Yankees: NYY to Face Mets for Special Sept. 11 Anniversary Game in ’21

The Yankees will play an emotional game at Citi Field on 9/11/2021.

While many of us remain uncertain about what form the 2020 season will take for the Yankees, even after Monday night’s schedule reveal, we finally have an event on the 2021 calendar to batten down the hatches for.

Both New York teams should prepare for a very emotional night on 9/11/2021, as the Yankees will travel to Citi Field to take on the Mets as part of a special presentation to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that rocked our nation.

New York sports teams were thrown off course by the tragedy in 2001, but swiftly became part of the recovery effort, both unintentionally and of their own volition.

The Mets became the first team to return to New York for athletic competition on Sept. 21, 2001, with catcher Mike Piazza’s dramatic eighth inning home run serving as the difference in a victory over the Braves.

Meanwhile, the Yankees spent the days following the tragedy comforting families who’d lost loved ones in the areas around Ground Zero, with Mariano Rivera, Joe Torre and Co. visiting the Javits Center to lend aid and a comforting shoulder to those still searching for signs of life. That October, they’d go on a run for the ages as America’s Team (suddenly), winning two World Series games following game-tying home runs with two outs in the ninth.

Though they didn’t capture a 27th title, New York’s run lifted a nation, with President George W. Bush’s first pitch before Game 3 serving as a national moment of unity.

20 years later, the wounds of those weeks still feel fresh, and it’s quite fitting that New York City has been chosen for an interleague commemoration. We have but one request.

MLB: Let the Yankees and Mets wear the caps! In the days after the tragedy of Sept. 11, they allowed our on-field heroes to give thanks to those who’d been through hell. In the years since, the league has blocked such gestures, though first baseman Pete Alonso has tried hard to cut through the red tape, wearing specialty cleats in 2019.

Presuming the league intends this to be an across-the-board tribute, we’re sure they’ll come around for this very special night.