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After the attack many needed an outlet or a safe place to turn to during this hard time. Many turned to baseball for this outlet. Before baseball returned Shea Stadium was used for rescue supplies, where the players helped as volunteers. Some major highlights after this attack were Jack Buck's speech and  Mike Piazza's home run, all of these were some of the fist milestones for the reboot of baseball after the attacks. 15 years later many still feel the impact that 9/11 had caused, many include people with the relation to baseball. Those people remember those important highlights like Piazza's home run and Buck's speech.

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The thing I remember most, 15 years later, is not the Mike Piazza homer. No, the thing I remember most is Bobby Valentine rocking back and forth as Diana Ross sang "God Bless America," smiling, singing, shouting his approval, exuding both joy and defiance at the same time.

Valentine, then the Mets' manager, had immersed himself in the recovery process after 9/11. Years later, he would become an object of ridicule with the Red Sox. But on this night, after losing a friend, Chris Quackenbush, 44, in the terrorist attack, Bobby V stood for all New York.

I was at Shea Stadium, covering the game for the Sporting News. It's difficult to remember, all these years later, certain details of the event, even where I sat in the ballpark. But the conflicting emotions of the first game back in New York, 10 days after 9/11 - the concerns about safety, the memories of the nearly 3,000 killed in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania, and finally, the roars produced by Mike Piazza's triumphant blow - those I will never forget.

Like many, I initially had reservations about the resumption of baseball, which had gone dark for six days after the attacks. I was living in Baltimore at the time, but I am a native of Oyster Bay, N.Y., a suburb of New York City, and an American above all. I even was offended by initial reports from my fellow national baseball writers about the sport's plans to move forward, viewing such talk as unseemly, rather than understanding as a journalist that it was simply news.

Even today, the notion that baseball was part of the healing process strikes me as overly simplistic, if not outright wrong. Baseball could not solve the problem of terrorism. Baseball could not fill the voids of those who lost family members. And yet, something happened at ballparks across America after baseball returned, something soothing indeed.

It started with the late, great Jack Buck, addressing the crowd before the first game back in St. Louis while fighting lung cancer, announcing, "I don't know about you, but for me the question already has been answered. Should we be here? Yes. Should we show others how to demonstrate our resolve? Yes, and we should do it here this evening."

It culminated with three stirring World Series games at the old Yankee Stadium more than a month later, former President George W. Bush throwing out the first pitch while wearing a bullet-proof vest, the park actually shaking as the Yankees made miracle comebacks for extra-inning victories in Games 4 and 5.

In between was the dramatic Piazza homer, the two-run, go-ahead shot off Braves righty Steve Karsay, who had grown up in Queens, a few miles from Shea. The Mets would finish 82-80, in third place in the National League East. But they mounted a 25-6 run after falling 13.5 games out of first place on Aug. 17, including five straight wins once play resumed.

What was it the Braves' Chipper Jones had said then? "It's tough to go out and beat a team that has so much to play for. They're going out and trying to win ballgames for this city. It's almost like the division title is secondary in their minds."

Robin Ventura, then the Mets' third baseman, added, "The emotion this team is running on is not the pennant race. It's the emotion of people you have been around, the people you see who are strong."

Members of the Mets and Yankees had touched those people, visiting rescue workers at Ground Zero, consoling families of the victims. The players drew strength from those meetings, knowing that they could provide an outlet for many, a small measure of relief. As Derek Jeter so plainly put it, "If anything, playing again will give people an option to watch something else on TV."

Shea Stadium, in the first days after the attacks, had been a staging area for rescue supplies. Valentine and players worked tirelessly to help volunteers organize the distribution of food, clothing, medicine and blankets being sent to lower Manhattan. The manager even skipped a team charter to Pittsburgh, where the Mets resumed their season before returning to New York, to work an extra day in the relief effort.

And then, on Sept. 21, 2001, play resumed at Shea, with no one knowing exactly how to act, what to think, what to do.

The Mets wore hats used by the city's service agencies - NYPD, FDNY and the like. Piazza's eyes filled with tears as a color guard strolled through the center-field gate during a pre-game ceremony. Liza Minnelli sang, "New York, New York" on the field during the seventh inning, joined by law enforcement and rescue workers who danced and kicked to the music like Radio City Rockettes.

That moment provided one form of release. The Piazza homer an inning later provided another:

Fifteen years later, I know I was silly to be upset about the debate over when play should resume. The debate was appropriate. Baseball had to return at some point. But at the time, it was difficult to see things clearly, to remove the emotion from the moment.

The sadness was overwhelming. I remember welling up with tears several times a day after the attacks, for no particular reason. I well up even now thinking about those days, and I'm sure many of you do the same. But when I flash back to that night - to Diana Ross and to Liza Minielli, to Piazza and to Valentine - I can't get the images out of my head, the eccentric manager in particular.

Baseball came back, and we were better for it.

Sing, Bobby V, sing.

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What I'll never forget about baseball's return to New York after 9/11 | FOX Sports

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The thing I remember most, 15 years later, is not the Mike Piazza homer. No, the thing I remember most is Bobby Valentine rocking back and forth as Diana Ross sang "God Bless America," smiling, singing, shouting his approval, exuding both joy and defiance at the same time.

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Buck's speech at Busch stadium was seen as the re boost to baseball during this time. Many said Buck's speech brought the spirit throughout the nation that was needed. Since the speech was given 6 days after the attack happened, the spirit that Buck's speech brought was much needed. Many turned for baseball for that comfort they needed.

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After taking a 10 day break after the terrorist attack on Tuesday September 11, 2001, many MLB teams came back wearing NYPD or New York fire department hats. But during the 10 day break some of the team members from the New York Yankees went home to be with families, while other stayed and tried to help out with the disaster. When it was time for the 2001 World Series it was held in New York with the Yankees and president Bush threw the first pitch. During this time Americans came together and supported each other.

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When the 11th of September dawned, 10 years ago, the New York Yankees enjoyed a massive lead over the second-place Boston Red Sox while the New York Mets were out of the running in the other league. The Seattle Mariners were on their way to 116 wins, and the only compelling pennant races were in the National League, where the Braves were trying to hold off the Phillies, the Diamondbacks the Giants and Dodgers.

The 11th was a Tuesday, so a full slate of games were on the docket for that evening, highlighted by the opener of a three-game series in Atlanta between the Braves and Philadelphia.

Something else came up.

At 8:46 Eastern Time that morning, terrorists crashed a Boeing 767 into the World Trade Center's North Tower. At 9:03, terrorists crashed another 767 into the South Tower. At 9:37, terrorists crashed a 757 into the Pentagon. And at 10:03, a 757 under the nominal control of terrorists crashed into a field in Pennsylvania; that aircraft had been headed for destruction in Washington, D.C. before passengers interceded.

Contrary to popular opinion, everything didn't change that morning.

A lot did change.

Commissioner Bud Selig quickly canceled that evening's games. Later in the week, he canceled all games through the end of the week, with the season to resume the following Monday and the season pushed back one full week. There was a great deal of talk about "perspective" and the relative irrelevance of baseball and professional sports, generally. Perhaps just as important, nobody really wanted to fly even after the American skies were reopened.

Within the game, the largest impact was obviously felt by the Yankees and Mets. The Yankees had been in New York during the attacks on the World Trade Center. Some players headed to their families; Roger Clemens, for example, drove to Texas. Others remained in the city, and worked out on the 15th; afterward a delegation, led by manager Joe Torre and including stars Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams, visited various sites to comfort emergency workers, victims, and relatives of victims. As Joe Torre recalled in The Yankee Years:

The most emotional part was the Armory. You go to the staging area and you see the workers and you shake their hands. And there were people waiting on results, DNA results, to see where their loved ones were. That was the toughest one, because we walked in -- I didn't even want to go in. But then I remember that Randy Levine sent somebody in, or he might have gone in, just to see what the mood was. And the people who were in there wanted us to go in there.

I think I realized at that point in time there was a purpose for us being there. We didn't know all these people, who were certainly devastated and huddled around in different groups. You'd look around and see that they had counselors or priests or rabbis in different family settings. We sort of just walked in there and looked around. And then somebody looked up and sort of waved us in, a family member. The brought out pictures of the family members they were waiting on, pictures of them wearing Yankee hats. Big Yankee fans, which was pretty moving.

Torre's co-author, Tom Verducci, writes about a moment during that visit:

The Yankees were a part of their community at a time of great need. Williams, for instance, walked up to one grieving woman.

"I don't know what to say," Williams said, "but you look like you need a hug." And the center fielder of the Yankees reached out and embraced her.

When play resumed on the 18th, both New York teams eschewed their usual caps in favor of those honoring the New York Police and Fire Departments (great examples here and here). There were of course security concerns and new procedures were implemented around the majors.

The Yankees would cruise to the American League East title, and faced the Wild Card-winning Oakland Athletics in a Division Series. Despite the high emotions -- before Game 2, U.S. President George W. Bush appeared on the Yankee Stadium video board, announcing that U.S. military forces had attacked the Taliban in Afghanistan -- the Yankees actually lost the first two games in New York. But they rebounded to win two straight in Oakland before returning home to finish off the A's in Game 5.

Next, the Yankees crushed the 116-game-winning Seattle Mariners in a five-game American League Championship Series. And so off they went to the World Series, their fourth in four years, this time against the Diamondbacks.

Arizona smashed the Yankees in Games 1 and 2. With the Series shifting to Yankee Stadium for Game 3, President Bush, wearing a New York Fire Department jacket, strode to the mound for the ceremonial first pitch and threw a perfect strike.

The Yankees, of course, would win all three games in New York. But their magic didn't travel back to Phoenix, as the Diamondbacks won Game 7 with a ninth-inning rally against Mariano Rivera.

Today the effects of 9/11 are still ever-present, with American armed forces still deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan and long security lines at the airports

For the most part, though, 9/11 has not had a lasting impact on Major League Baseball. Unlike previous conflicts, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have not claimed the lives or careers of professional baseball players. Of course, one might argue there's been an indirect impact, as the wars have presumably led to the ballooning deficit, which has in turn contributed to our Great Depression, which presumably has hurt baseball attendance. Which isn't to suggest that Major League Baseball hasn't been highly profitable through much of the last decade.

There is heightened security still, particularly at Yankee Stadium. And just as "The Star-Spangled Banner" went from being played at ballparks only on special occasions to being played regularly during World War II, "God Bless America" is now played during the seventh-inning stretch at Yankee Stadium Dodger Stadium Safeco Field Turner Field

Finally, one might also argue that 9/11 gave us these.

For better or worse.

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How Major League Baseball Responded To 9/11

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When the 11th of September dawned, 10 years ago, the New York Yankees enjoyed a massive lead over the second-place Boston Red Sox while the New York Mets were out of the running in the other league.