The terrorists on September 11, 2001, needed only 17 minutes to bring New York City to a horrific halt. At 8:46 AM, American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. 17 minutes later, at 9:03 am, United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower. New York was left to cope with irreparable loss. At the time, America’s favorite pastime, baseball, helped bring normalcy to survivors. 25 years later, New York Yankees’ former captain Derek Jeter recalled how their primary aim became bringing life back to a grieving New York.

“We had the chance to meet so many family members that had lost loved ones, and it was a common theme when we talked to them, it was memories that they had going to Yankee Stadium. They’re still watching us every night. We were in a playoff hunt at that particular time,” Derek Jeter recalled on Good Morning America.

“And I think that’s when it clicked for us that we said, ‘Listen, we can’t change anything, obviously, that happened, but what we can try to do is just provide some entertainment, for even just three hours a day, and give people something to cheer for, and we took that responsibility seriously.”

On that fateful September day, the New York Yankees were supposed to play against the Chicago White Sox. The first pitch was scheduled for 4:05 PM at Yankee Stadium. When the Twin Towers collapsed in Manhattan, the players were preparing for the match ahead. Alongside the towers at the World Trade Center, the terrorists also attacked the Pentagon. They had hijacked a fourth plane, but the aircraft crashed in a rural field in Pennsylvania.

Following the attacks, Major League Baseball suspended the games until September 17. The Yankees resumed playing in Chicago on September 18. Jeter, a member of the 2001 Yankees team, remembered feeling trivial as a baseball player after the attacks.

“For the first time, you’re sitting there saying, ‘I’m just a baseball player, doesn’t mean anything at all.’ And everyone was asking, ‘When are you going to get back to playing?’” Jeter told Michael Strahan on Good Morning America. “And I’m like, ‘Do we really even need to get back to playing?’”

From that feeling of insignificance rose a sense of duty to the hurting citizens. Derek Jeter and his team continued their playoff push to entertain their viewers. Those few hours of entertainment helped the victims and survivors navigate the crushing loss.

The defending champions, the Yankees, reached their fourth consecutive World Series in 2001. They had won the Fall Classic in the previous three years (1998-2000). That year, they clashed with the Arizona Diamondbacks and lost in seven games. Games 3, 4, and 5 were played in the Bronx. In Game 4, Jeter hit a walk-off home run. But surprisingly enough, the city that determined good and bad seasons based on winning the World Series did not bash the Yankees for losing. Rather, they were grateful for the distraction and entertainment they provided.

“To this day, no one mentions to me the fact that we lost that World Series. The only thing they mentioned was how special those three games were in New York, and they thanked us for what we did…. Nobody does,” said Jeter. “It just goes to show you the power of sports.”

More than two decades have passed since then. 2026 marks the 25th anniversary of the tragic day. To commemorate the day, the New York Yankees have arranged a pregame program.

Yankees commemorate 9/11 in pregame program

The two New York baseball teams, the Yankees and the Mets, begin a series at Yankee Stadium on September 11. To commemorate 25 years since the 9/11 attacks, the Yankees organized a pre-game ceremony at their home park. The team is honoring guards of the NYPD, FDNY, Port Authority Police Department, Tunnel to Towers Foundation, and Tuesday’s Promise. The Yankees and the Mets wore first responder caps to pay tribute to the FDNY and NYPD. The program also honored selected members of the 2001 Yankees team, including Derek Jeter, manager Joe Torre, and Paul O’Neill. Tino Martinez, Scott Brosius, and Mariano Rivera.

Earlier in the day, Yankees manager Aaron Boone was joined by Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole to lay a wreath beside a plaque in Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park, paying tribute to the victims and heroes of 9/11.

Brielle Saracini and John McGuire threw the ceremonial first pitch on Friday. Saracini’s father, Victor, was captain of United Flight 175. Sean McGuire’s father, Patrick, was working in the South Tower. Both were 10 when they lost their fathers and later met at Camp Better Days, a camp for children affected by the attacks. The two got married in 2017.

Saracini is also familiar with Derek Jeter. A few days after the attacks, the girl wrote a letter to the legendary shortstop. Jeter invited them to a Yankees game, where they met the team.

The 9/11 attacks changed the lives of thousands of people. 2977 people were killed. While the trauma directly affected the lives of people like Saracini and McGuire, players like Jeter developed a new outlook on life.