MLB denied the Mets' request to wear baseball caps last night "honoring New York emergency service departments for their game against the Chicago Cubs on the 10th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks," according to Howie Rumberg of the AP. MLB Exec VP/Baseball Operations Joe Torre said that the decision "was made to keep policy consistent throughout baseball." Torre: "Certainly it's not a lack of respect. We just felt all the major leagues are honoring the same way with the American flag on the uniform and the cap. This is a unanimity thing." He added the Mets "certainly understood and respected" MLB's decision. Torre, who managed the '01 Yankees, said, "I certainly understood what they wanted to do in regards to wearing the hats. I used my history with the fact that we were in the World Series 10 years ago." Torre did note that there was "recent precedence for the policy." Rumberg noted the Nationals "wanted to wear caps honoring the Navy SEALs that were killed in Afghanistan in early August and the team was allowed to wear them before the game." The Mets in a statement yesterday said that they "followed the guidelines set in a league-wide memo issued by MLB for games played on Sept 11." Some players wore caps, such as "FDNY" and "NYPD," during batting practice. Mets 3B David Wright: "If we got a vote in, I think we'd want to wear the hats, but at the end of the day Major League Baseball makes that call, and we're going to respect that" (AP, 9/11). Mets C and player rep Josh Thole said, "As much as we would like to (wear the hats), MLB came down really hard on it. This has evidently been going on for a few days now. (MLB) sent out a big memo that was very adamant about what they wanted done." Some Mets players did wear the hats "in the dugout during the game" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/12). ESPN's Buster Olney reported the hats the Mets wore during the game "are being sold on the Internet” ("Cubs-Mets," ESPN, 9/11).
THINK AGAIN? In N.Y., McCarron & Botte note some Mets players before yesterday's game discussed "possibly absorbing penalties from MLB." Thole said, "What are they going to do, they gonna fine us? If we wear them and they do, I think we have an option to send it (the fine money) to a charity, anyway, so we'll just send it to a 9/11 charity." Mets P R.A. Dickey wrote on Twitter, "For all those upset that we didn't wear the hats, I understand your anger. However, they physically took them from us after the ceremony" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/12). ESPN N.Y.'s Adam Rubin notes once baseball resumed play after the 9/11 attacks in '01, Mets players "violated a similar MLB edict mandating the standard uniform be worn." When Thole learned yesterday afternoon about what the '01 Mets did, he discussed with Mets P and deputy player rep Tim Byrdak "whether to also violate the league stipulation." Mets players "had mixed opinions," and Thole said that team officials "instructed them not to violate the MLB policy." Still, former Mets 1B Todd Zeile said, "I find it ironic 10 years later and they still can't get it passed for one day of tribute. I guess they feel it's a slippery slope or something" (ESPNNY.com, 9/12).
MAKING THE WRONG CALL: In N.Y., George Willis writes Torre "should have known better," as he "knows how badly this city was shaken and how much the Mets did to bring some normalcy back to its people." Willis: "The hats were part of that. Yet, instead of sticking up for the Mets, he buried himself in rhetoric. ... Someone should have reminded him how much meaning the Mets wearing those hats had in 2001" (N.Y. POST, 9/12). NBCSPORTS.com's Craig Calcaterra wrote while MLB "routinely denies the requests of teams to alter their caps in any way," the league's decision to block the Mets from wearing the tribute caps "is just idiotic." Calcaterra: "No one’s sensibilities would have been offended by this. Given that the tribute was to be tied to this, the anniversary of a date set in time, it would not open the door to other unofficial hats or 'tributes' to more questionable causes" (NBCSPORTS.com, 9/11). ESPN N.Y.'s Rubin wrote, "The Mets hierarchy should have sent word down to go ahead and wear the hats, consequences be darned. But, then again, Mets brass has to maintain a cozy relationship with Major League Baseball given the team's precarious finances. ... That the whole thing became an issue really is sad. MLB ought to have looked the other way" (ESPNNY.com, 9/11).
