Amongst the remembrance ceremony to be held on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the New York Mets will wear the caps of first responder organizations for their game on Saturday night against the Yankees at Citi Field.
“Caps from the FDNY, NYPD, Port Authority Police Department, Department of Sanitation and Department of Correction will all be represented to commemorate their bravery and sacrifice,” a statement from the Mets read.
The Mets have worn first-responder caps on several occasions over the last 20 years — an idea that began when former first baseman Todd Zeile was given the FDNY hat of a first responder that was killed during the attacks when he visited Ground Zero just days after the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center fell.
“That became a tiny little symbolic gesture that this team was able to put forward for our appreciation of what those guys were doing while we were getting ready to play baseball again,” Zeile told amNewYork Metro last week.
Former Mets manager Bobby Valentine and former Yankees manager Joe Torre will participate in a ceremonial first pitch while a number of former Mets players will be in attendance. Most notably, Mike Piazza — the Mets Hall of Famer who hit the go-ahead home run in the first game back in New York after the attacks on Sept. 21 — will be at Citi Field.
Along with first responders, a number of organizations and contributors will also be represented on the field during pregame ceremonies, which will begin at 7 p.m. ET. That includes Tuesday’s Children, The Visionary Network from the 9/11 Museum, Answer the Call, New York Police and Fire Widows’ & Children Benefit Fund, which was created by Mets legend Rusty Staub, The Feel Good Foundation, and Mets employees who lost loved ones on 9/11 and worked at Shea Stadium to help the relief effort 20 years ago.
Performances include 17-year-old New York Jazz recording artist Anaïs Reno playing American the Beautiful, the NYPD Cops and Kids Chorus singing the National Anthem, and FDNY firefighter Regina Wilson singing God Bless America.
