Baseball Hall of Fame Opens New 911 Exhibit Hall of Fame Weekend

Fifteen years after the horrific events of Sept. 11, 2001, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum will pay tribute to baseball’s role in the healing process with a six-month exhibit, as well as with a special recognition during Hall of Fame Weekend. On Saturday, June 18, the Museum will cut the ribbon on an exhibit case that will remain open through the end of the year.  The centerpiece in Baseball After 9/11 will be the Mets jersey 2016 Hall of Fame electee Mike Piazza wore on Sept. 21, 2001, in the first game played in New York after tragedy befell the United States.  Piazza’s dramatic eighth inning home run propelled the Mets to a 3-2 victory over Atlanta at Shea Stadium.

Additional artifacts in Baseball After 9/11 will include both the “NYPD” hat worn by Mets manager Bobby Valentine and the “FDNY” hat worn by Mets pitcher John Franco on Sept. 21, 2001, as well as a game ticket to the scheduled Sept. 11 game at Yankee Stadium between the Yankees and the Chicago White Sox.

On Saturday, July 23 during Hall of Fame Weekend as part of the annual Awards Presentation at Doubleday Field, New York City Fire Department Battalion Chief Vin Mavaro will share his thoughts and memories of baseball’s role in helping New York City, and the nation, begin to recover from the 9/11 attacks. In late September of 2001, Mavaro found a baseball in the rubble of the World Trade Center. Upon donating it to the Museum, Mavaro explained at the time that the ball offered an unexpected, almost visceral, reminder of the ideal so many of us learned as children, the notion that a game – and its immortals – can have melding, communal power.

This historic ball will be featured in the Baseball After 9/11 exhibit case throughout Hall of Fame Weekend 2016.  During the July 23 Awards Presentation at Doubleday Field during Hall of Fame Weekend, Mavaro will be recognized along with 2016 J.G. Taylor Spink Award Winner Dan Shaughnessy and 2016 Ford C. Frick Award winner Graham McNamee. The Awards Presentation at Doubleday Field is free and seating is open to the public on a first-come, first-seated basis.