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Back Stories: Piazza Hits The Home Run The City Needed

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- On September 21, 2001, the New York Mets played in the city's first pro-sporting event since the 9/11 terror attacks.

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"It was tough getting back to baseball," New York Mets' then-manager Bobby Valentine says.

"It was very hard to hold it together, and I just remember praying a lot – you know praying saying, 'Lord, please help me get through this night,'" Mets' star catcher Mike Piazza adds.

The Mets were trailing the Braves in the eighth inning, when Piazza hit a home run.

"It was just a release of emotion and joy," he recalls. "People really wanted something to cheer about."

"It was the most emotional baseball minute of my life," Valentine adds. "People were standing, people were yelling, people were crying."

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