How 2001 actually went.
The defending National League champions stumbled through the first half. Injuries, an aging lineup, and an offense that could not match the previous year pushed the Mets far below expectations. A strong late run briefly brought them back toward the division race, but the gap created earlier was too large.
Baseball became secondary after the September 11 attacks. Shea Stadium served as a relief center, players helped load supplies, and the Mets wore caps honoring New York’s first responders. On September 21, in the first major sporting event played in the city after the attacks, Mike Piazza hit an eighth-inning home run that lifted the Mets over Atlanta.
The final 82–80 record and third-place finish were disappointing for a team trying to defend a pennant. Nobody remembers the season mainly through the standings. Piazza’s home run became tied to the city’s grief and recovery, giving the Mets a moment much larger than a playoff race. It remains one of the rare games whose meaning cannot be explained by what happened before or after it.
Piazza’s home run did not heal New York, but for a few minutes it gave the city a reason to rise together.