President George W. Bush throws ceremonial pitch in New York in Game 3 of the World Series. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
After the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, the country struggled to think about anything but United Flight 93 and 175.
Little did the world know that the United States needed a distraction in order for the wound to heal, and New York needed a remarkable baseball season in order to fully recover.
Prior to the attack, many baseball games were scheduled for the evening of Sept. 11. However, at 8:46 a.m. Eastern time, a lot changed.
United Flight 93 was hijacked by terrorists and crashed into the World Trade Center's North Tower. Seventeen minutes later, United Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower.
The terrorist attack caused the deaths of 2,996 people and the destruction of two of the five tallest buildings in the world.
Because of the morning tragedy, Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig canceled all evening games. A few days later, all games through the end of the week were canceled.
According to sbnation.com, "there was a great deal of talk about 'perspective' and the relative irrelevance of baseball and professional sports" following the attack.
On Sept. 18, the MLB season continued. It was different, though – especially for the New York Yankees.
The team had been in New York when the attacks on the World Trade Center happened. Following the attack, some players drove home to be with their loved ones, while some players stayed in the city and tried to help it heal.
Three days before the season resumed, Yankees manager Joe Torre and a few of the players visited various sites around the city to comfort emergency workers, victims and relatives of victims.
In 2009, Joe Torre published “The Yankee Years,” a book about the New York Yankees and issues they faced. In his book he notes, "the most emotional part was the Armory."
"You go to the staging area and you see the workers and you shake their hands. And there were people waiting on results, DNA results, to see where their loved ones were."
Torre later added, "I think I realized at that point in time there was a purpose for us being there … Somebody looked up and sort of waved us in, a family member. They brought out pictures of the family members they were waiting on, pictures of them wearing Yankee hats."
Of course the Yankees involvement helped the city heal a little, but the real healing began when the MLB season resumed.
For their first game after the attack, the Yankees wore new caps with "NYPD" stitched on them to honor the New York Police and Fire Departments.
Though they had a lot on their minds, the Yankees dove into a phenomenal season. They went on to win the American League East Title.
They then faced the Oakland Athletics in the Division Series. Though they lost the first two games, they won three straight to defeat Oakland and advance to the American League Championship Series.
The Yankees defeated the Seattle Mariners in five-games and headed to their fourth World Series in the past four years. Here, they took on the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Diamondbacks dominated the Yankees in games 1 and 2, but momentum shifted when President George W. Bush – wearing a New York Fire Department jacket – threw the ceremonial pitch for the Yankees.
When President Bush stepped onto the mound, abcnews.go.com described his pitch as "a signal to the country that healing could begin after the 9/11 attacks."
The Yankees won the next three games, but it wasn't enough to defeat Arizona. The series went to Game 7, where Mariano Rivera struggled to pitch, ultimately losing the World Series for New York.
Though the Yankees didn't win the World Series, their remarkable season inspired the whole nation.
With their World Series run, "anxiety and gloom momentarily gave way for classic baseball and national pride, a unifying moment in a time of crisis," wrote abcnews.go.com.
The Yankees reminded a hurting country what the United States stands for: hard work, determination and passion. President Bush's historical pitch gave the country a reason to begin to heal.
Most importantly, though, the MLB illustrated to the United States – and the world – the importance of sports. It's not just a pastime, it's a way to find triumph in tragedies.
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