Yankees turn Subway Series into heartfelt commemoration 25 years after 9/11

NEW YORK — As the Yankees’ pitchers and hitters began their respective pregame meetings on Friday afternoon, the daily seminars opened with a twist.

Shown to them was what Aaron Boone called an “outstanding,” three-minute video on the significance of Sept. 11, 2001. With Friday marking the 25th commemoration of the terrorist attacks that targeted the World Trade Center, Brett Weber, the Yankees’ senior director of advance scouting and replay guru, put the clip together.

The intention was to give the Yankees a quiet moment to reflect before hosting the Subway Series and beating the crosstown-rival Mets, 6-4.

“This is a day that will be remembered forever,” Weber said, “and at the end of the day, that was really the message.”

Boone also made sure to talk to his players, who recently attended the National September 11 Memorial & Museum and a handful of local firehouses, about the importance of the day. Among other things, he wanted to make sure that they knew how vital baseball became in the aftermath of the tragedy, as the game helped the city and the country heal.

Some Yankees weren’t even alive then. Others were too young to have any sort of first-hand recollection.

“Being a baseball player at the time and knowing the role that baseball played at the time, it feels like an honor to go out there tonight,” Boone said. “I understand there’ll be a lot of different emotions in the building tonight with a lot of people and with a lot of different contexts in and around that time and that day, so we don’t take lightly walking out on that field tonight.”

“We get consumed with playing,” the manager continued. “It’s our livelihood. We pour so much into it, but there are always days that lend perspective. Having a distraction in the evening for a few hours, I know at that time meant a lot to a lot of people, and you felt that as a player.”

Two such people were Brielle Saracini and her Mets-supporting husband, Sean McGuire, who threw out ceremonial first pitches on Friday. Both were just 10 years old when they lost their fathers on 9/11, and they found each other through Camp Better Days.

Saracini’s father, Victor, captained United Flight 175, which was hijacked and directed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. McGuire’s father, Patrick, worked on the 84th floor.

Days later, Saracini wrote a letter to Derek Jeter. In it, she explained how her father had always wanted her to meet the longtime Yankees shortstop. Jeter responded by inviting Saracini to a game, thus beginning a friendship that remains strong to this day.

“It’s amazing to think that if the [2001] season wasn’t finished how my entire life and trajectory would have changed,” Saracini said Friday with Jeter by her side. “So I can’t imagine a scenario of baseball not being played because it meant so much to so many people.

“That’s definitely what the country needed and what the country united around, and it became this special thing that healed me.”

Jeter, still clearly moved by his bond with Saracini, shared a similar sentiment.

“As an athlete, it was the first time that I said to myself, ‘Why am I even playing?’ ” the Hall of Famer recalled. “And then you had a chance to meet a lot of family members who lost loved ones, and Brielle’s right at the top of the list because I got a chance to get to know her. You realize from the stories that they’ve shared — she even said in her letter, the memories that they have at Yankee Stadium, her and her dad, of going to games, of being a Yankee fan — that’s when you realize that our job was to at least try to give people something to cheer for for a few hours a day.”

Jeter was not the only member of the 2001 Yankees in attendance on Friday. He was joined by ex-manager Joe Torre, Jorge Posada, Paul O’Neill, Tino Martinez, Scott Brosius and Mariano Rivera. All stood behind Saracini and McGuire as they threw their first pitches — meant to represent the 3,051 children who lost a parent on 9/11 — to Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt, respectively.

Bellinger’s father, Clay, was also on the 2001 Yankees and among the players who visited Ground Zero after 9/11. Clay then became a firefighter after his playing career ended.

On Friday, Bellinger donned an FDNY cap and swung an FDNY-themed bat in honor of his dad — the Yankees and Mets all wore hats that recognized local first responder departments — and drilled a three-run homer for the pinstripers in the second inning.

Other contributions included a fifth-inning solo shot from Ben Rice, who also used an FDNY bat, and 6 1/3 innings from Carlos Rodón, who allowed one earned run. But the in-game performances came secondary to the heartfelt tributes, gestures and remembrances that preceded the contest.

Among the others: Boone, Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole laid a wreath at the 9/11 plaque in Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park. The Yankees also made $25,000 donations to Tuesday’s Promise, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, the NYC Police Foundation, the New York & New Jersey Port Authority Police Department, and the FDNY Foundation.

The Yankees even repainted the interlocking NY logo that sits behind home plate. By giving the typically all-white insignia a red, white and blue, star-spangled design, they recreated the way it looked at Old Yankee Stadium on Sept. 25, 2001. That was the day of the Yankees’ first home game after 9/11.

It was another nice touch to a day that was full of moments that won’t be soon forgotten.

“It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years,” Jeter said. “Some of the players that are here were born after Sept. 11, so it’s very important that we make sure that we teach them the history, what happened, and how the world changed.”