in helping New York City recover from 9/11
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | SEPT. 10 - SEPT. 16, 2021 5
ity to help relief efforts.
“I think a lot of people aren’t
aware but initially, Shea Stadium
was set up as a triage
center for the recovery of victims,”
Zeile said. “Essentially,
a morgue — a holding center for
the recovery effort because of
some specific things that were
a part of Shea in terms of refrigeration
and so on.”
As days passed, however, it
became clear that there were no
bodies to recover.
While players and staff
alike took time to go home and
check on their families, Mets
manager Bobby Valentine was
determined to use his team as a
vehicle to help as first responders
and rescue workers excavating
the site.
Players unloaded supplies
ranging from work boots, water
bottles and batteries; packed
boxes; and stocked up trucks
that would be sent to Ground
Zero.
“There were a lot of Mets
fans in that situation and you
want to give back to them what
you give back to you — the love.
You want to help them out at
that moment,” Alfonzo said.
“That was really hard, really
sad.”
In an attempt to boost morale,
Zeile, along with Mike
Piazza, Robin Ventura, Franco
and Leiter went to Ground Zero
to visit those first responders —
entering a restricted zone of the
city that encapsulated a 30-to-40-
block radius.
“I remember feeling this feeling
of panic in a sense of ‘Why
am I here? What do these people
want to see me for?’” Zeile
wondered. “I felt it was almost
invasive. A guy that plays baseball
for a job is coming in with
another group of guys that play
baseball as a job. To think that
we can understand even for a
second what these guys are going
through, I felt a little nervous
about being invasive into
their world and what they were
going through.”
Back to baseball
There had been mixed sentiments
from even some players
on whether or not Major
League Baseball should continue
the 2001 season after
Sept. 11, but one resounding
voice helped ease any uncertainties.
“At first, I thought the season
would end at that time, but
then President George Bush
said let’s get back to playing,”
Alfonzo said. “That moment
was like, wow, this is going
to be hard, but let’s play baseball.”
Even more difficult was
that the Mets had to go back
to Pittsburgh to resume their
series against the Pirates from
Sept. 17-19 after nearly a week
of trying to help New York
through the aftermath of its
worst moments.
They took a bit of their
Big Apple family with them,
though, as Zeile famously traded
a “hat for a hat,” receiving a
navy blue FDNY hat from the
son and the widow of a rescue
worker who died at the World
Trade Center just days earlier.
It sparked a movement that
saw the Mets don the caps of
all the first-responder branches,
including the FDNY and
NYPD.
“That became a tiny little
symbolic gesture that this
team was able to put forward
for our appreciation of what
those guys were doing while
we were getting ready to play
baseball again,” Zeile said.
Rusch, who started the
third game of Mets’ series in
Pittsburgh noted how warm
the away fans welcomed his
team, and how pitching in the
first two innings of it was such
a challenge.
“It really challenged every
bit of what we did as players to
focus on what was on the baseball
field,” he said. “It really
was difficult. I don’t remember
anything that was as challenging
as trying to take your focus
off of what was going on in the
world then and in our city and
our country and focus on playing
a baseball game. That was
a challenge in itself.”
Shea healing
Baseball eventually returned
to New York on the night
of Sept. 21 at Shea Stadium, just
10 days after the attacks.
“I think we all had some
questions about whether or
not people would feel comfortable
showing up,” Zeile said.
“It’s right next to LaGuardia
Airport. There’s all the fear of
airplanes, another attack — all
those things that were permeating
throughout the country.
“Once we knew Mayor
Rudy Giuliani and the city
and the authorities felt like we
were in a position that we could
be safe and make a symbolic
gesture to be back on the field
and I think we were all ready
for it.”
If there was any fear from
the fans, it was not noticed.
Rusch described the atmosphere
as “electric,” as Diana
Ross and Liza Minelli sang
the national anthem and ‘God
Bless America,’ throughout an
evening that allowed New Yorkers
to let loose, even if just for a
moment.
“I think it was a huge part
in helping to heal people. That
was cool,” Rusch said. “We all
felt proud that we were back
and giving those people who
had a lot of bad stuff going on in
their life a bit of an escape.”
“You wanted to cry, you
wanted to hug people, you wanted
to applaud the fans,” Alfonzo
added. “All those fans cheering,
chanting ‘USA, USA’ … and all
this against the Braves? Our rival?
That was amazing.”
But the Mets, who at the
time were 4.5 games behind the
Braves in the NL East, found
themselves trailing 2-1 heading
into the bottom of the eighth
after Brian Jordan smacked a
run-scoring double in the top
half of the frame.
“The rest, you can say is serendipitous
history,” Zeile said.
With one out against reliever
Steve Karsay, Alfonzo
walked and was pinch-run
for by Desi Relaford, though
speed on the basepaths would
not matter as Piazza hit one
of the most famous home
runs in New York baseball
history — a two-run shot to
center field to put the Mets up
for good.
“We did that,” Alfonzo said.
“After I got a pinch-runner for
me after I walked and I was on
the bench and I saw Mike hit
that ball out, what else could
you ask for?”
In terms of a storybook
baseball finish, not much.
It was the most memorable
moment of a Mets season that
ultimately ended short of making
the playoffs. Meanwhile, it
took years for the cleanup of
Ground Zero to truly feel complete,
though the emotional
scars will never be erased.
Yes, in the grand scheme
of things, it’s just a game. But
in a city like New York, it’s an
institution, a family, a place to
heal.
Fans at Shea Stadium in New York hold up signs prior to the Mets’ game against the Atlanta Braves in
New York on Sept. 21, 2001. REUTERS/Mike Segar
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