Mike Piazza's Home Run Lifts New York After September 11

On September 21, 2001, ten days after the attacks on the World Trade Center, the New York Mets hosted the Atlanta Braves at Shea Stadium in the first baseball game played in New York City since September 11. A crowd of 41,235 filled the park. First responders and families of those killed in the attacks sat throughout the stands.

The pregame ceremony included tributes to the victims and the rescue workers still searching through the wreckage in Lower Manhattan. Diana Ross sang "God Bless America." Liza Minnelli sang "New York, New York." Marc Anthony sang the national anthem. The Mets wore caps honoring the NYPD, FDNY, and other emergency services.

The Braves led 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning when Mike Piazza came to the plate against reliever Steve Karsay. Piazza drove a fastball deep to center field, well beyond the 410-foot marker, for a two-run home run that put the Mets ahead 3-2. The stadium shook. Fans chanted "U-S-A" as Piazza rounded the bases.

The Mets held on to win 3-2. The game's significance had nothing to do with the pennant race. New York was already out of contention. What the home run provided was a moment of release for a city that had spent 10 days in grief and shock. Piazza later said he was just trying to hit the ball hard, that he did not set out to create a symbol. The moment became one anyway, and it endures as one of the most emotionally charged at-bats in baseball history.