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Sunday, September 23, 2001

He hadn't played organized baseball since he was at Wheaton College in Illinois, and he has only a gossamer connection to Pittsburgh. But because baseball is trivial right now, here's a vote for a different breed of MVP.

He is Todd Beamer, 32, a sales account manager from New Jersey, who along with other passengers aboard United Flight 93, battled terrorism long before any of us actually knew that war had been declared. He even had a battle cry: "Let's roll."

Beamer played 92 games at Wheaton College as a shortstop/third baseman/outfielder before graduating in 1991. Four of his career home runs came when he was a senior playing the outfield, and he finished with 15 stolen bases and a .242 batting average.

Those aren't the kinds of numbers anybody would ever notice. But Flight 93 should stand as a memorial, not only for him and his fellow passengers, but for the rescue and recovery workers who have toiled at the crash site in the days since.

The story is already familiar. About an hour into a flight from Newark to San Francisco on the morning of Sept. 11, Beamer was among the passengers on a hijacked plane. The radar path of that plane took it over Pittsburgh as it circled back on a course toward Washington. He and some of his fellow doomed passengers already knew that other hijacked aircraft had hit the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Beamer spent his last 15 minutes speaking to a GTE AirFone operator, describing the hijackers: Two were armed with knives and a third said he had a bomb strapped to his waist. His voice, heard against a backdrop of chaos and screams, sounded completely calm. He asked that the operator call his wife and children to tell them that he loved them, and they recited the Lord's prayer. He also said he was going to jump the hijacker who had the bomb.

The last words the operator heard Beamer say were directed at somebody else: "Are you ready? Let's roll."

The telephone connection stayed open, allowing the operator to eavesdrop on the battle. She was still on the line when the plane nosedived into a remote area in Somerset County, 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

At Wheaton, Beamer's story has warmed hearts.

"We need something to lift our spirits right now," said Glenn Town, who works in the Wheaton athletic department. "His valiant effort saved incalculable lives."

Beamer's wife, Lisa, pregnant with the couple's third child, was in the audience Thursday night during President Bush's address to a joint session of Congress. U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., believes Beamer should be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award a civilian can receive.

His wife was able to speak directly with the GTE operator who heard her husband's final words, and his story, she said, "made my life worth living again."

"They did make a physical attempt to take back the plane," Beamer's wife said. "I do believe that what they did together really changed the course of history that day. If it had to happen anyway, I guess this is what I would choose."

No other MVP vote matters.

Picking up the pieces

September would have been tough enough for a team that has been so far out of the race all season, but the Pirates faced a special challenge getting back to business following the interruption forced by the terrorist attacks.

Although it had its own psychological impact, it wasn't the first disruption. The team had to deal with the devastating injuries coming out of spring training. And after leveling off in June and July with a better brand of baseball, then came the trading deadline that removed four veteran players.

"We've had a couple of periods there where there was some readjustment," Manager Lloyd McClendon said.

It was certainly tougher for the Pirates to pick it up again after the layoff. The Mets had the motivation of the pennant race, not to mention their connection with New York City, which they reinforced by wearing caps bearing the logos of police and firefighters. The Cardinals, too, had the boost of not only leading the wild-card race but having a shot at the National League Central title.

"It's been tougher for us, "McClendon said. "But we're back. We're back in the groove."

He also said there was no danger of losing the clubhouse, which is another way of saying that players would go through the motions.

"That's always a fear of any manager, that guys are going to give up. But it's my responsibility to make sure that doesn't happen," McClendon said. "If that did happen, my butt should be fired."

A rough start

It has been such a topsy-turvy season that it has been hard to measure what kind of job McClendon has done in his first year. While there are no shortage of opinions, McClendon said it has been difficult to evaluate his own performance.

"I've spent all my adult life in this game. I know this game inside and out. I try to prepare myself daily for my opponents, so I know everything about my opponent.

"But you know what? You're only as good as that pitcher on the mound. Preparation is knowing what to do if he gets knocked out after one inning or two innings, or if there's an injury. As far as the game, I think I've handled myself well," he added.

He did concede that he wouldn't wish the injury situation on any first-year manager, but he has relished the opportunity to manage.

"There have been days I've been disappointed. This office has been lonely at times. It's part of the job. You deal with it," McClendon said. "But I know we're doing good things, and we're going to reap the benefits of it real soon."