By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Brielle Saracini came full circle at her cherished Yankee Stadium on Friday, throwing out the first ceremonial pitch 25 years after her father's death on September 11, a tragedy that sparked an unlikely friendship with her childhood idol.
She was 10 when her father, United Airlines pilot Victor Saracini, died when his hijacked Flight 175 collided with the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
The tragedy set into motion a sequence of improbable events worthy
of a Hollywood film, as Saracini formed an enduring bond with generational superstar Derek Jeter and met her husband, whose father died in the South Tower.
"You're so happy and thankful for so many things that have come your way after 9/11," she explained. "But it comes at a terrible price."
Saracini and her now-husband Sean McGuire met two years after the attacks at a camp for children who lost a parent on September 11. They married in 2017 and he was standing by her side as she took the mound, wearing a jersey for the New York Mets talismanic catcher Mike Piazza.
It was perhaps the only circumstance in which the Yankees were likely to allow their bitter rival Mets blue-and-orange to be part of a pre-game ceremony. McGuire got to throw a pitch, as well.
"There are some things that are bigger than baseball. Everyone always knows that phrase, and this is definitely just one of them," said Saracini, dressed in the Yankees pinstripes.
She was also accompanied by Jeter at center field and at the post-ceremony press conference, where he recalled meeting Saracini after the attacks.
"As an athlete, it was the first time that I said to myself, 'Why am I even playing?'" Jeter told reporters.
"And then you had a chance to meet a lot of family members who lost loved ones, and Brielle is right at the top of the list... that's when you realize that our job was to win. At least try to give people something to cheer for for a few hours a day."
The two have kept in touch since, meeting up repeatedly as the Hall of Famer periodically called to check in.
"I actually had a battle with cancer," Saracini told reporters. "I was able to get a personal voicemail (from Jeter) wishing me well, telling me to keep my head down and stay positive. And the amount of times I played that voicemail, you know, in the hospital over and over, just being like, 'OK, I got someone in my corner'."
The ceremonial pitch was not up to her standards - "I bounced it," she would later tell reporters with a laugh. But the bittersweet moment was enough to make her father proud.
"My dad would probably open up by saying, 'I taught you how to throw. How did you bounce it?' And then he would give me a big hug and say, 'You did great, kid,'" said Saracini.
"He would also then immediately turn to Derek and say, 'Thank you for taking care of my girl'."
'LIFE COULD GO ON'
The ceremonial pitch was one of several commemorations at the Bronx stadium, where the Yankees took on the Mets in a Subway Series steeped with added meaning.
The American pastime became a symbol of American resilience in the weeks after the September 11 attack, with the first sporting event in the five boroughs played between the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves in Queens.
The Mets won 3-2, courtesy of Piazza's dramatic two-run homer in the eighth inning. Weeks later, then-president George W. Bush threw his ceremonial first pitch at Yankee Stadium on October 30, Game 3 of the World Series.
"When the nation started playing baseball again, to me, it was like life could go on," said Fred Houston, 75, a lifelong Yankees fan, who came to the Bronx dressed in NYPD apparel.
"It wasn't going to change who we are and what we do."
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
