4 THE QUEENS COURIER • SEPTEMBER 9, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Members of 2001 Mets refl ect on their role
BY JOE PANTORNO
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Th e tears along the tapestry that is the
history of the United States are stark
and unpleasant — ranging from a Civil
War to natural disasters, pandemics and
attacks on home soil, to name just a few.
Th rough the years, baseball has become
so ingrained in American culture that it
has been looked upon to heal the nation
during hard times.
Th is Sept. 11 marks the 20th anniversary
Photo by REUTERS/David DeNoma
New York Mets players, coaches and manager Bobby Valentine (r.), react to the playing of “The Star-
Spangled Banner” before their baseball game with the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh on Sept. 17,
2001. Valentine is holding a New York Police Department hat in memory of thevictims of the Sept.
11 attack on the World Trade Center.
of the worst terrorist attack conducted
upon American shores as nearly
3,000 people were killed in a calculated
assault carried out by al-Qaeda.
Two planes struck the twin towers of the
World Trade Center in New York City; a
third plane hit the Pentagon just outside
Washington, D.C.; and a fourth plane was
heroically forced down in Shanksville, PA.
As a nation came to terms with the
shock of the unthinkable happening in
their proverbial backyards, mourning
the loss of thousands, and the seemingly
insurmountable task of trying to recover,
baseball once again was not too far behind
to help — ever so slightly — alleviate the
pain that is still felt so deeply by so many
two decades later.
And the New York Mets led the way.
‘Confusion’
Following a mostly diffi cult August,
the defending National League champion
Mets were surging at the right time
in hopes of nabbing a spot in the 2001
playoff s. Aft er taking two of three from
the then-Florida Marlins, the Mets had
won 10 of their last 12 and traveled from
Miami to Pittsburgh on Sept. 10 for a
three-game set against the Pirates.
“We get to Pittsburgh around 3 in the
morning and when you travel, you go
straight from the airport to the hotel
and check-in, go to your room and go to
sleep,” said Edgardo Alfonzo, Mets Hall of
Famer and the team’s second baseman in
2001. “My wife knew that every time we
traveled, we get in early in the morning.
So it surprised me when she called at like,
9 in the morning.”
“‘Put the news on. Something happened,’”
Alfonzo recounted his wife telling
him.
Th e fi rst plane had just struck the North
Tower of the World Trade Center.
“I turned on the TV and I caught the
news between the fi rst and second airplane
strikes,” said former fi rst baseman
Todd Zeile, who was two days removed
from his 36th birthday at the time. “At
fi rst, it seemed like a really bizarre, random
story of a plane out of its fl ight path
ending up in the tower, and then watching
live as the second one struck, it became a
totally diff erent feeling.”
So sunk in the reality that the United
States was under attack.
“It was a feeling of confusion, a feeling
of dread. I don’t think anyone really
anticipated at that time what was going
on. It was ‘wait, how is this possible?’”
Zeile said. “Th ere’s confusion when you’ve
grown up without that kind of activity on
your own shore and I think that was, to
me, what resonated. We’ve heard about
terrorist activity all over the world but it
never has been at home.
“And it was literally at home. I was living
in New York and a part of this Mets
team and I felt a part of this city.”
So did most of the Mets, most particularly
pitchers John Franco, from Brooklyn,
and Al Leiter, from Toms River, NJ.
“Johnny tried calling home. Th e line
was out. Th e service was off completely,”
Alfonzo said. “It was scary.”
While glued to their television sets at
the Westin Hotel, which was connected
to the William S. Moorhead Federal
Building, it was discovered that Flight 93
— which took off from Newark, NJ —
veered off course and was heading toward
the Pittsburgh area, prompting the Mets
to evacuate from the hotel.
“We went to a hotel up in the mountains
and we were wondering, ‘What are
we going to do here?’” Alfonzo said. “So
we were waiting to see what the next move
was for us.”
Over the next hour, the towers collapsed,
Flight 77 crashed into the
Pentagon and Flight 93 went down in that
fi eld in Shanksville.
“We were thinking, ‘Is this really this
widespread and calculated?’” Zeile wondered.
“For the rest of that morning, day
and into the night, we were wondering if
there were other things that were going
to happen and there was a feeling of nervousness
and confusion.
“You couldn’t take your eyes off the
screen thinking of the devastation that
occurred and how we were going to recover
from it. Th ere was also an element of
confusion of ‘where were we going to go?’
‘How were we going to get there?’”
Finding their way home
With the airports shut down, the Mets
were able to get a pair of busses on the
night of Sept. 11 to take them back to New
York — a trip that will forever stick in the
minds of every player and staff member
on board.
“I remember being quiet and generally
MLB bus rides aren’t quiet,” starting
pitcher Glendon Rusch, who was 26 at the
time, said. “Many of the times we travel,
everyone has a pretty good time, but this
one was quiet. Very somber and everyone
was in disbelief … I don’t think anyone
knew how to handle that situation with us
being in our 20s and 30s.”
“Th ere had been talking on the way
home that was diff erent than anything
ever discussed on a major-league or
minor-league bus ride,” Zeile added. “I
think the camaraderie that was building,
and then we got to the bridge.”
Th e George Washington Bridge provides
one of the most breathtaking views
of lower Manhattan but as the seven-hour
trip entered the heart of New York City
at roughly 2 a.m., only more weight was
added to the gravity of the situation.
“I remember seeing fi re and smoke and
wreckage from a distance,” Rusch said.
“Th at area was kind of aglow with fi re and
orange … Very sad to see what was going
on and it only got worse once we really took
in the magnitude of what was happening.”
For Zeile, what happened inside the bus
was just as impactful as what the Mets
saw outside.
“Everyone crowded to the right side of the
bus and you could hear a pin drop,” he said.
“Looking down where the towers had been
and you’re seeing fl oodlights shining up into
the sky, illuminating the smoke that was still
billowing … you could smell what smelled
like an electrical fi re. Th at sort of burning
smell that I’ll never forget. Th e silence was
broken only by the sound of emotion —
tears by some of the guys that had direct,
personal connections to the city.”
“I was devastated,” Alfonzo added.
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