Amazin’ WTC memory
At 9/11 Museum, ex-Mets relive Shea return after terror
Nearly 17 years later, the sight of a baseball disappearing into the Queens night still makes John Franco’s face light up.
The ex-Met, accompanied by former teammate Todd Zeile, smiled widely Thursday at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum as he watched a video of Mike Piazza’s dramatic Sept. 21, 2001, homer in the city’s first post-terror attack sporting event. The clip is part of an exhibit on Sept. 11 and sports, with one section devoted to the initial Mets game at Shea Stadium after the attacks.
“I remember the anthem was really emotional,” said Franco of that night. “The crowd was kind of quiet. And when Mike hit that home run, everybody in the stands was hugging, crying and kissing each other.
“And we were doing the same on the bench.”
The two former Mets, accompanied by FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro, toured the museum and the “Comeback Season: Sports After 9/11” exhibit. Piazza’s dramatic blast to center field lifted the Mets to a 3-2 win over the Braves while boosting the traumatized city’s spirits.
“I still get goosebumps,” said Franco, a Brooklyn native. “That’s probably the top game for me.” “For me, too,” agreed Zeile. “By far,” said Franco, who lost two FDNY friends when the towers collapsed.
“It was certainly the most important game (I played in), and the way it ended up made it even more significant,” said Zeile.
Both ballplayers were among the contingent of Mets players and coaches who visited Ground Zero in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Zeile recalled a buzz at the typically-somber site after a wedding ring was recovered in the rubble, a golden link to a lost victim.
Both Mets recalled how Major League Baseball tried to block the team from wearing FDNY, NYPD and Port Authority baseball caps to honor those killed in the attack. Zeile, the team’s player rep, pushed back hard and the Mets honored the living and the dead in lower Manhattan by donning the hats.
“We said, ‘Fine us,’” recalled Franco. “Come down and take ’em off our heads. You’re going to have to fight 40 guys to get ’em back.”
The exhibit features one of those hats, worn by Franco when he took the mound at Shea in the eighth inning of the Piazza game.
Zeile recounted the overwhelming feeling that accompanied the team’s visits to the burning rubble at Ground Zero, where first responders searched for the remains of co-workers,
“We weren’t sure how we’d be received — we’re baseball players,” the third baseman recounted. “When we got there, I was overwhelmed by their embrace. I’m a California guy, and it made me feel like a New Yorker forever.”