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

ByKevin Henry|
New York Mets players bow their heads during a moment of silence 21 September 2001 at Shea Stadium in New York. The New York Mets played their first home game after the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon 11 September. Rescue workers from New York City agencies were honored in a ceremony before the game against the Atanta Braves. From left are: coach John Stearns, Mike Piazza, Rey Ordonez, Glendon Rusch and Edgardo Alfonzo. AFP PHOTO/Stan HONDA (Photo by STAN HONDA / AFP) (Photo credit should read STAN HONDA/AFP via Getty Images)
New York Mets players bow their heads during a moment of silence 21 September 2001 at Shea Stadium in New York. The New York Mets played their first home game after the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon 11 September. Rescue workers from New York City agencies were honored in a ceremony before the game against the Atanta Braves. From left are: coach John Stearns, Mike Piazza, Rey Ordonez, Glendon Rusch and Edgardo Alfonzo. AFP PHOTO/Stan HONDA (Photo by STAN HONDA / AFP) (Photo credit should read STAN HONDA/AFP via Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, UNITED STATES: Groundskeepers prepare the field near a new patriotically-colored New York Yankees logo before the Yankees played the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 25 September 2001 at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York, NY. The game was the first played at Yankee Stadium since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Cetner 11 September 2001. AFP PHOTO/Matt CAMPBELL (Photo credit should read MATT CAMPBELL/AFP via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES: Groundskeepers prepare the field near a new patriotically-colored New York Yankees logo before the Yankees played the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 25 September 2001 at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York, NY. The game was the first played at Yankee Stadium since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Cetner 11 September 2001. AFP PHOTO/Matt CAMPBELL (Photo credit should read MATT CAMPBELL/AFP via Getty Images)

Unlike the Mets, the New York Yankees were going to the playoffs. Entering September 11, the Yankees had a 13-game lead on the Boston Red Sox in the NL East.

The New York Yankees would make it to the World Series in the weeks after September 11

After the Yankees split their road trip, they returned home to face the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. In a two-game series, the Yankees split the series before they faced the Orioles at home in a series that was also a split (one win, one loss, and a 15-inning tie).

The Yankees ended up making it to the World Series and, in the first World Series that had games take place in November, lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks in seven games.

Regardless of the outcome for the three-time reigning World Champion Yankees, the remainder of the season for the Mets, Yankees, and the rest of the baseball and sports world was a way for people to think about and enjoy something other than the reality of what was going on in Lower Manhattan for a few hours.

Recently, we have seen that arise again with the power of sports that can have with providing first responders (in this case, doctors, nurses, and health care workers) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Baseball has long provided us a break from the trials, tribulations, and difficulties of our lives. That’s one of many reasons why it is a game that we all know and love. We will continue to as we move forward together, while still mourning and remembering all of those we lost on that day 20 years ago.

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