How the New York Mets and Yankees helped a city heal after 9/11

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The New York Mets and Atlanta Braves stand on the foul lines during the pre-game ceremonies 21 September 2001 at Shea Stadium in New York, as the Mets play their first home game after the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon 11 September. Diana Ross sang “God Bless America” and rescue workers from New York City agencies were honored. AFP PHOTO/Stan HONDA (Photo by STAN HONDA / AFP) (Photo credit should read STAN HONDA/AFP via Getty Images) /

On September 21, 10 days after the September 11th terrorist attacks, the New York Mets returned home to Shea Stadium to face the Atlanta Braves. The reigning National League Champion Mets were far from that in 2001 as they were, entering the series with the Braves, in third place and five games out of the NL East lead (behind the Braves) and 9.5 games back of the Cardinals for the lone NL Wild Card spot.

New York Mets and New York Yankees baseball helped provide respite for the first responders on 9/11

Jason Marquis, a New York native, toed the slab for the Braves and Bruce Chen for the Mets. For a crowd of more than 41,000 people, the Mets took the field in a game that would provide thousands of first responders with a few hours of respite, a few hours not to think about what was waiting for them outside of the walls of Shea Stadium later that night or the following morning.

They got to see a pitcher’s duel. The late Ken Caminiti doubled and Chipper Jones scored on that double and an error to score the first run of the game in the fourth inning. In the bottom half, Tsuyoshi Shinjo had a sac fly to re-tie the game at one. Braves outfielder Brian Jordan doubled to score Cory Aldridge and the Braves had a 2-1 lead entering the bottom of the eighth.

Steve Karsay came on to pitch in eighth and, after recording an out, he walked infielder Edgardo Alfonzo. Up came future Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza. On a 0-1 count, Piazza hit a huge home run in many ways. For the game, it was huge as it gave the Mets a 3-2 lead, which they held on to.

It was a game that Braves starting pitcher, future Mets starting pitcher, and future Hall of Famer Tom Glavine later said that he was “part of the losing team and really didn’t care” that he lost.

"“It’s probably one of the only games in the big leagues that I was a part of the losing team and really didn’t care,” said Glavine in a recent interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It was almost like a Hollywood script. … You never like to lose. But when you digest it, if you ever felt like a city and a team needed a win more than you did, that was the night. And for that reason, not many of us really cared that we lost that game. To have baseball back in New York and to be a part of the team that was doing it, it was a great honor and something that I will never forget being a part of.”"

You can watch the entirety of the game, including the pre-game ceremony here, as well as watch the Piazza home run below.

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