10 years ago, the Diamondbacks and Yankees engaged in a thrilling World Series that helped a nation move forward from 9/11 terrorist attacks
APThe Diamondbacks celebrate after Luis Gonzalez, left, drove in the winning run in Game 7 of the World Series against the New York Yankees.
By Tony DeMarco
NBCSports.com contributor
updated 2:30 a.m. ET Sept. 9, 2011
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But they'll never forget how Ground Zero still burned six weeks after the tragedy that changed America forever ? or the horrific smell that lingered there.
They cringe at the thought of the absolutely crushing, ninth-inning, two-out, two-run, game-tying home runs by Tino Martinez and Scott Brosius in Games 4 and 5 that led to dramatic extra-inning losses.
But they'll never forget the chill-inspiring moment when President George W. Bush fired a ceremonial first-pitch strike to a Secret Service agent dressed as a Yankees player before Game 3.
They'll always cherish the memory of Luis Gonzalez's jam-shot blooper that fell in shallow left-center field, and of Jay Bell joyfully bounding to the plate with their series-winning run off the incomparable Mariano Rivera.
But members of the 2001 World Series-champion Arizona Diamondbacks will never forget being part of something that was so much more than just a Fall Classic.
"When I went to Ground Zero and met those heroic workers, I thought baseball was so insignificant,'' says former Diamondbacks first baseman Mark Grace, now a member of the team's television broadcast crew. "But then I realized that I was mistaken. In that World Series, baseball became very, very important. Not only to baseball fans, but to the country.
"The mistake a lot of people made was they thought 9/11 only happened in New York City, Washington, D.C., and a field in Pennsylvania. It happened to all of us. I was messed up over it, and I lived in Arizona. It didn't matter where you lived; you were a victim.''Adds ex-third baseman Matt Williams: "It was really cool to be a part of it all. But you'd just as soon not have been a part of it.''
Williams, now the team's third-base coach, already had been through a World Series marked by disaster, this one natural. As a member of the 1989 San Francisco Giants, he was sitting in the home dugout at Candlestick Park, waiting for the pre-Game 3 introductions when a massive earthquake rocked the Bay Area.
The series finally resumed 10 days later ? anti-climactic in that the Oakland A's completed an easy four-game sweep ? but at the same time, vitally rejuvenating in the minds of area residents.
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Amy Sancetta / AP Mark Grace looks at the monuments to Yankee greats before Game 3 of the 2001 World Series in New York. Grace said he initially thought baseball was insignificant in the wake of 9/11. "But then I realized that I was mistaken. In that World Series, baseball became very, very important. Not only to baseball fans, but to the country." |
"We even had to ride the BART (mass transit system), as a team, underwater across the bay to Oakland ? just to show everybody that it was safe,'' Williams remembers.
But the 2001 World Series was something else entirely ? an event viewed as a city's and even a nation's mental release from all the tragedy of the Sept. 11 attacks.
But first, the Diamondbacks jumped in a bus headed for the Ground Zero site. Williams couldn't help but notice that the closer they got, the deeper all the dust and ashes were on all the window sills in the area."We went into the command center,'' Williams says. "There were people there, working 24 hours a day, six weeks after it happened. They still were trying to find folks. They knew where their people were, but couldn't get to them. It was horrible. You felt helpless.
"It put baseball in perspective. We were there to do our job, which was to play baseball. We were able to give people three hours of something else (besides the tragedy). But their job was to save people's lives. Completely different realms.''
Radio broadcaster Greg Schulte remembers that even though the visit came during the day, the smoke and ashes in the air made it seem like it was night.
"It was still burning, still very dark there,'' Schulte says. "Curt Schilling made a rather stirring speech to all the workers ? firefighters, paramedics, everybody on the site.
"To be in that city at that time ? it was a very serious situation. I don't think we felt like we were in danger, but you always were looking over your shoulder, wondering if everything (the terrorist attack) was done.''
The Ground Zero visit was optional for Diamondbacks team members, but Grace wasn't about to miss it. He had to go, to see it for himself.
"Even though it was a very depressing situation, it also was a very uplifting one because you got to meet all the rescue people ? the cops, the firemen ? and you listened to their stories,'' Grace says.
"They were so upbeat. We called them heroes, and they didn't want to be called heroes. They said, 'we're just doing what we're supposed to do'. To me, it was like, you guys are bad-asses.
"That's what I remember. That, and the really bad smell. It smelled like death. And I don't ever want to smell that again. Ever. I just got chills thinking about it again.''
The Diamondbacks brought a 2-0 series lead to Yankee Stadium, but left trailing 3-2 after one memorable pre-game ceremony, and three gut-wrenching, one-run losses.
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Ron Frehm / AP Of President Bush's ceremonial first pitch before Game 3 of the 2001 World Series, Mark Grace says "Whether you were a fan of President Bush's or not, he was awfully presidential in that moment.'' |
"They flew the tattered flag (from the World Trade Center), the eagle flew into home plate from center field, and President Bush came out and fired a strike,'' Williams says. "The 'umpires' came out with him, and we had never seen any of them before. We said, 'who are these guys?' They were Secret Service. In full MLB-issued garb.''
Facebook: Readers chime inReutersShawn Breeze"i dont like the yankees but at that time with the situation i was leanin for them to win it all" Kurt Laduron"I live in Phoenix and am a Yankee fan, although I wasnt to upset that the Diamondbacks won because it was good for our town, but I really wanted the Yankees to win because the WTC attacks by the cowardly radical muslims had been such a tradegy for New York and the nation...it was bittersweet a victory for the Diamondbacks." Cris McHenka"I am not a New Yorker and I was rooting for the Yankees." |
With the exception of Byung-Hyun Kim, the Diamondbacks' closer whose career never was the same after serving up those epic home runs in Games 4 and 5, you could make the argument that the script went as it should have those nights in The Bronx.
"Those games were won in Yankee Stadium the way they were supposed to be won ? late, dramatic, all of that,'' Williams says. "For once, everybody wanted the Yankees to win this World Series.
"And I kinda think we felt like the Yankees usually feel ? like the Evil Empire. Nobody wants them to win because they've won so many. They're always the favorites. They're the one everybody wants the underdog to beat.''
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David J. Phillip / AP Most fans might not have wanted the Arizona Diamondbacks to win the 2001 World Series, but the pitching of Randy Johnson, left, and Curt Schilling in Games 6 and 7, as well as Luis Gonzalez's heroics, proved too much for the Yankees. |
It didn't look good for the underdog Diamondbacks trailing 3-2 after those three crushing losses at Yankee Stadium. But that's not what they were thinking. They remember their plane ride back to Phoenix as an upbeat one, minus any panic. For they were a confident bunch of accomplished veterans, and they had Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling lined up to pitch Games 6 and 7 in their home ballpark.
"After we won the first two, we were thinking, 'we're better than these guys','' Grace says. "We had a lot of star power on that team. There were a lot of All-Star games, a lot of Gold Gloves, Cy Youngs. That said, we still had to score two in the bottom of the ninth off Mariano Rivera to win it.''
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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44430824/ns/sports-baseball/
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