SEATTLE – The Seattle Mariners announced today that the club will commemorate the Mariners 116-win, 2001 team and honor the 25th anniversary of the tragic events on September 11th with a new statue at T-Mobile Park.
The statue will feature Mike Cameron and Mark McLemore in their iconic moment raising the American flag on Sept. 19 following the Mariners clinch of the American League West title.
“We’re honored to commemorate one of the most meaningful moments in both American history and the history of the Mariners,” said Mariners Chairman and Managing Partner John Stanton. “Baseball has always brought communities together, and the 2001 team embodied that spirit during a time when our country needed connection, hope and healing.”
The statue will be unveiled on September 3rd and displayed in the Center Field Plaza at T-Mobile Park. Fans attending that night’s game against the Athletics will have the first opportunity to view and interact with the statue.
Tickets are on sale now at Mariners.com/Tickets.
Background on the Commemorated Moment on September 19, 2001
Following the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Major League baseball suspended play for seven days.
Midway through a sold-out game against the Angels on September 19, the Mariners learned that Texas had beaten Oakland, making the Mariners the first team to clinch their division championship. Players and coaches congratulated one another in the dugout, and fans cheered when the news was announced mid-game on the scoreboard.
Four innings later, the Mariners completed a shutout of the Angels, and Mariners players lined up on the field to shake hands in a subdued celebration. At the back of the line of players was Mariners long-time video coordinator Carl Hamilton, a Marine veteran, who had brought out a large American flag. Together with Stan Javier, Hamilton began waving it. Mark McLemore then took the flag to the pitcher’s mound where the team gathered around it, kneeling in prayer. Public address announcer Tom Hutyler asked the boisterous crowd for a moment of silence, and the ballpark became still. After an extended moment, McLemore spontaneously took the flag and began walking it around the bases, with the entire team joining in this solemn procession. Upon reaching home plate, McLemore and Mike Cameron raised the flag high and the team, some with tears in their eyes, saluted the T-Mobile Park crowd. The unique and respectful celebration, in many ways, remains the defining moment of the historic 2001 season.