"Welcome to Shea cathedral," said Bishop Ignatius Catanello as he began Mass this morning in a setting that was hardly cathedral-like. It was the spartan, low-ceilinged former Jets locker room, but the ceremony was moving.
The regular Sunday morning service, attended by ushers, other employees, police officers and occasionally players, had a special feature today. It was the annual tribute to the 23 NYPD members who died in the line of duty on 9/11. The officer who spoke at Mass said the police honor all those who lost their lives that day, but that once a year, the fallen police are remembered in a special way at Shea.
At the end of Mass, a roll call was held with each of the 23 names read, followed by the response from an officer at the lectern saying, "Absent." Among those who read the names were Mets Paul LoDuca, Aaron Sele, Aaron Heilman and David Wright.
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Jay Horwitz, vice president of media relations, was inducted into the Fairleigh Dickinson University Hall of Fame last night. Horwitz' work in publicizing FDU sports in the 1970s--including his creative promotion of high jumper Franklin Jacobs--helped get him the job as media relations director with the Mets in 1980.