9/11 And Yankee Stadium

The pregame ceremonies before Game 3 of the 2001 World Series included a giant American flag in center field and President George W. Bush throwing out the first pitch. (Courtesy of Scott Pitoniak)

 

At Yankee Stadium over the weekend of September 7-9, 2001, the Yankees had swept the visiting Boston Red Sox. Boston was in second place, but then a full 13 games behind the Yankees. The two teams were set to play a fourth game on the evening of the 10th, but it was rained out. Boston was then to go to Tampa Bay, and the Yankees were to host the Chicago White Sox.1

At 8:46 on Tuesday morning, September 11, American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. All 87 passengers and crew aboard were killed instantly, as were the hijacker and an unknowable number of people inside the building. Less than 20 minutes later, at 9:03 A.M., another group of terrorists aboard United Airlines Flight 175, with 65 innocents on board, piloted that plane into the South Tower. At 9:59, the South Tower collapsed and at 10:28 the North Tower collapsed as well. Some in the World Trade Center had been able to escape, evacuating before the collapse, but the death toll was large.

Two other planes were hijacked. One deliberately crashed into the Pentagon outside Washington at 9:37 A.M. A fourth plane, thought to have been one targeting the White House or the US Capitol, saw passengers rise up and fight with the terrorists; the plane crashed in a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

In all, the four suicide missions claimed nearly 3,000 lives. Across the country, no one knew how many other airplanes there might be, or what else terrorists might have planned. Anyone who lived through that time can remember the shock and uncertainty.

Police nationwide swung into action. All regular commercial air traffic was halted, an embargo that lasted for days. Potential targets were identified, and actions were taken to try to guard against other unpredictable possibilities.

YANKEE STADIUM

Police shut down the grounds around Yankee Stadium and also scoured the nearby Macombs Dam Bridge for possible bombs. As Yankees GM Brian Cashman drove into the city from Westchester, he “saw the devastation from a distance” and got on the phone trying to make sure that all the players were accounted for. Some of them – the New York Times mentioned Roger Clemens and Chuck Knoblauch – lived in apartments unspecifically described as “some distance from the World Trade Center area.”2 Tino Martinez could see the smoking Towers from his window.3

Red Sox CEO John Harrington had been on his way to an owners’ meeting in Milwaukee but his flight was diverted.4

Cashman acknowledged concern that Yankee Stadium itself could be a terrorist target because it was such a symbol. “I’ve always worried about it,” he said.5 The Stadium had been described that day as “perhaps the building that most symbolizes American sports. … It was evacuated within 90 minutes of the first attacks on the World Trade Center.” Yankees spokesman Rick Cerrone said after leaving his office, “The ballpark is ringed with police.”6

Yankee Stadium was indeed perhaps the preeminent structure identified with American sports. It had hosted other moments related to tragedy. Pro Football Hall of Famer Larry Wilson recalled that nearly 50 years earlier, after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963, his St. Louis Cardinals NFL team had played a game in New York. “When they announced the national anthem, the entire crowd, every person in Yankee Stadium for a sellout, rose and sang the anthem together.”7

On September 12 the Stadium was closed. At least a couple of pitchers turned up, but were unable to gain entry.8 Arthur Richman, a senior adviser and consultant to the Yankees, was seen leaving the empty Stadium, closed for business as were most enterprises in the area. He had been the only one there. There had been a few others for a while, but a bomb threat resulted in their all being sent home. “I’ve been coming here since 1928,” he said, “I can never remember being the only one in Yankee Stadium.”9

All play was suspended, as was true throughout the sports world and much of American society. A couple of days later, on September 13, it was announced that baseball games would be called off for the week but resume on Monday, September 19. Commissioner Bud Selig and others wrestled with the decision, “weighing baseball’s role as the national pastime against the need to maintain proper decorum in the face of one of the country’s greatest tragedies.”10

Two employees in the Yankees’ ticket office had lost sons in the attack.11

BASEBALL ACTIVITIES RESUME

The Yankees had a workout at the Stadium on Saturday the 15th, getting in some throwing, fielding, and batting. But Ground Zero was very much still on their minds. “Players stood in small groups and when they talked, they spoke little of baseball.”12 Each flagpole that typically bore a banner for each team in the American League was graced by an American flag, at half-staff. Despite President Bush’s call for citizens to try to resume their lives and show that America would not be cowed, Yankees third baseman Scott Brosius said it was perhaps too soon, but later said the workout was almost “therapeutic,” adding, “Maybe for three hours a day we can take minds off realities.”13 After the workout, three vans of Yankees went to Manhattan to visit rescue workers at the 23rd Street Armory and St. Vincent’s Hospital. Derek Jeter said, “It was good to see the people, the volunteers and the firemen and the police. They were asking for autographs and you felt like you should be asking for their autographs.”14

The team went on the road – to Chicago and then Baltimore. It was an emotional first game in Chicago, with the team wearing New York City Fire Department and Police Department hats in pregame ceremonies. Several of the Yankees were said to have wept, and manager Joe Torre had to go back to his office to compose himself. Bernie Williams said he had never heard White Sox fans root for the Yankees before.15

Their first game back at Yankee Stadium was on September 25, hosting Tampa Bay.

The Mets had returned to play in New York first, at Shea Stadium hosting the Atlanta Braves on September 21. Every member of the team donated his pay for the day to a charity benefiting the families of the first responders who had lost their lives.16 There were, of course, much tighter security measures for fans and others attending the game.

MEMORIAL SERVICE AT YANKEE STADIUM

The Yankees held a memorial service at Yankee Stadium on Sunday the 23rd. An estimated 20,000 attended the city-sponsored program, “A Prayer for America.” The program, lasting for more than five hours, featured James Earl Jones and Oprah Winfrey as co-hosts. Religious leaders, the mayor, the governor of New York, both of New York’s US senators, and former President Bill Clinton also attended.17

One essayist suggested that while “a common enemy brings people together … as does grief,” there was something inherently fitting about Yankee Stadium as the venue for such a service. It brought together representatives of all faiths, including Islam. It “wasn’t about God, nor was it about religion. It was about the kind of place – unique on earth, unique in history – in which such a thing is possible. And there was no mistaking what place it was, with the Bud Light and Utz potato chip and Adidas signs clearly visible behind the prelates and patriarchs.”18

THE FIRST GAME BACK

For the Yankees’ first game back in New York, there was very tight security, even including bomb-sniffing dogs in the Yankees clubhouse.19 In pregame ceremonies on the 25th, public-address announcer Bob Sheppard disclosed that the club would erect a special memorial in the Stadium’s Monument Park. Saxophonist Branford Marsalis played “Taps,” and the Boys Choir of Harlem sang “We Shall Overcome,” which prompted cheers during the verse “We are not afraid.” Michael Bolton followed with “Lean on Me,” and Ronan Tynan’s voice resonated with “God Bless America” with a giant American flag as a backdrop. The national anthem was sung by Max Von Essen, the son of the New York City fire commissioner, as Challenger the bald eagle was brought to the pitcher’s mound. Four emergency workers threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

The Yankees had clinched at least a tie for the division title the day before. They won the division championship on the 25th, but there was no spraying of champagne.20 Celebrations were muted. “I guess it’s kind of strange,” said Roger Clemens. “To be honest with you, I was just proud to be a part of this game.”21

Some fans made it a point to visit the Stadium. Laura Prichard, described as a lifelong Yankees fan, lived two hours away and hadn’t been to a game all year, but she made sure to come, saying, “It’ll show to Americans that we can come out to a gathering like this and not be afraid.” Manhattan public school teacher Richard Cirino said, “A lot of people like to go to church to feel together with the city, with different people. I get that same feeling here at Yankee Stadium, and I expect that feeling today.”22

The Yankees lost that night, but won five of the eight games on the homestand (two losses, one tie), then wrapped up the season in Tampa Bay.23

THE 2001 POSTSEASON

This was a team coming off back-to-back-to-back World Series championships and aiming for a fourth. In the Division Series they prevailed against Oakland in five games, after losing the first two games at home and coming to the brink of elimination.24 They took the best-of-seven American League Championship Series in five games over a Seattle team that had finished the season with a major-league record-tying 116 victories.25

At the final ALCS game, on October 22, in which the Yankees pounded the Mariners, 12-3, fans in attendance understood the gravity of what was happening as the team inched closer to the pennant. They began chanting “over-rated” at their impressive opponents in the late innings, and “No Game 6!” in response to Mariners manager Lou Piniella’s guarantee that the game would go back to Seattle.26

Piniella managed to take the loss in stride. “This city has suffered a lot and tonight they let out a lot of emotions,” he said. “And I felt good for them in that way.”27

After the Yankees celebrated their 38th pennant with another muted clubhouse champagne toast, fans welcomed the diversion of the team’s seemingly unbelievable run so far. Hundreds waited for hours outside the Stadium that night into the next morning for World Series tickets to go on sale, including Mike Burke, a carpenter working at Ground Zero.

“We are here to support the Yankees. They are going to win the World Series again,” he said optimistically. “And we’re going to rebuild New York again.”28

“We need to be distracted from issues like anthrax and war,” added Gilda Carle, a psychology professor at Mercy College.

And Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who seemed never to miss an important game from his box at the Stadium, agreed. “It does so much for the civic pride of New York,” he said. “But in addition to that, it puts so much focus and attention on New York and gets people to start thinking about other things.”29

Though much of America was always primed and predisposed to root for “any team that plays the Yankees,” this year was different. Many fans across the country were rooting for the Yankees, in a certain sense of solidarity with the city.30

From the heart of the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry, on the day before the World Series began, the Boston Globe published an editorial, “New Best Friends.” It started:

Go New York!

The cheer arises from an untapped well deep within the psyche of Red Sox Nation. The voice sounds strange but feels exactly right. The World Series begins tonight and the Yankees must win their fourth-in-a-row enchilada grande.

Were this a normal year, they would have to lose, and swiftly, as Boston hissed every run scored against the Diamondbacks … [but f]eeling good for the Yankees and for New York is feeling good for our country and ourselves.31

THE 2001 WORLD SERIES AT YANKEE STADIUM

The 2001 World Series was against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The first two games were on the road, in Phoenix, and Arizona won easily, 9-1 and 4-0. On the eve of Game Three, the first game at the Stadium, October 30, Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy wrote, “In the aftermath of Sept. 11, the Yankee Stadium experience has been louder and more raucous than ever. …” He noted that “each game has been preceded by an American bald eagle landing on the mound at the conclusion of the anthem.”32

After arriving at the Stadium, Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Mark Grace said, “I think this will be the safest place in America. I think a lesson we learned after the 11th was, not only for myself but all of us, we are not going to live our lives in fear, no way.”33

President George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game Three. Other than Jimmy Carter in 1979, Bush was the first president to throw a first pitch at a World Series game since Dwight Eisenhower had at Ebbets Field in 1956. There was exceptionally tight security with even one of the umpires a Secret Service agent in disguise, during the pregame.34

Bush discussed the moment afterward: “I had never had such an adrenaline rush as when I finally made it to the mound. I was saying to the crowd, ‘I’m with you, the country’s with you.’… And I wound up and fired the pitch. I’ve been to conventions and rallies and speeches: I’ve never felt anything so powerful and emotions so strong, and the collective will of the crowd so evident.”35

After losing the first two games at Bank One Ballpark in Arizona, the Yankees rebounded by winning all three games at Yankee Stadium. A dominant performance from Clemens in Game Three (one run, three hits, nine strikeouts in seven innings) and two perfect innings from closer Mariano Rivera put away Game Three. Then Games Four and Five were won in extra innings – with the tying run in each coming on a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth off Diamondbacks closer Byung-Hyun Kim.

Tino Martinez hit the game-tying blast over the center-field wall in Game Four. Then, at the stroke of midnight in the bottom of the 10th, Yankee Stadium became the first ballpark to host November baseball, and Derek Jeter became “Mr. November” (per a sign held up by a fan) when he swatted the game-winner to right.

Not 24 hours later, lightning seemed to strike twice, this time off the bat of Scott Brosius. Game Five went 12 innings, with Alfonso Soriano’s walk-off single scoring Chuck Knoblauch.36

The Yankees left New York one win away from a fourth straight championship.

Back home in Phoenix, however, the Diamondbacks scored early and often in Game Six, winning 15-2, and ultimately won the 2001 World Series by overcoming a 2-1 Yankees lead in the bottom of the ninth inning in the final Game Seven, taking the game 3-2.

It had been an important World Series in many regards, helping to some degree in healing after the death and destruction that had been visited on the country on September 11.

BILL NOWLIN has perhaps logged 1,000 games at Fenway Park and maybe 20 or so at Yankee Stadium (wisely enough, never wearing a Red Sox cap) – both the original one and the newer one, and including the 2001 weekend series before 9/11. He preferred the old ballpark for its greater grittiness and narrower concourses, which seemed to better amplify the passion. After 50 years in the record business, most of his time is spent writing and editing for SABR.

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to Tara Krieger for her assistance in preparing this article.

 

NOTES

1 The White Sox had arrived in New York around 2: 00 A.M. on the 11th and learned of the attacks upon waking at their Midtown hotel. See Paul Sullivan, “White Sox Find Themselves Close to Action,” Chicago Tribune, September 12, 2001.The Red Sox flew to Tampa on Monday night.

2 Buster Olney, “Cashman Accounts for Players as Stadium Is Evacuated,” New York Times, September 12, 2001: C18.

3 Nathan Maciborski, “Yankees Magazine: Never Forgotten,” MLB.com, September 10, 2019, https://www.mlb.com/news/bernie-williams-9-11-experience.

4 Jeff Horrigan, “Tragedies Hit Hard for Fossum, Sox,” Boston Herald, September 12, 2022.

5 He added, “They’ve always taken the steps necessary to protect it the best they can, but I just see what took place today. Sometimes the best steps still can’t prevent things from happening.” Bryan Heyman, “‘No Place for Sport,’” White Plains (New York) Journal-News, September 12, 2001: C1.

6 “No Events Today; Events Postponed,” Newport News (Virginia) Daily News, September 12, 2001: B3. Wire service reports said that two National Hockey league scouts had been among the passengers killed on United 175.

7 Wilson added, “I got chills then, and I got chills now thinking about it.” Will McDonough, “Vivid Memories of Playing Through Pain in ’63,” Boston Globe, September 16, 2001: C1.

8 Orlando Hernandez and Jay Witasick were both mentioned. George A. King III, “Yank Minds Not on Playing,” New York Post, September 13, 2001.

9 Rafael Hermoso, “Empty Yankee Stadium Is Filled with Eerie Sounds of Silence,” New York Times, September 13, 2001: C14. Richman lived in Greenwich Village and said that from his window, he personally had seen the plane slam into the South Tower.

10 Dave Sheinin, “Baseball to Resume Monday,” Washington Post, September 14, 2001: D6.

11 Ben Walker, “Baseball Leads Sports World in Return to Action,” Quincy (Massachusetts) Patriot Ledger, September 17, 2001: 19. The grieving Yankees employees were vice president of ticket operations Frank Swaine and Hank Grazioso, who worked in advance ticket sales. Swaine’s son, John, and Grazioso’s boys, Tim and John, were all employed at Cantor Fitzgerald, on the 104th floor of the North Tower.

12 Buster Olney, “Yankees Are Back, Even if They’re Not,” New York Times, September 17, 2001: C18.

13 Joel Sherman, “Yankees Begin Long and Emotional Road Back,” New York Post, September 16, 2001.

14 George A. King III, “Yankee Hearts Feel the Pain,” New York Post, September 17, 2001.

15 Buster Olney, “Triumph and Cheers Greet Yanks in Return,” New York Times, September 19, 2001: D1.

16 Tyler Kepner, “Emotional Return Home for the Mets,” New York Times, September 21, 2001: D1. George Vecsey wrote an article on the same page of the Times headlined “New York’s Ballparks Have Served the Nation Before.”

17 Robert D. McFadden, “The Service: In a Stadium of Heroes, Prayers for the Fallen, and Solace for Those Left Behind,” New York Times, September 24, 2001: A1.

18 Peter Freundlich, “Getting It Together,” Washington Post, October 7, 2001: B1.

19 Dave Sheinin, “Yankees Return to City,” Washington Post, September 26, 2001: D7.

20 They had actually lost the game, 4-0, but the Red Sox had lost their game and so the Yankees had clinched.

21 Buster Olney, “Sense of Loss Mars Yanks’ Division Championship,” New York Times, September 26, 2001: D9. Clemens also passed Bert Blyleven that night with his 3,702nd career strikeout, for what was then the third-most all-time.

22 Edward Wong, “Runs, Hits and Healing at Stadium,” New York Times, September 26, 2011: D11.

23 The tie game with Baltimore was called, 1-1, after 15 innings due to rain and was the last road game of Cal Ripken’s 21-year career.

24 The tide turned against the Athletics in Game Three at the Oakland Coliseum, in which the Yankees won a 1-0 thriller, a lead preserved when shortstop Derek Jeter’s improbable “flip” from behind home plate to catcher Jorge Posada prevented Jeremy Giambi from scoring the tying run.

25 Seattle’s 116 regular-season wins tied them with the 1906 Chicago Cubs for the most ever. It also broke the American League record of 114 set by the 1998 Yankees.

26 George A. King III, “Yanks Put Another Flag in Their Bag: Crush M’s to Bring 38th Pennant to Bx.,” New York Post, October 23, 2001, https://nypost.com/2001/10/23/yanks-put-another-flag-in-their-bag-crush-ms-to-bring-38th-pennant-to-bx/.

27 Opinion, “The Likeable Yankees,” New York Times, October 24, 2001: A20.

28 Mark Stamey, “Thanks, Yanks! – Team Brings Smiles to Grieving City,” New York Post, October 24, 2001, https://nypost.com/2001/10/24/thanks-yanks-team-brings-smiles-to-grieving-city/.

29 Stamey.

30 Firefighters in Phoenix watching the World Series, for instance, showed some support for the Yankees because of their ties to New York. Alan Feuer, “In City Primed to Hate Yankees, the Ground Zero Workers Demur,” New York Times, October 28, 2001: A1. All the Yankees love drove Nicholas Dawidoff to pen an op-ed for the New York Times, “It’s Still OK to Root Against the Yankees,” October 20, 2001: A23.

31 “New Best Friends,” Boston Globe, October 27, 2001: A14.

32 Dan Shaughnessy, “Yankees Fans Are Loud, Proud,” Boston Globe, October 30, 2001: D1.

33 Gordon Edes, “A Secure Feeling at the Ballpark,” Boston Globe, October 31, 2001: F5.

34 Bill Nowlin, “U.S. Secret Service Agent Puts His Life on the Line Posing as a Major-League Umpire,” in Larry R. Gerlach and Bill Nowlin, The SABR Book of Umpires and Umpiring (Phoenix: SABR, 2017), 425-6.

35 Mike Bertha, “Today in Postseason History: President Bush’s Iconic First Pitch at Game 3 of the ’01 World Series,” MLB.com, October 30, 2015. https://www.mlb.com/cut4/president-bush-throws-first-pitch-at-yankee-stadium/c-155935460.

36 Game Five of the 2001 World Series also was the last game right fielder Paul O’Neill played at Yankee Stadium. The fan favorite had hinted at retirement, and the Bleacher Creatures gave him a standing ovation before the game, chanting his name periodically throughout. Jack Curry, “On Baseball: An Emotional End for All the O’Neills,” New York Times, November 2, 2001: S8.