FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM SEPTEMBER 9, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 5
in helping New York City recover from 9/11
Getting to work
Shea Stadium, the former home of
the Mets, was just 16 miles away from
Ground Zero and was viewed as a vital
landmark with the space and capacity to
help relief eff orts.
“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 eff ort
because of some specifi c 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 fi rst 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.
“Th ere 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. “Th at 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 fi rst 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.”
Th at anxiety quickly dissipated.
“Th e fi rst of the fi rst responders that we
saw, we could see a total change in their
face when he saw the guys in their Mets
hats,” he said. “It was an instantaneous
break from what they were going through
for a week at that time. Th at put us at ease
and gave us some feeling of purpose.”
Back to baseball
Th ere had been mixed sentiments from
even some players on whether or not Major
League Baseball should continue the 2001
season aft er Sept. 11, but one resounding
voice helped ease any uncertainties.
“At fi rst, I thought the season would
end at that time, but then President
George Bush said let’s get back to playing,”
Alfonzo said. “Th at moment was like,
wow, this is going to be hard, but let’s play
baseball.”
Even more diffi cult was that the Mets
had to go back to Pittsburgh to resume
their series against the Pirates from Sept.
17-19 aft er nearly a week of trying to help
New York through the aft ermath of its
worst moments.
Th ey 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 fi rst-responder branches, including the
FDNY and NYPD.
“Th at 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 fi rst 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 fi eld,” he said. “It really was diffi -
cult. 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. Th at was a challenge
in itself.
“I think at that time, I don’t know if
everybody was really that hyped to start
playing again. I think we wanted to play
just to give us a break, but it was a diffi cult
transition.”
Shea healing
Baseball eventually returned to New
York on the night of Sept. 21 at Shea
Stadium, just 10 days aft er 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. Th ere’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
fi eld 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. Th at 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? Th at 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 aft er Brian Jordan
smacked a run-scoring double in the top
half of the frame.
“Th e rest, you can say is serendipitous
history,” Zeile said.
With one out against reliever Steve
Karsay, Alfonzo walked and was pinchrun
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 fi eld to put the Mets up for
good.
“We did that,” Alfonzo said. “Aft er I got
a pinch-runner for me aft er 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 fi nish,
not much.
It was the most memorable moment of
a Mets season that ultimately ended short
of making the playoff s. 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.
Todd Zeile
/WWW.QNS.COM
