It was a good feeling. I felt the energy and I felt the cheering. Once I crossed home plate I knew — like, this is pretty cool. And people were going nuts. When I came out for the curtain call, I looked up to just thank and dedicate it to those we lost. That was on my mind. The home run will always be with me. The way I perceived it? A feeling of gratefulness — that I was able to be in the right place at the right time and able to come through. The people who lost their lives — not only the victims but the first responders that ran in to save people — is what we are about as a people, as a country.
We are about an idea, brotherhood, and love and family. I hope so. For that one period of time, we saw more of what we have in common instead of our differences. We all just cared about each other. I realize how fragile life is. I remember looking around the stadium, this giant crowd. Standing on the mound at Yankee Stadium was by far the most nervous moment of my presidency.
Billy Crystal, a lifelong Yankees fan, was in attendance and floored by the emotional resonance of the first pitch. Your politics go away. Maybe it was Yankee magic. All the ball players always talk about it. I hope it was. Secret Service agent who was with Bush that night. The next three games between the Yankees and Diamondbacks would become instant classics.
The Yanks won a nail-bitter in Game 3 behind pitcher Roger Clemens. Game 4 saw high drama in the bottom of the ninth inning with the Yankees trailing with two outs. The Mets and the Braves had fought each other competitively in the National League East for many years.
But this night would be different. Both teams took the field before the game and honored all the first responders and others who had rallied to help the region recover from the shock of September Coming into the game, the Mets had been playing well. But they finally started to play well as a team right before September By September 21, the Mets were just five games behind the Braves after sweeping all three games in Pittsburgh. The Braves took a lead in the top of the fourth inning.
After Julio Franco flied out to right field, Chipper Jones singled. The Mets tied the game in the bottom of the inning. After Edgardo Alfonzo flied out to center field, Piazza hit his second double of the game. Some of the details of the game have grown fuzzy with time. But these are inconsequential when measured against the enormity of what we had lost, and the huge national catharsis we were experiencing firsthand. It was a tight, low-scoring game. In the fifth inning, I climbed the stairs to buy more beer.
But when I got to the concession, I was told they had run out. The next stand was sold out too. I was stunned. A giant stadium had run out of beer halfway through the game. In the top of the eighth inning, the Braves scored to take a lead. The hope of a fairy-tale ending to an extraordinary night seemed to be draining away.
In the bottom of the inning, with one out and a man on base, Piazza stepped to the plate. Maybe it was because he lived in an apartment not far from Ground Zero. As if scripted, the future Hall of Famer slammed a towering home run into the night, and the Mets took a lead they would not relinquish. Delirium filled the stands.
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