Former Mets manager Bobby Valentine, who was in the dugout when baseball returned to New York City for the first time following 9/11, paid a visit to the same New York City firehouse that he visited just days after the attacks this week, and he was flooded with memories and emotion.
“The emotion of being at [Ladder] 10, I remember being on the roof of that building as the remains were still smoldering, an whatever the smell was in the air and kind of choked you as you stood there, it was a tough little visit over to Ladder 10,” Valentine told Moose and Maggie on Friday. “Even though you’re not seeing the same faces, very often you see the same look in the eyes of the people that are here. That look of sadness and melancholy and wonder of what it was really like that day. That day was so incredibly horrific and different than anything I hope we’ll experience again. That will live on and those emotions will be prevalent tomorrow.”
Tomorrow, or Saturday, marks the 20-year anniversary of 9/11, and the Mets and Yankees will square off at Citi Field that evening, preceded by ceremonies to honor first responders, and a ceremonial first pitch thrown out by Valentine and former Yankees manager Joe Torre.
For Valentine, it will bring back the emotions of taking the field 20 years prior, when the Mets and baseball as a whole attempted to make a first step towards normalcy when the Mets hosted the Braves in one of the most memorable games in franchise history.
“I don’t remember it other than from my personal perspective,” Valentine said. “At the time and place, there was still a great deal of fear in our hearts…the fear was there and the uncertainty was there on what we should do. Playing a game in New York City was no small task…that was monumental. It changed things as they were about to be on Sept. 22. But we didn’t know that at the time. We didn’t know if we were gonna be the target of a new attack.”
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There was lingering fear so shortly after the 9/11 attacks, but Valentine never felt like he needed to address the team before the game. Everyone felt a baseball game in New York City was a necessary step towards giving citizens a sense of familiarity and comfort in one of the most uneasy times in the country’s history.
“There was no need for a conversation in the clubhouse,” Valentine said. “I got there early, I saw the men and women with long rifles and machine guns and sniffing dogs, and I felt we were not only doing the right thing, but we were going to be safe…the guys felt the same thing.”
Of course, the already emotional night went into overdrive in magnificent fashion thanks to Mike Piazza’s game-winning home run in the bottom of the eighth, which sent Shea Stadium into a frenzy, and for a few brief moments, a city in mourning was able to forget its collective pain and celebrate the purity of the nation’s pastime.
Valentine had a front-row seat for it, and will never forget the feeling.
“That moment in time was actually able to change the spirit and the soul of the people who were in the stands and the dugouts and watching on TV in their living rooms or bedrooms,” Valentine said. “Their souls went from despair to hope. It didn’t necessarily give us joy in the way of total celebration. It agave us the feeling of joy that we could have hope. That things could be normal again…that happened in a moment in time. I don’t know how it happened. I’m so glad that it happened and I’m so proud to say I was in uniform at that time and saw it and heard it first-hand.
It was spectacular.”
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