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The tragedy and horror of the 9/11 attacks triggered a host of changes in America, including a reassessment of the role of sports and its accompanying hero-worship. Batting averages and home run totals were no longer paramount, particularly in New York, but in fall 2001 baseball played a significant role in the city's recovery efforts. HBO Sports revisits that remarkable and inspiring phenomenon when the documentary NINE INNINGS FROM GROUND ZERO debuts TUESDAY, SEPT. 14 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.
Focusing on one of the more eventful and dramatic World Series ever, the documentary looks at two resilient ball clubs - the New York Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks - engaged in an extraordinary professional sporting event, attended each night by more than 50,000 spectators, in New York City one month after the 9/11 terrorist attack. The film juxtaposes the games at Yankee Stadium with the recovery effort going on simultaneously nine miles south at Ground Zero in lower Manhattan.
"For weeks after 9/11, New York had an almost surreal feeling to it," says Ross Greenburg, president, HBO Sports. "So many of us went to work and returned to school, but we felt like we were just going through the motions. Baseball helped New Yorkers return to normalcy, and the World Series of 2001 galvanized the city's residents and had a lot of Americans rooting for New York."
This exclusive presentation will feature HBO Sports' acclaimed combination of revealing interviews, photos and footage. Those interviewed include former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani; President George W. Bush; managers Joe Torre, Bobby Valentine and Bob Brenly; ballplayers Derek Jeter, Scott Brosius, Paul O'Neill, Mark Grace and Curt Schilling; New York personalities Liza Minnelli and Curtis Sliwa.
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