Boone, Cole and Rodón Place Wreath at Monument Park on Sept. 11; Yankees Win 9-3
Manager Aaron Boone calls the annual Monument Park tribute 'really meaningful' as the Yankees honor first responders before a victory over the Tigers
Yankees manager Aaron Boone, joined by pitchers Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón, placed a wreath at the Monument Park memorial for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks before New York beat the Detroit Tigers 9-3 on Thursday night at Yankee Stadium.
"Really meaningful," Boone said before the game, describing the team’s annual tradition when the Yankees play at home on Sept. 11. He said the opportunity to walk out to the monument with Cole and Rodón and to observe the memorial’s tributes — including etched representations of the Pentagon, the Twin Towers and the first-responder canine units and firefighters — carried significant emotional weight.
The Yankees wore caps representing New York’s first-responder agencies for the game, and FDNY firefighter Regina Wilson performed the national anthem. Boone said he has sat in the manager’s chair on Sept. 11 several times and has felt the day’s solemnity in different ways depending on the venue and the crowd.
"I think you just wake up and it’s different when you wake up today," Boone said. He recalled the 2021 meeting between the Yankees and Mets at Citi Field on the 20th anniversary, saying the game had a "bigness and a meaningfulness" because of the many personal stories among those in attendance. "To feel that kind of raw emotion in the building — you just look around and you see people’s, in some cases, tears in their eyes," he said.
On the field, the Yankees’ victory left them three games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East, after Toronto beat the Houston Astros 6-0 earlier Thursday. New York heads to Boston for a three-game series starting Friday, with Luis Gil scheduled to start the opener at Fenway Park, followed by Max Fried and Will Warren.
The Yankees and Mets are scheduled to meet in the Bronx on Sept. 11 next season for the 25th anniversary of the attacks; the clubs previously met on the 20th anniversary in 2021 at Citi Field. Boone said those anniversary matchups carry added significance because of how many people in the ballpark have personal connections to the events of that day.
Boone also commented on another upcoming drawing of attention at Yankee Stadium: the exhibition appearances by the Savannah Bananas, who will play games at the ballpark on Saturday and Sunday while the Yankees are in Boston. Boone said he attended a Bananas game in Tampa two springs ago and found the atmosphere interesting, noting the team’s strong following and the venues they are selling out.
The wreath-laying in Monument Park continues a Yankees tradition of commemorating the Sept. 11 attacks on home dates each year, with club leaders and players participating in ceremonies that honor first responders and victims. The memorial, a fixture inside Yankee Stadium, serves as a focal point for the team and its fans on the anniversary.
New York’s lineup and pitching plans for the remainder of the road trip were not otherwise altered by the tribute, and Boone emphasized that the on-field focus resumed after the pregame observance. The Yankees will attempt to close the gap in the division during their series in Boston and with the regular-season schedule entering its final weeks.