I wish they had done it
In the shadow of all the emotions of yesterday, it's a small thing, but I wish the Mets had thumbed their noses at Major League Baseball's bureaucracy and worn the first responder hats in the game last night.
We all know the only reason the Mets were on ESPN last night was because it was 9/11. They had a really beautiful pregame ceremony, and the players were wearing the first responder hats, in tribute both to those who died and to the memory of the first Mets game after the devestation ten years ago.
That game had been an incredible cathartic release for NYC - look, we're here, we're playing ball, everything will be OK. Every player knew what was happening that night, how important healing was for their adopted city. They'd been out and about in the previous week, hands-on helping like the rest of New York. They'd been to Ground Zero and had been given these hats by the relatives of first responders who had died. And damn it, they were going to wear them in the game, even though Major League Baseball, at the time, told them not to. As then-Met Todd Zeile said, "they were going to have to rip them off our heads." Well, they wore them and broke everyone's hearts while lifting everyone's hopes, and that image is indelible now.
So when they went to recreate it last night... Major League Baseball said no? Because they'd already issued an edict on what all the teams should wear on 9/11? This isn't "all the teams." This is the Mets, this is New York, this is paying tribute to a spirit of ten years ago, just like everyone was striving to do. This was a remembrance of a stupid baseball game and the power it had to give a city a defiant, jubilant voice. Through the pure actions of the players, it was strong, and heartbreaking and healing without being orchestrated by a marketing machine.
If you don't live around here, or you weren't alternately crying and laughing and cheering while watching that game, then whether or not a loser team ten years removed wore certain hats seems a non-issue. But to those of us who remember that night, well... I wish the team had defied the league and worn the hats.
We all know the only reason the Mets were on ESPN last night was because it was 9/11. They had a really beautiful pregame ceremony, and the players were wearing the first responder hats, in tribute both to those who died and to the memory of the first Mets game after the devestation ten years ago.
That game had been an incredible cathartic release for NYC - look, we're here, we're playing ball, everything will be OK. Every player knew what was happening that night, how important healing was for their adopted city. They'd been out and about in the previous week, hands-on helping like the rest of New York. They'd been to Ground Zero and had been given these hats by the relatives of first responders who had died. And damn it, they were going to wear them in the game, even though Major League Baseball, at the time, told them not to. As then-Met Todd Zeile said, "they were going to have to rip them off our heads." Well, they wore them and broke everyone's hearts while lifting everyone's hopes, and that image is indelible now.
So when they went to recreate it last night... Major League Baseball said no? Because they'd already issued an edict on what all the teams should wear on 9/11? This isn't "all the teams." This is the Mets, this is New York, this is paying tribute to a spirit of ten years ago, just like everyone was striving to do. This was a remembrance of a stupid baseball game and the power it had to give a city a defiant, jubilant voice. Through the pure actions of the players, it was strong, and heartbreaking and healing without being orchestrated by a marketing machine.
If you don't live around here, or you weren't alternately crying and laughing and cheering while watching that game, then whether or not a loser team ten years removed wore certain hats seems a non-issue. But to those of us who remember that night, well... I wish the team had defied the league and worn the hats.