Ross Greenburg presented his documentary “Nine Innings from Ground Zero” and conducted a panel discussion following the film in Murphy Auditorium Sept. 8.

“Nine Innings from Ground Zero” illustrates New York’s journey back to normalcy after the 9/11 attacks through baseball.

The event began with an opening speech from President Dr. Joseph E. Nyre, who introduced Greenburg.

After the screening of the movie, Greenburg led a panel that included former Yankee star Bernie Williams, the former Yankees public relations director Rick Cerrone and producer Joe Lavine.

“Nine Innings from Ground Zero,” starts by showing game seven of the 2001 World Series, in which the New York Yankees played the Arizona Diamondbacks. After this short clip, the movie switched to a shot of Ground Zero, which was taken at the same time.

Greenburg, the former president of HBO Sports, described his emotional connection to the story of the 2001 World Series.

“A personal moment I had was high-fiving ten cops in a line after game three at Yankee Stadium,” Greenburg said.

The movie then showed footage of the 9/11 attacks. The first person to speak in the film was Caren Barbra, who said that the last time she saw her dad was when he gave her tickets to the Yankees’ game for Sept. 10, 2001. Her father was a firefighter chief who died in the fires at the World Trade Center.

The film then transitioned into showing how the Yankees reacted to the terrorist attack. Prior to their first practice after the attacks, they got into a circle to pray. They then decided not to practice and instead to go down to a shelter to help people in need. Their presence brought people to tears.

The movie shifts back to baseball and shows that for every playoff game that year, Yankee Stadium was packed. The film showed that baseball and the Yankees united those in despair. During this time everyone started to gather and to watch these games because they provided happiness.

 Director of College and Athletic Communications Brian Beyrer felt that this documentary caused a whole range of reactions in the audience: laughing, crying, happiness and sadness, while teaching something.

“While watching, it was a roller coaster full of emotions,” Beyrer said. “This film was phenomenal.”

 “I was torn when it happened,” Williams, in describing his feeling on 9/11, said. “I knew where I was, felt like a trailer from a movie.”

Lavine described the difficulty of making a movie about such a horrific event.

“It was very painful to do because these stories were sad and horrifying,” he said. “These stories were the core of the film.”

Cerrone saw the towers fall as he was on his way to work.

“I was in shock,” he said. “The weird thing that was on my mind is that I have to get to work. Once I got to work, the players kept on calling saying we have to get out there, but I told them to stay home.”

The shock, fear and depression that hung over the nation made that fall a difficult and emotional time.

“I wanted to get back to a state of normalcy,” Greenburg said in an interview.

However, it was difficult for normal life to continue.

Ian Sacks ’16 recalled being picked up from school early and watching the news coverage when he got home. Following that day, he remembered baseball and the Yankees captivating himself, the city, and the nation.

People stopped what they were doing when the Yankee game was on. New Yorkers and Americans gathered to find a sense of hope in the games.

The documentary also featured Brielle Saracini, who was a child at the time of the attacks. She wrote a letter to her favorite player, Derek Jeter, about how her dad was a pilot for one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center. After reading her letter, he started a friendship with her that lasts to this day. Saracini and her mother were present at the panel.

The film outlines all seven games of the World Series. The Yankees dropped the first two games in Arizona but played with some extra magic upon returning to New York. The documentary showed everyone in attendance was ecstatic and emotional with happiness, sadness and patriotism throughout the games. In the three games at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees miraculously battled back to win each game, which brought more life back into New York.

The Diamondbacks ended up winning the final two games of the series to take the championship, but the movie showed how baseball, America’s sport, helped a wounded nation to heal.