Baseball, football teams commemorate Sept. 11

The New York Mets found a fitting way to pay tribute to Yolanda Dowling and the other victims of Sept. 11 -- they played the tape of her singing the national anthem at Shea Stadium seven years ago.\nThe Mets are off today, the two-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks. So before Wednesday afternoon's game against Florida, they used her rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" that she performed on Banner Day at Shea, Aug. 4, 1996.\nEight Mets players, including starting pitcher Jae Weong Seo, wore hats from the different service organizations who lost members that day. After the attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Mets players wore "NYPD" and "FDNY" and Port Authority caps for the rest of the season.\nFive people whose families were affected by the tragedies threw out ceremonial first pitches. In addition, Mets pitcher Al Leiter was selected by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. George Pataki as spokesman for Let Freedom Run, a four-mile commemorative run along the Hudson River to be held Saturday.\nLeiter and teammates John Franco, Mike Piazza and Tom Glavine all contributed $5,000, which was matched by the Mets Foundation for total of $40,000, to start a Mets Scholarship Fund through the Tuesday's Children organization to benefit kids who lost a parent.\nAt Yankee Stadium, there will be a full color guard today and a moment of silence before the game against Detroit, and a wreath will be placed at the 9-11 monument in Monument Park.\nThe Atlanta Braves are planning several ceremonies, starting about an hour before their game against Philadelphia at Turner Field.\nThere will a video tribute, a 21-gun salute and a flyover by Blackhawk helicopters. In addition, a giant American flag will be unfurled in center field and a commemorative logo will be displayed behind home plate.\nThe Cincinnati Reds will hold a moment of silence before their afternoon game against Pittsburgh at Great American Ball Park. Also, the Reds donated 100 tickets to local 911 emergency number dispatchers.\nIn Chicago, a White Sox fan who works at the Pentagon and was at the building on Sept. 11, 2001, is going to bring a special flag to the ballpark for the game against Minnesota. That flag will be raised at the Pentagon in the morning, and the fan will then get on a plane and fly to Chicago.\nThere will be a moment of silence at Tropicana Field before Toronto plays at Tampa Bay, and 50 U.S. flags will be presented by service personnel who served in Afghanistan. The ceremonial first pitch will be thrown by Major Gen. Victor E. Renuart, Jr., director of U.S. Central Command.\nIn Salt Lake City, four jets from nearby Hill Air Force Base are scheduled to do a flyover at Rice-Eccles Stadium before Utah hosts California in college football. The Utah band will play "God Bless America" as the jets fly over and will do a medley of patriotic songs at halftime.\nA large American flag will also be displayed on the field during halftime and flags at the stadium will remain at half staff throughout the day.\nThe Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers will invite members of the military, a fire rescue station and a VFW post to attend practice today. The guests will get a tour of the training facility and the chance to meet players.