Sell the 9/11 Tribute Hats, Please!

Dear Yankees, Please start selling the 9/11 tribute hats.

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The History of the 9/11 Tribute Hats:

The MLB uniform policy has long required that players strictly wear their teams cap, and it was only a few years ago that the MLB started to grant special exceptions to the New York Yankees and New York Mets. However, the history of these special caps goes back to less than two short weeks after that tragic day.

On September 17th, 2001, the New York Mets took the field for the first time after the attacks, on the road, against the Pittsburgh Pirates. During the pregame ceremonies, the Mets players and coaches can be seen holding and wearing FDNY, NYPD, and EMS hats (among others). However, they did not wear those caps during the game.

The following day, on September 18th, 2001, the New York Yankees took the field for their first time, also on the road, against the Chicago White Sox. They can also be seen wearing special caps honoring the New York City first responders during the pregame. However, much like the Mets, they too did not wear the caps during the game.

Fast forward to September 21st, 2001, when the New York Mets were the first team to play a home game in New York after the terror attacks on the city. During the pre-game ceremony, players on the Mets can be seen wearing FDNY, NYPD, EMS, and Port Authority Police hats. And, they continued to wear those same caps during the game as well (here is the full broadcast of the game).

Unfortunately, I cannot find footage of the pregame from when the Yankees played their first home game after 9/11 on September 25th. However, game footage shows that the Yankees did not don the special caps during the game.

Pregame footage is also hard to come by for games after this point in 2001, even going into the Yankees postseason run, but the special caps did return during the World Series pregame ceremonies in New York. They were present when President George W. Bush threw out the first pitch ahead of Game Three, but they were not worn during the game, and that is where my research ends for the 2001 season.

And, from here on, we can thank the New York Mets for their efforts in bringing these hats back.

In 2007, against the MLB's wishes, the New York Mets wore the caps again during their game on 9/11. (There are reports the hats were also worn in-game in 2005, but I cannot find footage to corroborate those accounts.)

Then, there was a 12-year lull before those who were lost were honored again on the field. Special caps during pregame ceremonies had become tradition for the New York Mets and New York Yankees, but nothing ever made it onto the field after the first pitch.

That was, until 2019, when New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso bought his entire team custom commemorative 9/11 cleats to wear on the 18th anniversary. Along with help from Jacob DeGrom, the entire team bought in to the idea, and to get around the MLB's uniform policy.

This move was loved by fans across the MLB, and it forced the MLB's hand to allow the New York Mets and New York Yankees to commemorate 9/11 with tribute caps, which is a tradition that started in 2020 and has continued to this day.

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Now, Please, Sell These Caps:

In the years since the terror attacks, many charities and organizations have been founded to ensure this tragedy is never forgotten, to provide help and support to the families of those who were lost on 9/11, and to ensure other heroes who suffered in survival are also provided for. There is no complete list, but those that come to mind are places like:

• Answer The Call: "Our mission is to provide financial assistance and a network of support to the families of New York City Police Officers, Firefighters, Port Authority Police, and EMS Personnel who have been killed in the line of duty"

• Tunnel to Towers Foundation: "Since 9/11, we have been helping America’s heroes by providing mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first responder families with young children and by building specially-adapted smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders. We are also committed to eradicating veteran homelessness and helping America to Never Forget September 11, 2001."

• Tuesday's Children: "Tuesday’s Children provides healing and resilience for military families of the fallen and families affected by 9/11, turning pain into purpose while honoring their legacies."

• HEART 9/11: "HEART 9/11 is a team of first responders - FDNY, NYPD, PAPD and the NYC Building Trades - that bonded in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. Together, we build resiliency and provide hope for individuals, families and communities that have been affected by natural and man-made disasters."

• The Never Forget Fund: "The 9/11 Memorial & Museum preserves the history of that tragic day nearly a quarter century ago so the 100 million Americans born since or too young to remember will never forget how we responded."

I know I am missing many, many organizations, and I am sorry that I cannot list them all. However, this is just to prove that so much work is being done, could use help themselves, and also for them to help those who need it.

Every year since 2020, during the 9/11 games, I see all across social media the same calls from fans: We want to wear those same caps the players are wearing. We want to able to show our support to the first responders who served. Then, and now. We want to be able to wear these hats. Badly.

And, the the decision from the Yankees, Mets, MLB, or whoever, to not sell these caps baffles me.

Especially when you consider how much money from the sales of these hats could, would, and should, go to those charities listed above (if not others).

Have the proceeds (or even a part of the proceeds) for each hat sold go directly to a charity related to the first-responders for that group. Every FDNY hat sold includes a donation to the FDNY foundation. Every NYPD hat sold helps raise money for a donation to the NYPD foundation, etc.

Create a challenge where, whatever first responder group sells "X" number of hats first gets an additional charitable donation from the New York Yankees. (And have another happening with the Mets too.)

Start the sales in the games/weeks ahead of the game and do a count at the gate on the 9/11 game for how many of each hat is being worn. Whichever group has the most hats could also receive an additional donation.

Or, just sell the caps with no gimmicks attached at all.

Whatever it has to be, and to whoever needs to hear it to make it happen, please consider these ideas.

If the problem is from the MLB, the Yankees, or Mets, I can't understand. They are all about making money and they are sitting on a potential gold mine of money, charity, and good will.

If the problem is from the first responder offices, I can't understand. They are preventing themselves from getting help to support their fallen heroes and also from earning good will in their communities.

If the problem is from somebody else, I would implore them to think of the benefits for the fans, for the teams, for the charities, and for the families of the heroes, and for the heroes themselves.

Please.

And, may God bless our fallen heroes, citizens, and all those who were impacted from the events of 9/11.