Staten Island will not forget

The Staten Island Yankees' stadium overlooks New York City. The view beyond the outfield will never be the same.
Richmond County Bank Ballpark at St. George was built two years ago to give baseball fans a unique perspective -- a picturesque look into the heart of New York City.
With a view of the Statue of Liberty and the New York City skyline, Staten Island has become one of the New York-Penn League's elite stops among its 14 teams.
In fact, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers will play there July 19-21.
But since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, things haven't been the same.
They never will be.
A new look
Evidence of that change is in the view from the Staten Island Yankees' stadium.
Now, all one has to do is look to a city without its trademark buildings -- the World Trade Center towers.
"There's a pretty good buzz to get things started again this year," said Jeff Dumas, the team's general manager. "Until the ballpark is full and people are looking at the skyline without the towers there, I don't know what the reaction will be."
When the Yankees open their home season Tuesday against Brooklyn, there will be a moment of silence.
There will also be a special dedication.
The organization will retire three seats in section 9, row 11 -- one for the fire departments and EMS workers who responded to the tragedies, another for the police and port authority and the third for all who perished in the attacks.
"We will not sell those seats ever again," Dumas said. "We're going to recognize that and then we're going to play ball. We're not going to dwell on it."
A day of tragedy
Dumas lives only eight blocks from his office at the stadium. On the morning of Sept. 11, he was home with his daughter, who was watching Sesame Street.
There was a phone call. It was Dumas' mother, calling from upstate New York. She told him to turn on the news.
Dumas drove to the stadium and saw the unthinkable, the unheard of.
"As an organization, we watched the second plane fly into it [the WTC]," he said.
Suddenly, Dumas' role as general manager of a minor league baseball team changed.
Within hours, he was contacted by the police. The stadium was about to become more than a baseball field.
"It's very handy. It's a perfect location, with the ferry 1,500 feet from here," Dumas said of the stadium, in relation to the city.
Police and fire departments and volunteers used the Staten Island stadium as a command post. Concession stands were open continuously, and donations were accepted.
"You're not prepared for that," Dumas said. "Kudos to my staff for dealing with it."
At one point, staff members loaded a golf cart, normally used for field maintenance, with bottled water and brought it into the city by way of the Staten Island Ferry.
"There were 15 people on the boat. It seats thousands," Dumas recalled. "We gave out the bottled water. We were a half-block from Ground Zero. It was so surreal and eerie."
After the attacks, Staten Island's stadium was put to use around the clock for a month, said Dumas.
Changes
Dumas has noticed a difference in the generosity of people now. Saying hello to a stranger has become more common.
That beautiful view of the skyline is still a trademark of Staten Island's stadium, even without the towers.
"It's not eerie anymore," Dumas said of seeing the city without the towers.
"But every time I drive to work, I look to the left and there's Manhattan, and I definitely think about it."
XBrian Richesson is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write him at richesson@vindy.com.