Sports Tonight: Banks would've loved Phillies-Braves games

Back in the 1950s when Chicago Cubs legend Ernie Banks uttered his famous line, "It's a beautiful day. Let's play two," doubleheaders were a normal part of Major League Baseball.

I routinely went to Baltimore Orioles doubleheaders as a kid in the 1970s. For revenue-generating reasons, the one ticket doubleheader eventually went the way of the "knothole gang." On June 12, the Tampa Bay Rays had MLB's first scheduled single-admission doubleheader since 2014.

Today, the Phillies are playing their second single-admission doubleheader at Citizens Bank Park in nine days. Both were created by rainouts.

The first game against the Atlanta Braves was moved to an hour earlier from its original scheduled start time to 12:05. The second game (television: CSN; radio: 94 WIP) is a makeup of Tuesday's game that was called off because of rain.

The Phillies just played two against Miami on Aug. 22.

At this point, it does not matter which franchise is more responsible for the Texas Rangers' and Houston Astros' playing tonight at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. (7:10 on ESPN).

It was bad form for the Rangers to deny the Astros' request to switch dates for this current series, which was scheduled to be in Houston, to the one in Arlington in late September because of the devastation from Hurricane Harvey. The Rangers said that wouldn't have been fair to their fans who had purchased tickets.

The Astros, however, appeared to be petty by declining the Rangers' offer to play the series in Arlington as the home team and get all the proceeds.

It looks like as if the Astros believe the city of Houston will have some semblance of normalcy in three weeks and didn't want to give up a three-game home series when it's leading the American League West.

MLB moved the series to the home of the Tampa Bay Rays.

A scheduling squabble between professional teams doesn't matter when people are dying and their lives are ruined by catastrophic flooding.

Yes, life still goes on during tragedies, but this is still just baseball.

Record-setting  Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps said he considered suicide. WNBA player Imani Boyette said she made the first of three attempts to kill herself when she was 10. USA Today writers Scott Gleeson and Erik Brady talk to athletes, including former Sixer Royce White, about mental health issues and the stigmas surrounding them.

The final preseason game is always about those final precious spots on the roster. Staff writer Les Bowen talks about which players will be Eagles and which will have their NFL dreams shattered.

Flyers fans are excited about rookie center Nolan Patrick, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 draft, but staff writer Sam Carchidi says that general manager Ron Hextall is not determined to "force" Patrick onto the roster.

A lot of Eagles fans will say former cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha played as if he was only acting like he was a Pro Bowl pass defender while with the Birds.  Movie critic Gary Thompson tells how Asomugha prepared for his first real acting role in the coming movie Crown Heights.

Isaiah Thomas tells ESPN basketball insider Adrian Wojnarowski that he is not "damaged" even while the blockbuster trade between Cleveland and Boston stays in limbo because of Thomas' injured hip.

Fang "Michael" Yuan at ESPN writes how Chinese women's basketball star Shao Ting fought the system to become a scholar and a high-level athlete.

Hey, KD, leave my alma mater alone.

Golden States Warriors star Kevin Durant had already dissed the University of Maryland once when, as a local high school star, he rejected the Terps to play his one season at the University of Texas. Now, on a recent podcast with Bill Simmons, Duran, who has an endorsement deal with Nike, took a slap at Maryland, which is the pilot program for Under Armour, in the sneaker wars.

"I think a lot of kids, to be honest,  they don't choose Maryland unless they play in like an Under Armour system coming up," Durant said. "… Nobody wants to play in Under Amours. I'm sorry. The top kids don't because they all play Nike."

Dang, bruh, we'll see how many kids play in your new shoe that is sitting in a box of red velvet cupcakes.

Fear the Turtle!

Baseball
Braves at Phillies, 1 p.m. (NBC10; WIP-FM 94.1, WNPV-AM 1440)
Indians at Yankees, 1 p.m. (MLB Network)
Tigers at Rockies (joined in progress), 4 p.m. (MLB Network)
Rangers vs. Astros, 7:10 p.m. (ESPN)
Dodgers at Diamondbacks (joined in progress), 11 p.m. (MLB Network)

Golf on Golf Channel
European PGA: Czech Masters, 5 a.m. Thursday

Tennis
U.S. Open, 6 p.m., 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

Minor League Baseball
Reading Fightin Phils vs. New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 6:35 p.m., FirstEnergy Stadium, Reading
Wilmington Blue Rocks vs. Down East Wood Ducks, 6:35 p.m., Frawley Stadium, Wilmington
Lakewood BlueClaws vs. West Virginia Power, 7:05 p.m., FirstEnergy Park, Lakewood, N.J.