Tallarini: 23rd Anniversary of 9/11 MLB Stoppage Impact  

The 23rd Anniversary of September 11, 2001, still reflects to this day for many of the families that have lost their loved ones in Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan alongside New York City residents that were either living or working during that time frame.  

Four commercial planes were hijacked in the United States by members of a powerful organization group, Al Qaeda, whose leadership was based in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  

Two of the planes that were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center was Flight 11 going into North Tower I and into floors 93 to 99 at 8:46 a.m. ET and Flight 175 struck South Tower II on floors 77 to 85 seventeen minutes later at 9:03 a.m. ET.  

There were between 16,400 and 18,000 people in the WTC complex, and nearly 3,000 people died that day, along with airplane passengers, civilians, and first responders. 

American Airlines Flight 77 at 9:37 a.m. ET was also hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon, killing 64 people that were on the plane and 125 people that were in the facility of the Pentagon.  

According to the United States Department of Defense, “The Pentagon Memorial is the first national memorial dedicated to honoring the 184 people whose lives were lost at the Pentagon that day, their families, and all those who sacrifice so that we may live in freedom.” 

The fourth plane that was hijacked on 9/11 was United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in an open field in Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, at 10:03 a.m. ET and 44 people were killed.  

The hijackers on United Airlines Flight 93 had intentions to crash the plane into a federal government building in the nation’s capital, and the mission became a failure due to the passengers that fought back on the plane, forcing the terrorists to crash the plane in Southwestern Pennsylvania.  

Sports and the major professional leagues took a halt for quite some time frame in the United States during the September 11 attacks.  

Former Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig ordered all 2001 regular season games to be postponed for a week due to the terrorists’ attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.  

It took six days for the 2001 MLB regular season to resume on September 17, 2001, and for Former United States President George W. Bush to decide that professional and college sports should continue operating with regular seasons.  

Jack Buck, the former announcer of the St. Louis Cardinals, had a famous poem that he recited at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis, Mo., on September 17, 2001, and opened his speech with, “I don’t know about you, but as for me, the question has already been answered. Should we be here? Yes!”, before the Red Birds took on the Milwaukee Brewers.  

Former National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue canceled the 2001 regular season games slated for Week 2 on September 16 and 17 in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, resulting in those games being moved until Week 17 of the weekend of January 6 and 7, 2002. The NFLPA team representatives from the 31 organizations voted 17-11, including the New York Jets and New York Giants not wanting to play due to the proximity of their training camp facilities in the NYC tri-state metropolitan area and the course of scheduling from the league’s office.  

On September 23 and 24 of the 2001 NFL regular season, all the teams scheduled to play on those dates resumed, with the New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who each had their bye weeks scheduled.  

The New York Mets played their first road game on September 17, 2001, at PNC Park against the Pittsburgh Pirates, where starting pitcher Al Leiter worked seven innings in a 4-1 win. Both organizations flip-flopped the home and road dates of two late-season series so that Shea Stadium could continue to be used as a staging area for rescue supplies for first responders and NYC natives.  

A month and a half later, when the New York Yankees played the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2001 World Series, George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch in Yankee Stadium during Game 3 and threw a strike down the middle of the dish in front of the roaring crowd in the Bronx, which ignited the country and countless baseball fans to come together as one after the 9/11 attacks.  

I was seven years old during 9/11, and my father, Louis Tallarini, was the chairman of the Columbus Citizens Foundation, which runs the Columbus Day Parade in New York City up Fifth Avenue annually.  

I attended the 2001 Columbus Day Parade when former Mets manager Bobby Valentine was the Grand Marshall, the year after he took the orange and blue to the 2000 Subway Series to play in the Fall Classic against the New York Yankees.  

The 2001 Columbus Day Parade brought the whole New York City and Italian-American community together. First responders walked up Fifth Avenue, and attendees left right outside of St. Patrick’s Cathedral from Columbus Day Mass. It was the first major public event in Manhattan, held at the request of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.  

You could hear and see the bagpipes and sirens blasting from NYPD cars and FDNY fire trucks outside of the Italian American chapter and non-for-profit groups that were also marching in the 2001 Columbus Day Parade up to the red carpet between 67th and 68th street on Fifth Avenue.  

World Baseball Network had the chance to speak with WBN Board Chairman and Former President of the Columbus Citizens Foundation Louis Tallarini about the decision to hold the first major event in Manhattan after the September 11 attacks.  

“It felt great with the decision to have the Columbus Day Parade. Our board voted to cancel the parade of what was happening in New York and being in constant dialogue with the mayor’s office. Giuliani asked us not to cancel the parade and to hold the parade and promote the parade so that we can show the world that New York City and Manhattan was open for business again,” Louis Tallarini told World Baseball Network.  

Joe DiMaggio in 1991, Yogi Berra in 1975, and Tommy Lasorda in 1990 were the other Grand Marshalls for the Columbus Day Parde in New York City outside Valentine after the September 11 attacks.  

“Valentine was a great Grand Marshall, and to have his presence at the 2001 Columbus Day Parade just a few weeks after the September 11 attacks was very special given his strong presence with the Mets and the MLB,” Louis Tallarini said to WBN on his remarks with Valentine being the 2001 Columbus Day Parade Grand Marshall.  

Fast forward to 23 years later, the September 11th memorial event brought thousands of citizens from across the country and world to pay their respects to their close loved ones who lost their lives during the attacks.  

WBN attended the 2024 Cantor Fitzgerald 9-11 Relief Fund in Manhattan on Wednesday and talked to former New York Yankees Catcher Jim Leyritz and New York native actor Chris McDonald about what the country and the NYC metropolitan area were going through at that time.  

McDonald spoke to WBN on Wednesday and discussed attending the 2024 Cantor Fitzgerald 9-11 Relief Fund event alongside the effects of the country and New York City area.  

“It’s one of the most important things going on for ten-plus years, and I have only attended the Cantor Fitzgerald 9-11 Relief Fund event in my third year, and being invited back every year is a tremendous honor for me. I was here on 9-11, and it was a catastrophe with so many lives that were lost along with the firm that lost so many employees and friends during the attacks. It’s great to come here and honor those who passed on that day and to give back in the charity work of what CFRF event does year in and year out,” McDonald told WBN on Wednesday afternoon.  

Three-time World Series champion Leyritz also spoke about the 9-11 attacks to WBN and discussed being in New York the year after playing in the 2000 season alongside his former teammates who dealt with a lot during that time frame.  

“I was one of the former players on the Yankees that lived in NYC and was part of the community, and I felt like even though I was playing at that time, I was supposed to fly back that day, and when I came back to New York a week later and taking it in what happened, seeing it firsthand really hit hard and wondered what can I do to help, and of course Howard and Edie started the charity event and I have been part of it for the last 14 years. It’s one of those events that helps turn from a tragic day to something positive, and what the workers to give out their salaries for the day is for special cause,” Leyritz told WBN on Wednesday.  

Many other sports legends and actors attended the 2024 Cantor Fitzgerald 9-11 Relief Fund Event, such as current Yankees players Anthony Volpe Oswaldo Cabrera, former New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, two-time Super Bowl Champion New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, Actor Kevin Dillon, 2003 U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick, former MLB outfielder Nick Swisher along with so many more iconic figures that attended on Wednesday at both of their offices in Midtown and Lower Manhattan.  

Chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, Howard Lutnick, and Founder and President of the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund, Edie Lutnick, started the 9-11 Relief Fund event on September 14, 2001. There were 658 Cantor Fitzgerlad employees who lost their lives during the World Trade Center attacks.  

According to cantorrelief.org, “Howard Lutnick pledged for 25% of the company’s profits over five years, in addition to providing ten years of healthcare coverage to the surviving family members. This incredible commitment totaled $180 million in support to the families”.  

A hundred percent of all donations to the Cantor Fitzgerlad 9-11 Relief Fund event go directly to families in need 23 years after the WTC attacks, and the CFRF has raised $300 million since its inception.  

Battle Of The Badges 3rd Year Event At Citi Field – NYPD vs. FDNY: 

The third year of the Battle of the Badges, which features the NYPD and FDNY, will take place on September 12 at 7:10 p.m. EDT at Citi Field.  

According to the Mets website, “Former Mets Captain and seven-time All-Star David Wright will host the game and will honor an NYPD and FDNY hero for doing “The Wri5ht Thing” prior to first pitch on September 12.  

Last season, Citi Field had 7,314 fans in attendance, a record crowd for the NYPD and FDNY Battle Of The Badges game. The FDNY won 7-4 over the NYPD in 2023 and gave the New York’s Bravest a lifetime 13-12 record over New York’s Finest.  

Both teams will consist of former high school, college, and minor league baseball players who are now members of the FDNY or NYPD. 

All tickets are $20 to enter Citi Field for the 2024 Battle Of The Bades Event at Citi Field. A portion of the ticket sales will go to the FDNY Foundation, NYCPBA Widows & Children’s Fund, and other organizations. 

Photo Credit: The New York Mets and New York Yankees stand side by side during ceremonies honoring the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)