In 2001, several days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks rocked the United States, Major League Baseball’s New York Mets honored the victims and the heroes of that day by wearing baseball caps with logos of the New York City fire and police departments.
On Sunday, the Mets planned to wear the hats again to recognize the 10th anniversary of the tragedy that changed our nation forever.
Major League Baseball, however, had other plans.
Moments before the game, the league sent MLB Player Representative Joe Torre ”“ a native New Yorker who coached the New York Yankees to three World Series Championships ”“ to tell the Mets that they were not allowed to wear the hats.
We feel MLB got this decision wrong.
Sept. 11, 2001 was a day that Americans will remember for all time. It was one of the worst attacks on American soil and changed our culture, our lifestyles and our way of thinking. Nearly 3,000 people died on that day, including more than 300 New York City firefighters and police officers who were just doing their jobs.
The Mets wanting to wear baseball caps to honor these victims was a reflective decision that showed the team’s compassion for what happened that day. The team brought the plans to MLB months ago when they were presenting the league with their pregame planning for the 9/11 ceremony. To most of us, it seems a no-brainer that the league would approve the hats, but obviously, the league doesn’t have a brain, as is evident with its decision. It’s just a baseball hat, after all.
According to Torre, the league wanted unanimity as the other teams in Major League Baseball were going to wear hats with an American flag emblem on them. That’s fine, let those teams do that, but let the Mets wear the hats they wore only days after the event. It’s a pretty simple decision.
Then again, Major League Baseball isn’t in the habit of making smart and simple decisions.
Earlier this season, the Washington Nationals wanted to wear hats honoring the U.S. Navy SEALS after 22 members of a SEALS unit had died in a helicopter crash in August in Afghanistan.
Major League Baseball said “no.”
In 2001, the league also told the Mets that they couldn’t wear the hats honoring 9/11 victims, but then Mets coach Bobby Valentine handed the hats to his players as they ran onto the field. The Mets were planning on pulling the same trick this time, but MLB confiscated the hats before the game.
This obviously shows that Major League Baseball takes itself too seriously and it doesn’t understand that baseball is only a game. Remembering the victims of 9/11 means a lot to Americans and efforts to do so respectfully should not be thwarted.
Baseball can learn something from the National Football League. They have uniform requirements, but lifted those restrictions on Sunday so that teams and players could show their patriotism.
It was a pretty easy decision, but it’s just too bad that baseball didn’t get it.
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Today’s editorial was written by Sports Editor Al Edwards, on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via e-mail at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
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