Why the Yankees–Mets 9/11 Game Put Two Families on the Mound
Summary: The Yankees–Mets game on the 9/11 anniversary carried a formal tribute, a ceremonial first pitch from two families tied to the attacks, and a reminder of how New York baseball returned after 2001. This article explains what happened and why the ritual endures.
On the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the Yankees hosted the Mets at Yankee Stadium with a pregame ceremony that reached well beyond the usual Subway Series pageantry. Members of the NYPD, the FDNY, the Port Authority Police Department, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation and Tuesday’s Promise were recognized before the first pitch. Fans were asked to take their seats by 6:30 p.m. so the ceremony could begin. Earlier in the day, current Yankees players were scheduled to place a wreath beside the 9/11 monument in Monument Park.
The first pitch came from a family link to Flight 175
The ceremonial first pitch belonged to Brielle Saracini and her husband, Sean McGuire. Their connection to the day is direct. Brielle’s father, Victor Saracini, was the captain of United Flight 175, the plane flown into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Sean’s father, Patrick McGuire, was working on the 84th floor of the World Trade Center. The couple, whose fathers both died on 9/11, delivered the pitch together. USA Today described the moment as part of an emotionally charged set of ceremonies.
Players from the Yankees’ 2001 team were also scheduled to take part. ESPN reported that Derek Jeter reunited during the ceremony with the daughter of a 9/11 victim. The reunion tied the current roster to the era that played through the immediate aftermath of the attacks.
The 2001 season that turned baseball into a ritual
For New York baseball fans, the ceremony was not a new idea. On September 21, 2001, the Mets hosted the Atlanta Braves at Shea Stadium in the first game played in New York after the attacks. Mike Piazza hit a dramatic home run that lifted the Mets to victory. The Yankees reached the 2001 World Series, where President George W. Bush threw out the first pitch before Game 3, and the Yankees lost in seven games to the Arizona Diamondbacks. That season fixed the idea that baseball could function as a public space for grief and resilience.
A real game still had to be played
None of the ceremony erased the stakes of the actual game. Cody Bellinger hit a three-run homer and the Yankees beat the Mets 6-4, according to MLB.com. The result gave the home team a meaningful September win, but the night’s larger purpose was the annual accounting of what New York lost and what it built afterward. Putting two families on the mound made that accounting personal.