Major League Baseball
NEW YORK (AP) Edgardo Alfonzo carried cardboard boxes to be filled with relief supplies.
A large American flag hung outside Bobby Valentine’s door, little flags lined the dugout railing.
John Franco spoke quietly about his son’s Little League coach, a New York City firefighter who was still missing.
Back home at Shea Stadium, where the twin towers used to be visible from the upper walkways, the New York Mets did their best to get back to baseball with a light workout Saturday.
But reminders of Tuesday’s terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center were everywhere. Firefighters were sleeping in the ballpark and the parking lot continued to be used as a staging area for rescue workers.
“There’s not one person in this organization that hasn’t been affected by this on a personal level,” Mike Piazza said. “This at least gives us a chance to take our minds off the depression. We have to find some way to move on.”
All around the majors, teams returned to the field fully aware that baseball was still an afterthought in America.
At Yankee Stadium, players kneeled around the pitcher’s mound, heads bowed for a moment of silence. Owner George Steinbrenner donated $1 million on behalf of the team to the Twin Towers Foundation and the club donated its tarp, which was being used as a covering near the wreckage.
Outside Turner Field, the sign that usually lists Atlanta’s next opponent read: “God Bless America.”
The Cleveland Indians and St. Louis Cardinals played intrasquad games and several other teams held workouts.
“We realize it’s our job. We’ll do our part, however small, to let people enjoy us playing baseball,” Texas pitcher Rick Helling said. “Hopefully, we can do a small part to make this situation better.”
Games will resume Monday, with American flags replacing the major league logo on baseballs.
Outside Shea Stadium, dozens of police officers, firefighters and volunteers scurried around the parking lot to collect donated supplies that were then loaded onto trucks and vans to be carried into Manhattan for rescue workers.
Many Mets players and coaches pitched in following the workout. Co-owners Fred Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday, in a rare public appearance together, said they would donate $1 million to the relief effort.
Piazza, Al Leiter, Robin Ventura and Todd Zeile planned to take a bus to New York University Medical Center after the 1 1/2-hour workout to drop off more supplies.
Inside, the Mets took batting practice and talked quietly about the terror that hit so close to home. As they did, line drives off Piazza’s bat echoed throughout the empty ballpark.
Volunteer firefighters from Ohio, who have been sleeping in the tunnel behind Gate D at Shea Stadium, watched the workout from the stands. Once the Mets saw them, they quickly were brought down to the field and stood around the batting cage.
They were greeted with gratitude by Valentine, Piazza, Leiter, Franco and other players.
“Thank you for letting us stay in your house,” one firefighter said to Valentine.
“We appreciate all that you do,” Valentine said.
Leiter’s Landing, the pitcher’s charity, donated blankets that those same firefighters used to stay warm Friday night.
“Everybody has been great to us,” said firefighter Brand Eisenhardt of Berea, Ohio. “After digging in the rubble, to come out here and see sunshine and grass and get back to some kind of normalcy, it’s a nice escape.”
Planes flew low over the ballpark as they prepared to land at nearby La Guardia Airport, but most players didn’t seem concerned. The Mets planned to fly to Pittsburgh on Sunday.
“This is forever burned in our history,” Piazza said. “To go through so much pain is going to be a true test of this country’s resolve.”
Piazza said he walked around Union Square, not far north of the attack site, on Friday night and was moved by the all the tributes and candlelight vigils.
“At least for us to get out here and get back to what our job is, that’s what a lot of people all over the city are doing,” Piazza said. “We have to find a way to continue to support what life in America is all about, and that’s freedom.”
National Basketball Association
WASHINGTON (AP) Michael Jordan will not hold a formal news conference to announce whether he will play in the NBA this season, believing it inappropriate following the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
The announcement will be made by some other means, probably via fax, although the means and time are still being determined, said a source close to Jordan, speaking on condition of anonymity and confirming a report in Friday’s Washington Post.
On Monday, Jordan said a news conference had been planned for Washington within 10 days at which he would announce his decision. He strongly indicated that he would return from his three-year retirement and play for the Washington Wizards.
The source said Jordan is now in no rush to make his decision and that continually developing national events could change its timing. It is all but certain, however, that he will make his intentions known before Oct. 2, when the Wizards are scheduled to begin training camp in Wilmington, N.C.
Jordan, the team’s president of basketball operations, would need to sell his partial ownership stake in the Wizards. Much of the work has already been done to make that process go swiftly should he decide to play.
Jordan remains in Chicago, where he has been training for a possible comeback. He was scheduled to attend a charity dinner and golf tournament in Minnesota this weekend, but that event has been canceled.
National Football League
ST. LOUIS (AP) Paul “Tank” Younger, the first athlete from a predominantly black college to play in the NFL, died Saturday morning in Inglewood, Calif. He was 73.
The St. Louis Rams said Younger, who spent 46 consecutive years in the NFL as a player and executive, died after a long illness.
Younger played for the Los Angeles Rams from 1949-57 and ended his career with Pittsburgh in 1958.
He was a member of the Rams’ renowned “Bull Elephant Backfield” along with “Deacon” Dan Towler and Dick Hoerner. The Rams won the 1951 NFL title, beating Cleveland 24-17.
Younger signed with the Rams as a free agent following his college career at Grambling State in Louisiana.
With 3,296 yards, Younger is the sixth-leading rusher in Rams’ history. He was a first-team All-Pro selection at linebacker in 1951.
Younger had a long career as a scout and front-office executive, mostly with the Rams. He left the Rams in 1975 to become assistant general manager of the San Diego Chargers, a job he held until 1987.
Younger then returned to the Rams and retired in 1995. Last year, Younger was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

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