Yankees.com: Belli - whose dad, a Yankee in '01, became a firefighter - does him proud on special day

Yankees.com: Belli — whose dad, a Yankee in ’01, became a firefighter — does him proud on special day

Brian Cronin September 12, 2026

Everywhere the Yankees looked, the weight of Sept. 11 could be felt, from the first responder caps on their locker shelves to the memorial wreath that Aaron Boone, Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole carried into Monument Park during the early afternoon hours.

Then came a stirring ceremony in which several of their 2001 predecessors shared memories of a time when baseball helped to heal. In a Subway Series contest that belonged to the city, Cody Bellinger helped claim it for the Yankees, belting a three-run homer in a 6-4 victory over the Mets on Friday evening.

“It’s a special day,” Bellinger said. “Today was a day where it felt bigger than the game, bigger than yourself. It’s a day to be grateful, for sure.”

Bellinger lifted his 14th homer of the season facing Nolan McLean in the second inning, the first homer that the rookie right-hander has allowed on a curveball in the Majors.

Wearing pinstripes and an FDNY cap on this date carried additional meaning for Bellinger, whose father, Clay, played for those 2001 Yankees and became a firefighter in Gilbert, Ariz., after his final at-bat.

“He was here with the team; went to Ground Zero with the team when they went,” Bellinger said. “We were in New York at the time, so it’s a pretty surreal day now to be here. He talked about the World Series, how important it felt.”

Not coincidentally, Bellinger was selected to catch a ceremonial first pitch from Brielle Saracini. Her father, Victor, was the captain of United Flight 175, which was directed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

“[Baseball] was definitely what the country needed and what the country united around,” Saracini said. “It became this special thing that healed me. It healed 10-year-old Brielle.”

What a nice ceremony for 9/11, and, hey, the Yankees won, which was even nicer.

Good win, although you have to be a BIT concerned about Blackburn and Headrick until their next outing.