NEW YORK, NY.- The new special exhibition “Comeback Season: Sports After 9/11” opened today at the 9/11 Memorial Museum, showing visitors of all ages how sports helped to inspire and heal a grieving nation after the 2001 attacks.

The immersive exhibition revisits a time nearly 17 years ago when sports became a reason for people across the country to unite, celebrate again and find solace in the games they love.

“Through the lens of sports, this exhibition celebrates the strength of the human spirit and our capacity to come together and support one another through unimaginable grief,” 9/11 Memorial & Museum President Alice M. Greenwald said. “This story provides additional points of entry into the complex story of 9/11, to better understand our history and the impact it had on our world today, to reflect on our own lived memories from that time, and to feel inspired by stories about the best of humanity.”

Hall of Fame Mets catcher Mike Piazza recalled what the first professional baseball game in New York meant for people who struggled to process the number of the victims killed in the attack and the devastation it caused. He would hit a two-run homer to win that contest.

“The biggest anxiety we had had to think about, for us, was ‘Is it time? Should we wait?’ And after that game we knew it was a place where we should have been,” Piazza said. “It showed the true character of the city, the strength of the city, the toughness, compassion, love, family and friends. In that first game back, the home team came back and won. That’s exactly the lesson the city, the country and the world needed to see that night. You can never count out New York.”

Carol Gies, whose husband, FDNY Lt. Ronnie E. Gies was killed in the attacks, attended that first post-9/11 Mets game with her three sons. They celebrated the moment in the stands.

“When that ball went over the wall, I saw my children smile for the very first time since they lost their dad,” she said in an oral history recording that is part of the sports exhibition. “9/11 went away for that one split minute. One split second. And to see my children excited and smile—and I was like, ‘You know what? We’re going to do this. We’re going to get through this.’”

While the exhibition has a particular focus on sports in season at the time of the attacks, it spans events and various sports, including baseball, football, hockey, NASCAR, soccer, the New York City Marathon and the 2002 Winter Olympics.

The story arc for the exhibition is told in nine chapters, immersing visitors in bold imagery, archival sports footage and testimonies from athletes, coaches and 9/11 family members. These chapters include:

Timeout: The time of shock and disbelief after the attacks, with sporting events canceled or postponed and the nation’s new priorities deeming sports as unimportant in the immediate aftermath of this terrible event.

Sports on the Sidelines: Immediately after the attacks, New York area sports venues and stadiums were used as recovery and supply sites, and a prayer ceremony was held at Yankee Stadium.

Swinging Back into Action: The New York Mets face the Atlanta Braves at Shea Stadium in New York’s first major sporting event after 9/11. The game includes many commemorative acts, such as Mets players wearing NYPD, PAPD, FDNY and NYS Court Officers caps instead of team caps to acknowledge the efforts of first responders and rescue workers.

More Than a Game: Primarily focused on ice hockey, and how the ensuing games served as an outlet for families to commemorate the victims of 9/11.

Rivalries Dissolve: Covering football and other sports, and how feelings of unity which swept the country were also on display between teams.

One Team: A look at NASCAR, highlighting one of the biggest post-9/11 sporting events which drew an enormous crowd and put national pride on display.

Home Field: President George W. Bush threw a perfect ceremonial first pitch at Yankee Stadium at the 2001 World Series between the Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks. While the Yankees ultimately lost the series, they had some heroic come-from-behind victories, and those highs effectively lifted the city back up.

Field of Honor: The story arc of recovery and hope continues into 2002 with special commemorations at Super Bowl XXXVI and the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah in February.

A Marathon, Not a Sprint: The exhibition ends on a high note with the 2001 New York City Marathon, a celebratory demonstration of the city’s resilience and diversity with 30,000 runners and 2,000,000 spectators.

“Comeback Season” will require a free ticket with museum admission because of limited capacity in the special exhibition gallery. Reserving tickets in advance is highly recommended as walk-up tickets will be limited.