Underneath their Pinstripes, the Yankees are humans. So when they walked into the Armory on 23rd St. early Saturday evening and met the families of those people missing from the World Trade Center disaster, the Yankees had their hearts stabbed by emotions.
Following a workout at Yankee Stadium Saturday, three vans of Yankees left The Bronx. The first stop was the Javits Center where the rescue workers met Joe Torre, Derek Jeter, Paul O’Neill, Bernie Williams and Mariano Rivera. From there it was to the Armory. The final stop was St. Vincent’s Hospital.
Originally slated to visit Ground Zero, the Yankee party was told on the ride downtown that the area wasn’t safe enough to go near.
Of the three stops, it was clear which had the biggest effect on the Yankees: the Armory.
“Nobody really talked about baseball, of course they were all asking for Jeter,” Torre said of the families at the Armory who held out hope their loved ones would surface from the rubble at Ground Zero. “There was one youngster who had lost his dad and he was looking for Jeter.”
And while the Yankees noticed that even for a nano-second they brightened a day of people going through something nobody should ever experience, the visits affected the players.
“To see the police and the firemen, it was nice,” Rivera said. “Before they came to Yankee Stadium to see the Yankees. This time we went there to see them. It was rough. I told them they can do it. ‘You guys are the men.’ “
One scene at the Armory touched all the Yankees.
“We walked in and there was a woman standing there. Bernie didn’t know exactly what to do, but he said to her, ‘You look like you need a hug,’ and he hugged her,” Scott Brosius said.
Several other members of the traveling party were taken back by the moment. And there were other snapshots. Torre met a woman who had been a student of Torre’s sister, Margarite, a nun. Torre also met a man whose father was responsible for clearing out the day care center.
“It was good to see the people, the volunteers and the firemen and the police,” Jeter said. “They were asking for autographs and you felt like you should be asking for their autographs.”
Jeter lives in Manhattan and he understands the effect the disaster has had on the city. However, getting close to the families missing loved ones drove home the message of how devastating the deal is.
“It hit home a little bit more,” Jeter said.
According to O’Neill, it was a lesson learned.
“It punctuated everything in regards to how close it is and how big it is,” O’Neill said. “You see the pictures on television, but then you get to see the people.”
Brosius was like most of the other players.
“The Armory was the most difficult because, what do you say?” Brosius said. “You lend an ear and support. At least for a while you got a smile from them. It was good for them and us.”
The Yankees worked out yesterday at the Stadium and then flew to Chicago. They will work out at Comiskey Park today and resume their season tomorrow night. It’s their first game since Sept. 9.