sat this one out, so this day did not help him on his pursuit of the single-season home run record.

* And the Minnesota Twins and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were not scheduled.

There were 8 games played in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Charlotte Hornets, 109-103 at the Charlotte Coliseum.

* The Washington Wizards beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 101-93 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Boston Celtics, 117-109 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Orlando Magic beat their arch-rivals, the Miami Heat, 99-87 at the Miami Arena.

* The Detroit Pistons beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bulls, 87-79 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 82-70 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Denver Nuggets, 96-89 at the America West Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

* And the Golden State Warriors beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 92-80 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

There were 9 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat their arch-rivals, the New York Islanders, 4-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Buffalo Sabres, 5-4 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands. Scott Stevens scored the winning goal with 22 seconds left in overtime.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens, 6-2 at the Molson Centre (now the Bell Centre) in Montreal.

* In another "Original Six" matchup, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-1 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* The San Jose Sharks and the Calgary Flames finished in a tie, 3-3 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 5-3 at the Edmonton Coliseum (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known).

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Vancouver Canucks, 2-0 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.