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Tanyon Sturtze and the Rays beat Roger Clemens 4-0 as the Yankees host a baseball game for the first time since the attacks.
By MARC TOPKIN
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 26, 2001
NEW YORK -- The resilient spirit of New Yorkers was on full display Tuesday as they welcomed baseball back to Yankee Stadium two weeks after the terrorist attacks with a roaring display of enthusiasm and patriotism.
And amid all the tears and all the cheers, the young Rays showed something, too, beating the Yankees 4-0, posting the first back-to-back shutouts in franchise history and beating Roger Clemens, who had won 16 straight on his way to an unprecedented 20-1 start.
It was a night of emotions at the fabled stadium, and there probably wasn't one that wasn't touched.
"Baseball," New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said, "is a wonderful thing to get you thinking about life."
There was a pregame ceremony that went from somber to stirring, loud shows of support for both America and America's team, a congratulatory outburst when the posting of Boston's loss made official the Yankees' clinching of the AL East and a championship celebration in the home clubhouse that really wasn't.
"The way tonight was, everyone was just playing for New York," said Rays pitcher Tanyon Sturtze, who had NYPD, FDNY and USA written on the inside of his cap. "I think that's the way we all went about it. I think we were playing for New York, they were playing for New York, and we just ended up coming out on top."
A crowd of 33,777 turned out for the Yankees' first home game since the tragedies, and though they may have come to honor the victims, praise the efforts of the rescue workers and support their country, they also came to cheer on the home team.
"I thought the night was great, wonderful," Yankees principal owner and Tampa icon George Steinbrenner said. "I just wish we could have delivered a better ballgame. It's always tough to lose to Tampa, you know."
Emotions have been hard to control the past two weeks -- "Like a four-wall handball game," Yankees manager Joe Torre said -- and the pregame ceremony ran the gamut.
Branford Marsalis started with a stark saxophone rendition of Taps. The Harlem Boys Choir delivered an emotional version of We Shall Overcome, and Michael Bolton joined to sing Lean On Me. Irish tenor Ronin Tynan gave a booming performance of God Bless America and Max Von Essen, son of New York's fire commissioner, followed with the national anthem.
The biggest cheers may have been reserved for Giuliani, who took a seat near the home dugout only to be called onto the field and embraced by Torre.
Flags flapped through the stadium, including 20 at full staff on the poles along the white outfield facade where there usually are pennants of other teams. The famed Yankees logo behind home plate was painted red and blue with white stars.
Players from both teams wore hats from the New York and Port Authority police departments and the New York Fire Department, and they were joined by members of the squads as they assembled along the foul lines for the anthem.
"I was speechless," Rays catcher Toby Hall said. "If someone didn't have a tear in their eyes something is wrong with them, because what went on before the game was unbelievable.
"Seeing all the cops and firemen around here, and all the emotion. I threw a ball up to one when we were warming up, and he thanked me. I thanked him. Just the reaction he gave me was awesome."
The Rays felt even better about the decision to donate their pay from Tuesday's game to the relief effort once they got to Yankee Stadium.
"It's the only thing to do," said infielder Russ Johnson, who helped organize the donation. "Everyone realized it and everyone wanted to. It was not even arguable."
Johnson said the Rays are deciding whether to make one donation to the Disaster Relief Fund formed jointly by Major League Baseball and the players' association, or to include other funds, such as the one to help children of firefighters killed on the job.
Players, coaches, manager Hal McRae and several top front office officials will contribute, with the total donation likely to be around $225,000.
"I think it's great on the part of our players and everyone involved in the organization," general manager Chuck LaMar said. "And it probably means more having come from the players."
The Yankees announced that a memorial would be erected in Yankee Stadium's Monument Park that "will honor all those perished as a result of the horrific events of Sept. 11, 2001, and pay tribute to the many heroes who showed courage, dignity and unrelenting efforts in response to the tragedy."
Two weeks since the attacks, and Tampa's Tino Martinez still can't believe what happened. And he had a first-hand view.
Martinez lives in a midtown apartment, and he could see the World Trade Center towers from his living room window. After his wife called from Tampa to tell him what was happening, he watched the towers crumble. As recently as Tuesday, he woke up still not believing what he wasn't seeing.
"When you come back and you look out your window and it's not there, you start to realize ... ," Martinez said.
The Rays flew in from Toronto on Tuesday afternoon, a departure from normal routine. They passed through the Toronto airport and U.S. Customs with no problems but did encounter delays going from the airport to their New Jersey hotel.
Team buses, like all other commercial vehicles, were stopped by police, and it took the equipment truck 2 1/2 hours to make what is normally a 20-minute trip from the airport to the ballpark.
Still, they played one of their best games, snapping an eight-game losing streak at Yankee Stadium. Sturtze held the Yankees to four singles through seven, surging Ben Grieve knocked in two runs with two singles and Brent Abernathy and Hall accounted for the other two as the Rays dealt Clemens his first loss since May 20.
At the stadium, security was blatantly increased. Players and coaches had to show identification and had their bags searched, as did reporters.
Fans were barred from bringing in all but the smallest bags. All were given small American flags. Many already were wearing red, white and blue.
"More than anything we felt proud to be here to honor the people who go out every day and put their lives on the line to make America a better place," Abernathy said. "To be out there with so many people who lost friends and lost family, that's what we were here for tonight, to honor those people. The baseball game definitely came second."