Major League Baseball (MLB) was in the middle of the pennant chase when the Twin Towers fell on September 11, 2001. All 15 Major League Baseball games scheduled for 9/11 were postponed as the nation reeled from the terrorist attacks.
In New York, the Mets' Shea Stadium in Queens and Yankees Stadium in the Bronx served as staging areas for the thousands of first responders who poured into the city from across the country, as well as the tons of supplies donated by ordinary Americans.
Players for both teams visited hospitals to comfort the wounded. Across the country, other ballplayers donated blood and offered to assist as ad hoc rescue efforts sprang up, unbidden by any governmental agency.
Any story about the 9/11 attacks and our recovery from them must include the role that our (former) National Pastime played in distracting, comforting, and entertaining millions of Americans across the country.
The games returned six days later, and stadiums hosting the contests all had moving tributes to the fallen. Americans had developed newfound respect and affection for first responders after so many of them perished when the towers fell. More than 440 firefighters, police, and military personnel lost their lives on 9/11, most of them while trying to save others. America will never forget them.
Many fans asked, Is it too soon? The St. Louis Cardinals' Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Buck answered that question and read a poem during the pregame ceremony, after which there wasn't a dry eye among the 40,000 people at Busch Stadium.
"I don't know about you. But as for me, the question has already been answered," Buck told the immense crowd. "Should we be here? Yes! Should we show others how to demonstrate our resolve? Yes! And we shall do it here this evening."
Since this nation was founded under God,
More than 200 years ago,
We’ve been the bastion of freedom,
The light which keeps the free world aglow.
We do not covet the possessions of others,
We are blessed with the bounty we share.
We have rushed to help other nations,
Anything… Anytime… Anywhere.
Where 9/11 is remembered as a day of tragedy and pain for New Yorkers, 9/21 is recalled with fondness and a reverence only a baseball fan might truly understand.
September 21 was the first game back in New York City after the attacks. The game pitted two longtime rivals, the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves, and the pregame ceremony was thick with memory.
First responders from the NYPD, FDNY, and Port Authority stood shoulder to shoulder with players on the field. To show further support, players from both teams wore the caps of these emergency agencies—a profound visual tribute to the city's true heroes.
Before the first pitch, the Mets and Braves, two longtime rivals, took the field and embraced, symbolizing the unity the country was experiencing at the time.
The game itself provided an iconic moment in MLB history. Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Mike Piazza came to the plate with a man on base. Piazza, well on his way to Cooperstown at the time, hit a two-run home run to give the Mets the lead. After days of mourning, fear, and uncertainty, Piazza gave the city of New York a reason to smile.
With the nation still reeling from the attacks in late October, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the New York Yankees played the World Series. Operation Enduring Freedom, the invasion of Afghanistan, was already underway for three weeks when President George Bush walked out on the field before Game 3 of the series to throw out the first pitch.
The ovation Bush got from the fans might be one of the last times an American president is greeted so unanimously by citizens.
Another huge cheer went up when Bush, wearing a bulletproof vest under his Yankees jacket, delivered a perfect strike to home plate.
The singing of "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch began after 9/11. Most teams still play it at Sunday home games, a memory of a time when we were united in grief and resolve, and a game reminded us all of how good it was to live in the United States of America.
Related: What America Lost Because of the Atttacks on September 11, 2001 and What We Gained
