Yankees catcher notes Triple-A win Saturday had real 9/11 connections

While the big-league New York Yankees were facing off against the New York Mets in a supercharged atmosphere of remembrance and playoff hope in Queens, New York’s Triple-A team ended up tripping into a little bit of magic of their own.

Early on, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders seemed destined to notch another peg in their recent slide, struggling after the MLB club forced them to undergo a talent drain.

Down 8-2 to the Rochester Red Wings in the third inning of Sunday’s action, it didn’t seem like the final score was going to be anything of note, let alone something weighty that might stir an emotional response.

Leave it to catcher Rob Brantly to notice, in the wake of a comeback win, that the team’s box score reflected a proper tribute to an extremely difficult 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, which involved both New York and the RailRiders’ Pennsylvania home.

After delivering the game-winning hit in a sea of huge hits for Scranton, Brantly took to Instagram to note the Sept. 11 iconography all over the box score.

Coincidence? Sure, maybe. But we’d all rather believe this was destiny.

Yankees catcher Rob Brantly pointed out some 9/11 coincidences with Scranton’s Saturday win.

A 9-11 final score with the home team pulling off a shocking comeback to deliver the result? 11 hits for both teams? Scranton making a pair of errors to change that column to 2-0, marking 20 years since the tragedy occurred? The losing pitcher dropping to 0-1 on the season, meaning it took a 9-11 game to send him to ’01? The list goes on.

Of course, Brantly had every reason to pore over the box score: it was the catcher himself, with two outs and two strikes, knocked the single to right that plated Scranton’s final two runs, breaking a 9-9 tie with aplomb.

Seconds away from heading to the ninth tied, Brantly delivered for legions of fans and suffering mourners in the region having an extra-tough day.

Coupled with Aaron Judge’s heroics and the pageantry in Flushing, and you’ve got a pretty impressive and complete picture for a tribute.

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