[Note: I didn't know where to put this. It's about sports, life, and it's a review.]


Nine Innings From Ground Zero (HBO Sports Presentation)






Disclaimer: "The following is a documentary about the events of September 11, 2001, and the weeks immediately after. Some of the material might be difficult for some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised."

November 4, 2001. 9:22 pm, Phoenix, Arizona. Mariano Rivera vs. Luis Gonzalez. Bottom of the 9th, Game 7 of the World Series, Bases Loaded. The 2-2 pitch... and over on the east coast, it's 11:22 in New York City, with construction crews still hauling away the fallen structures of the WTC buildings. And so opens the documentary.

Just a side note: Watching the collapse of the WTC buildings is one if the most sickening moments in the history of America. Seriously, watching that footage feels like I'm being stabbed in the heart and kicked in the stomach at the same time. It's emotionally draining, and a horrible image that will never go away.

Back onto the program: Running 60-minutes, the program is split into two kinds of "styles." One, a retrospective of residents of New York who were (more than others) directly effected by the events of September 11, usually death of loved ones from the buildings collapse, or firemen that died in the act of duty. In between clips of the baseball games, we see everyone in New York, hard at work, clearing out the debre of the Towers, bringing everyone back to earth about what really was going on in the world once the nine innings of a ball game came to an end.


One story is of a man who's wife suffered 3rd degree burns over 90% of her body, a survivor from the WTC attack. In a feel good moment, his wife, recovering from a coma, woke up during the middle of the series, and finding out her husband had tickets, told him to go, instead of staying by her side. Adrian in Rocky II she ain't, but it was a nice gesture.


Another, more touching moment, is of a young girl, who's father, a pilot, was killed during the 9/11 attacks, wrote a fan letter to Derek Jeter for him to visit her. Naturally those kind of requests don't happen. Derek Jeter, jerk of the century that he is (sarcasm), brought her to the stadium to meet him and the rest of the team.


Interviews include those of President George W. Bush, former Mayor of New York (and at the time, active), Rudolph Giuliani, various members of the New York Yankees, most notably Joe Torre, Paul O'Neill, Derek Jeter and Scott Brosius, Buster Olney (former columnist for the Yankees and current analyst on Baseball Tonight), Shaun Powell (New York Newsday), Curtis Sliwa (Guardian Angels), Sunny Mindel (Mayor's Communications Director 1999-2002), and misc. fans talk about 9/11, the problems that might occur with heavy security inforcements, tragic tales, and of course, the World Series.


The other focus, of course, highlights of the 2001 World Series featuring the New York Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks. On paper at least, a lop sided match-up. The Diamondbacks had 2 great pitchers, but a weak bullpen, and an aging lineup, while the Yankees were going for a 4th straight championship with the same core team from the previous victories.


Before the World Series though, baseball was shut down and New York was attempting to recover from the shocking horrors. Footage of relief efforts, including your average joes and members of the New York Mets and Yankees, helping out in various ways are shown, cheering up those emotionally distrought and helping deliver more supplies for those in need.


September 21, 2001 - Shea Stadium. The first sporting event in New York since the attacks. Mets and rivals, the Atlanta Braves, shake hands and hug on the field, before the game. Late in the game, New York magic comes through, as Mike Piazza knocks a towering home run into left-center field for the comeback. A sign of things to come for the city.


Liza Minelli talks for some reason, I guess just to get a celebrity cameo in there. She's singing "New York, New York", which kinda pisses me off because only one man should be singing that over the PA systems of a New York ballpark, and it's Frank Sinatra. Oh well, I guess the family estate wanted money for his recording to be used on this kind of a program, otherwise I can't explain the replacement.


With the playoffs about to begin, the Yankees, in the spirit of America coming together, became the front-runner for most fans, a weird instance because I think even fans at Fenway Park gave the Yankees a standing applause. But in the Divisional Series, the Yankees quickly fell down 2 games to 0. Late in Game 3, holding onto a 1 run lead, Derek Jeter pulled off one of the most amazing post season plays. With Jeremy Giambi rounding the bases from 1st base, the throw out of right field missed both cut off men (Soriano and Tino), but out of nowhere, Derek Jeter came darting across the diamond, scooped up the ball, side-arm flipped it to Posada, and Posada made the tag behind the leg of Giambi just about as he was crossing the plate, to end the inning. Some dispute that Giambi was probably safe, but it was bang-bang, and he didn't slide, so fuck him. This helped the Yankees rally to win the series, 3 games to 2. October magic begins again. The ALCS is brushed over with little comment, despite the Mariners owning a record of 116-46 going into the playoffs. It ended in 5 games.


October 27, 2001 - Bank One BallPark - Game 1 of the 2001 World Series
The Yankees opened the series with a first inning run, but from there, Arizona clobbered starting pitcher Mike Mussina, and by the end of the game, they picked up the victory 9-1, with plenty of help by pitching ace Curt Schilling. Game 2 faired less better for the Yankees against Randy Johnson, who pitched a 3-hit shutout, giving Arizona the first and second games of the series, and heading back to New York.


October 30, 2001 - Yankee Stadium - Game 3 of the 2001 World Series
In a witty tidbit, before the game, Derek Jeter told President George Bush, preparing to throw out the first pitch, to make sure he throws from the rubber of the mound, or the fans will boo him. Then he tells him not to bounce the ball, or the fans will boo him. Bush is nervous, of course. The game is glossed over, but the Yankees managed to pull out a 2-1 victory behind starter Roger Clemens, and several innings relief by Mariano Rivera.


October 31, 2001 - Yankee Stadium - Game 4 of the 2001 World Series
Mystique and Aura. No Curt Schilling, they aren't some nightclub dancers. Down 3-1 in the bottom of the 9th inning, and with Byung-Hyun Kim in relief, after striking out the side in the 8th, began to crack. Paul O'Neill blooped a single to left field, but Bernie Williams failed to follow up. With two outs, Tino Martinez came up. On the first pitch, Tino knocked one to deep center field to tie the game at 3. In the bottom of the 12th inning, the bells chimed midnight, signaling "November Baseball." Seconds later, Derek Jeter, at the time 1 for 15 in the series, lined a home run down the right field line for a walk off home run. One of the most incredible comebacks in the Yankees post-season dynasty of the era.


November 1, 2001 - Yankee Stadium - Game 5 of the 2001 World Series
"It's a little unfair to compare last night's game to anticipation for the game tonight because the games like last night happen once every fifty years."--Michael Kay, during the pregame show prior to Game 5.

No way it could happen again, but by the 9th inning came around, the D'Backs were up 2-0, and once again, B.H. Kim came in to close things out. Once again, with 2 outs, and the tying run on base, it happend. This time it was Scott Brosius, who launched a shot over the left field bleachers to send the game into extra innings. Once again, the Yankees ended the game with a walk-off hit, a line drive single by Alfonso Soriano, scoring Chuck Knoblauch, and the series 3-2 in the Yankees favor, was back to Arizona.


November 3, 2001 - Game 6 - Bank One BallPark
The Diamondbacks SLAUGHTERED the Yankees 15-2 behind starting pitcher Randy Johnson, now 2-0 in the World Series.


November 4, 2001 - Game 7 - Bank One BallPark
For the first time of the Yankees run of the 90's-early turn of the century, the World Series went to Game 7. Roger Clemens pitching for New York, Curt Schilling for Arizona. The Yankees took a 2-1 lead into the late innings, when Randy Johnson, who started the previous game, came in for relief, and retired all of the Yankees he faced. In the bottom of the 8th, Mariano Rivera, easily the greatest closer in baseball history and in the post-season, came on the seal the deal. But in the 9th inning, something was up. When Mark Grace singled to open the inning, there was a sinking feeling that Mariano Rivera, the untouchable Mariano Rivera, wasn't going to pull through. Tony Womack drove in the tying run with a 1-out double, and after Craig Counsell was HBP, Luis Gonzalez became the hero of the year, blooping a single up the middle to drive in the walk-off run, giving Arizona the 2001 World Series. But for some reason, as a Yankee fan and native of New York, I wasn't mad.


Although the Yankees had lost the series in heart-breaking fashion, the city of New York still won. The World Series gave the city, america as a whole, and the fans something to think about other than the 9/11 tragedies, gave us moments that will forever be remembered and cherished in Sports, and that no matter how bad the odds are stacked against you, there's always hope and the never say die spirit that lives inside everyone. The Yankees not only proved this with Game 4 and 5, but the Diamondbacks, the team no one expected to match up heading into the series, did the impossible in Game 7. Beat Mariano Rivera in the Post-Season.


Final Thoughts: Great documentary, for those who like baseball or not. The program gives light on the aftermatch of the 9/11 attacks, the effects it had on the city, and baseball. Even if you don't care about one, you probably will the other. Strong recommendation to see, but beware, even a tough guy like me had to cry a few times.

Good review.

For me, the hardest part of 9/11 was that it could have been me. Just regular schmucks sitting in the office, doing their jobs, reading email or visiting the breakroom and then, bam. I had never been to New York at that time, but it felt like someone was personally attacking my way of life. I felt guilty. If those assholes had decided to blow-up, say, the US Mint, I could've been killed.

I used to wake up to AM news radio in those days. I went to bed on the 10th and joked to myself that I'd wake up to the newscasters moaning about Ed McCaffrey's broken leg. The alarm woke me up at 7:40am on the 11th (9:40 on the east coast, well after the initial incidents) and the first words I heard from the radio were "billowing smoke still coming from the tower..."

I remember watching the Series up in my old bedroom while lifting weights and trying to get over the whole thing. It seemed like I was there when the clock chimed for November baseball. So the whole idea that the Series was good therapy-- absolutely correct.

When I went to New York and Yankee Stadium in 2005, I ended up at Stan's Bar --across from center field and below the subway-- to watch the end of the game. Pinned up on a wall on the bartender's table was a typed message. Something about a guy who had jumped on top of the 2nd tower while it was burning and waved a flag. Just a surreal moment.

I forgot to put my "where was I" moment in the recap:

I was just entering my 10th grade biology class, 2nd period. The teacher turned on the news, and I see smoke coming from the buildings from a distant camera shot. Me: What the hell?! Then I'm like, this has to be a show or something, because I was still kind of half a sleep. Then the second building was struck on live television, and then the first building went down.

The site of people in those countries like Afghanistan cheering made me want to nuke the whole fucking planet.

I had just walked into work in Charlotte, and people were kinda joking about some terrible pilot who flew directly into one of the towers. We turned on the TV to see what was going on, and shortly after, the second building was hit. The room just fell silent. None of us had even considered that we were being attacked until seeing the second plane. That weekend Everything was playing at Amos' in the Southend. Everything normally packed out clubs here, but that night, the crowd was scattered. Everybody was talking about being afraid to be out in public. Craig Honeycutt took the stage by himself with an acoustic guitar and began playing U2's "One". One by one, the band joined him, and by the end everybody in the crowd was singing along, and totally crying like a bunch of babies...yes, including me. As weird and silly as it sounds looking back at it, it was a very touching moment, and a time of release to start moving on.

I don't remember much about the Series that year, except that Ney York was in it, and that seemed significant for some reason.

I was in Psych class. It started at 9. Afterwards, a kid walked on stage in the auditorium, and then said "If you've never been patriotic, then nows the time to start." I thought "Oh crap, what now." And then he explained that planes were flown into the towers and into the Pentagon. I thought "Into the Pentagon? There's fucking anti-aircraft missile on top of the building!!" I left and went to chapel (Yes, it was a Christian School), during which the University President asked us to pray and allowed those wanting to stay to watch news coverage on the projector screens. He let anyone who was too distraught to skip class, though most people didn't.

It was very fricking surreal.

And yes, the Series was great therapy for me and my buddy from Brooklyn. Lucky for him, no one he knew was in the Trade Center. But his sister did work down the street

This happened during my senior year in high school. At the time of the 1st plane, I was in my 1st period Geometry B class, and none of us knew what was going on, because there was no announcement. It wasn't until around 11:45 (5th period) that I found out what was going on. As an office aid, me and others would go and deliver passes to the office or whatnot for students, and when I entered one of the rooms, I saw a smoke-filled tower. I was unaware of what was going on, until I asked this one girl who was going to the office. From there, I came back to the office, and the phones were ringing like crazy, probably from parents wondering if there would be school the next day. Throughout study hall (6th period) and Government (7th period), we all watched news coverage of the 9/11 stuff.

For the next few days, I kept my attention on the coverage, as it was mainly the only thing on TV. It didn't really hit me until the live Smackdown on Thursday, when Lillian Garcia was singing the National Anthem and she got to the part of "Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there", where I sorta broke down for a few seconds.

Speaking of flags, during Game 4, for about half an inning, Joe Buck and Tim McCarver focused entirely on the tatered flag recovered from Ground Zero that was raised at Yankee Stadium (featured on the DVD cover).

Just a random observation.