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DETROIT -- Most people have some sort of story about where they were on Sept. 11, 2001. Magglio Ordonez has two. Ordonez himself was part of the White Sox team that was in New York City on the date when two jetliners struck the twin towers of the World Trade Center. They had arrived in the city in the early-morning hours from Cleveland, where Ordonez had injured his hand and left the game Monday bcs football rankings night.His father, Magglio Sr., was on the trip. He had never seen New York and wanted to see the sights. He was up early Tuesday. The younger Ordonez and his aching hand were going to sleep in. One call changed that."When it happened, I was asleep and [people] started calling me," Ordonez said. "I didn't know what was going on. My dad was there with me, his first time in New York, and he was scare bcs football rankings d. He woke up really early and he was walking around. He didn't know what was going on."He looked out the window, then joined the crowds of people heading down the elevators to get to street level and see something. - MLB.com's 2001 coverage after Sept. 11- Baseball showed USA's post-9/11 resiliency - Castrovince: Public finds solace at ballparks- Bauman: However small, diversion is welcome- Noble bcs football rankings : 10 years later, bagpipes and baseball- Giuliani recalls baseball's impact after 9/11- Baseball recalls wide-ranging emotions- Bauman: Game shaken, resolved in aftermath- Mets' memories remain vivid- In New York, Cubs remember 9/11 heroes- Torre: Emotions from 9/11 remain today- Tragedy strikes 9/11 'Faces of Hope'- Where were they? Players recall 9/11 events- Events left impression on Fall Class bcs football rankings ic Sights Sounds: 2001 | 10 years later Baseball Remembers: Pt. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5Vin Scully on 9/11, 10 years laterJack Buck's speech, poemGiuliani on baseball's impact on recoveryFirst pitch: Shea Stadium | Yankee StadiumBaseball's Best: Piazza's homerGalleries: Tributes | First game back in NY9/11/2011 observances -Collectively, Yanks and Halos honor 9/11 heroesNationals pay tribute to 9/11 be bcs football rankings fore finaleSen. McCain helps D-backs honor 9/11 victimsBeing in Washington special for Astros on 9/11First responders honored in tribute in St. LouisRays, Sox pause to honor those lost on 9/11Tigers honor Detroit service workersBrewers, Phillies reflect on events of 9/11Rockies, Reds pay tribute to 9/11 before gameIndians reflect 10 years after Sept. 11White Sox hold emotional 9/11 remembranceRang bcs football rankings ers remember 9/11 with special ceremonyMariners pause to remember 9/11Bucs, Marlins honor heroes, victims of 9/11Royals players pause to remember 9/11How you can help- 9/11 Memorial in New York- Flight 93 National Memorial- The National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial "What I saw," Ordonez said, "was thousands and thousands of people walking."What he didn't know at the time, what he couldn't have known, w bcs football rankings as that inside the north tower of the World Trade Center, a Port Authority technology officer named Ernie DiFranchi had escaped down the stairs after the first plane hit. And he was thanking Ordonez for it.According to the story, which appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times a year later and recalled recently by Ordonez, DiFranchi had read that morning about Ordonez's hand injury. Ordonez was on DiFranc bcs football rankings hi's fantasy baseball roster, so he wanted to get him out of the lineup for that week. Because his league had a deadline for setting lineups, he went upstairs to his office early to make the move rather than linger around downstairs for coffee.Had he not gone up early, DiFranchi believed, he would have been in one of the elevators with friends going up when the first plane hit. Nearly all the elev bcs football rankings ators stopped working after the impact, trapping people inside.Ordonez had a chance to meet DiFranchi a year later in Philadelphia when the White Sox faced the Phillies in Interleague Play. The story amazed and moved him. DiFranchi gave Ordonez a Port Authority pin and told him the story."It was crazy," Ordonez said.Ordonez is one of a rare few players from that White Sox team still playing, joine bcs football rankings d by Mark Buehrle and Paul Konerko. With commercial flights grounded nationwide, they were stranded in New York, waiting for Major League Baseball to decide what to do with the schedule. MLB put games on hold for a week. But somehow, the White Sox had to get back to Chicago."We were stuck in New York for two days," Ordonez remembered. "And after what happened, you didn't see any people walking aro bcs football rankings und outside. It was weird. You know New York, there's always something around. For those couple days, it was quiet."Obviously, everybody who was in New York after what happened over there, you're maybe thinking they're going to do something again. But fortunately, nothing happened after that."Eventually, the White Sox arranged for a bus to take them home, embarking on an 18-hour trek over the moun bcs football rankings tains of Pennsylvania, across Ohio and through Indiana."It was pretty quiet," Ordonez said. bcs football rankings
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