Former Mets pitcher Al Leiter tells his harrowing 9/11 story of a quiet trip turned tragedy
On September 11, 2001, former New York Mets pitcher Al Leiter was trying to pull off a quiet personal mission before pitching in Pittsburgh that night.
Decades later, appearing on OutKick's "The Craig Carton Show," Leiter recalled the events of that fateful morning.
His story began with a father wanting to be present for a family milestone.
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Despite a scheduled game in Pittsburgh, Leiter quietly flew home to New York without informing team management.
"I wanted to be there for my daughter's first grade," Leiter said.
"She was scared. You know, 'We'll be there, honey.' And I'm like playing a long time, I'm probably 15, 16 years in the big leagues, whatever. And I knew if it wasn't Pittsburgh, US Air had like a flight like every hour, was like a shuttle. Drop her off, get on the plane."
He acknowledged breaking routine without his bosses knowing: "I never had done this, Craig. I can't believe I actually did it. I don't know if I did it like Bobby Valentine and Steve Phillips didn't know about it."
After walking his daughter to school, Leiter sat on the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport as initial reports trickled in.
"The pilot says, 'Oh, it looks like a news helicopter by the [World] Trade Center. We're about ready to take off,'" Leiter recalled.
"And then not five minutes later, we're going back to the airport. Get your stuff. New York airspace is closed, LaGuardia is closed, evacuate."
Even after evacuating, the true scale of the crisis hadn't set in.
"I still think we're gonna play. At that time, you know, we don't know what they're like."
Determined to reach his team, Leiter hailed a cab to head toward Philadelphia for an alternate flight.
"I called Jay Harts. I'm, 'Jay, you got to get me a flight. I'm going to Philly,'" Leiter recalled. "I have a female Pakistani cab driver. When do you ever get a female, like, and she's crying. I'm like, 'Can you take me to Philadelphia? I'll pay you.' And I'm pissed off. I'm mad. I'm sad. So going over to Triborough Bridge, the towers are burning."
As New York City shut down, Leiter rerouted north up the Major Deegan Expressway.
"They closed off New York City. I was going to go up to Tappan Zee over to go down through New Jersey to get to Philly to get on a plane to pitch that night," Leiter said. "By the time I'm on the D again, going north of Yankee Stadium, heading up to Tappan Zee, radio's on and the Pentagon just got hit."
Leiter immediately called then-general manager Steve Phillips.
"I called Steve Phillips. I said, 'Steve, I'm sorry, but like, I'm pretty sure we're not playing baseball, right?'" Leiter added. "It's like, 'Don't worry about it.'"
Reflecting on the contrast of that morning, Leiter described the weight of the day.
"I tell you that story because you know it was so bizarrely unique for like the balls that I had actually to do that, and then that was the day of the most heinous terrorist act in the history of our country," he said.
Looking back decades later, Leiter emphasized that while public discussion surrounding the tragedy shifts, historical reality does not.
"Every year it's like my story doesn't change, right? Like history doesn't change. Although now what we're seeing, like you know I read the paper about like there were 19 Al-Qaeda guys that took down four planes. Like I'm reading stuff, there's like the story is changing. What are we doing here, right? My story's not changed."
Leiter cautioned against efforts to reshape the narrative around the tragedy.
"I think a narrative that is out there is trying to paint 9/11 in a way that I just disagree with," Leiter said. "That was a heinous terrorist act that killed 3,000 lives, right? Almost 400 firefighters running up there to help people. And so many more."
He emphasized that keeping the memory clear remains an essential duty.
"It couldn't be a simpler moniker of Never Forget, right?" Leiter stated. "And it's not just a slogan. It's true. Because it's easy, I can see how as time goes on, you start... wait a minute, that happened. Let's not forget that it happened."
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