Major League Baseball will mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on Friday with tributes at every ballpark, including two different cap patches that will be worn across all games played that day.
All players, managers, coaches, and umpires will wear their usual respective cap design but with a “We Shall Not Forget” ribbon patch on the right side. The patch features a red, white, and blue ribbon within a blue and silver circle reading “WE SHALL NOT FORGET SEPTEMBER 11, 2001,” with a stars-and-stripes-filled version of the MLB batter logo on the ribbon. It’s the same design the U.S.-based MLB clubs have worn on 9/11 each season since 2018, making this the ninth consecutive year for this particular ribbon patch. The Toronto Blue Jays, the league’s lone club outside the United States, will again wear their 9/11 tribute patch that features both the Canadian and American flags.
Previously, players wore a simple American flag patch from 2002 to 2007 and then again from 2011 to 2014; a waving version of the flag took over from 2015 to 2017. During the 2008 through 2010 seasons, teams recycled the patriotic-themed cap designs that had previously been worn on Memorial Day and Fourth of July, a red, white, or blue version of the club’s regular cap with an American flag worked into the logo’s design.
In New York, where the Subway Series will be taking place, the New York Yankees and New York Mets will both wear first responder caps with team logos during Friday night’s game at Yankee Stadium. First responder caps have been a special part of this story from the very beginning, as the Mets wore the caps of the NYPD, FDNY, Port Authority Police, and other agencies in the weeks following the 2001 attacks. In recent Septembers, players and coaches from both New York clubs have had the option of wearing a first responder cap on this date, with each individual choosing which agency’s logo to wear.
In addition to the special caps, all ballparks on Friday will use special base jewels and lineup cards; there will also be a league-wide moment of silence, a scoreboard dedication video produced by MLB Network, and “God Bless America” will be played during the seventh-inning stretch.
Away from the field, MLB and the Mets will co-host a meal-packing event at Citi Field on Friday morning in partnership with the nonprofit 9/11 Day organization, with several Mets alumni, such as Mike Piazza, David Wright, John Franco, Al Leiter, Robin Ventura, Todd Zeile, Adam Ottavino, and Dellin Betances, taking part. Tonight at 10:00 p.m. ET, MLB Network will premiere “When America Took the Field,” a two-hour documentary co-produced by Zeile on baseball’s role in the weeks after the attacks, including Piazza’s memorable home run in the Mets’ first game back at Shea Stadium.
Fans wishing to purchase a cap with the September 11th ribbon on the side can do so here.
