Former University of Maine All-American center fielder Mark Sweeney, who is now playing for the Milwaukee Brewers, said the St. Louis Cardinals did a “first class” job honoring the victims of the terrorist attacks when the Major League Baseball schedule resumed on Monday night.

St. Louis beat his Brewers 2-1. Sweeney doubled as a pinch-hitter.

“They did it right,” said former Cardinal Sweeney. “They had the opening ceremonies with all the local firefighters and police. And [long-time Cardinals broadcaster] Jack Buck read a poem. Who better to read a poem that put everything into perspective than Jack Buck. It was a nice touch. There were a lot of chills and teary eyes.”

Sweeney added that they sung “America the Beautiful” during the seventh-inning stretch rather than the traditional “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

Sweeney said the decision to postpone the weekend games was the correct one.

“It would have been disrespectful to play this past weekend,” said Sweeney who added that everybody’s focus was on the attack and the struggle to find survivors as players huddled around the television in the clubhouse.

He said he received several calls from friends who learned that two Brian Sweeneys were on board the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center. Sweeney has a brother of the same name.

“But my brother spells his name with a ‘Y’ instead of an ‘I.’ The weird thing is he was on one of those flights [from Boston to Los Angeles] the previous week,” said Sweeney.

The 31-year-old outfielder-first baseman, who has made his mark as a quality pinch-hitter, said it felt good to get back on the field Monday.

“We wanted to start playing. It’s almost the end of the year and if you have the opportunity to take people’s minds off [the attack] for three or four hours, that’s a good thing,” said Sweeney.

Sweeney, who was called up a month and a half ago, entered Tuesday’s game hitting .284 with three doubles, three homers and 11 RBIs in 74 at-bats.

He had hit .287 for the AAA Indianapolis Indians with six homers, 34 doubles and 69 RBIs. He led the team in doubles and RBIs.

“I feel good. When I first got called up, I was thrown into the starting lineup for three weeks. I had some real good at-bats and I got comfortable,” said Sweeney. “It’s funny, it felt like the first time I had been called up to the big leagues.”

Sweeney said he is much stronger than he was a year ago when he was still weakened by off-season shoulder surgery.

“Even though I was hurt and had a disappointing season, I still learned how to be a better hitter,” said Sweeney, who is a career .262 hitter (205-for-781).

He added that he is hoping to re-establish himself as one of the top pinch-hitters in the game and earn a major league job for next season.

Sports will help heal us

No, sports aren’t going to erase the horrific memories of Tuesday, Sept. 11.

But they will help.

They will supply a two-to-four hour respite from the terrorist attacks. They will allow us to place our focus somewhere else.

The tributes and the waving of the American flags and the rousing renditions of our national anthem and “America the Beautiful” are extremely powerful when they are tied in to an athletic event.

Sports are a source of entertainment but they also serve as a showcase of patriotism.

One of the memories I will always have of the Gulf War was a spine-tingling rendition of the national anthem sung by the crowd at a Chicago Blackhawks hockey game.

Let’s use sports as a healing device.

Larry Mahoney’s Touching Base column appears every Wednesday. He can be contacted at 990-8231 or at lmahoney@bangordailynews.net.