NYPD and FDNY face off in finals game

The New York City Fire Department’s bats were red hot in theirfinals game against the NYPD at the 2011 World Police and FireGames held at MCU Park in Coney Island on September 1.

Although the NYPD made a valiant effort, they couldn’t beat theheat the FDNY pitchers were throwing, scoring only a pair of runsand allowing the FDNY a 7-2 gold medal victory.

They had a little more pitching than we had, explained NYPD TeamCaptain Eric Sorensen, who pointed out that, unlike the FDNY, theirpitcher was running on only a few days’ rest.

Expanded versions of the two teams square off regularly in the NewYork City Metro League, where the NYPD won both matchups so farthis season. However at the September 1 game, they couldn’t stopthe FDNY’s momentum.

They jumped to a 3-0 lead [in the third inning] and then they kindof coasted, said Assistant Sports Director for the 2011 WorldPolice and Fire Games Thomas Melia on the Fire Department’svictory.

Having served as a New York City firefighter for 23 years, Meliaadmits he was less than neutral in picking the team he was rootingfor. Yet he describes a deep sportsmanship that pervaded theevent.

The games were very competitive, Melia said. But at the end ofthe game the gloves were put down, and there were hugs and playersshaking hands.

This year was the first time that baseball was included in theWorld Police and Fire Games which drew 16,000 firefighters andpolice from around the world to compete in 69 sports. Each biannualevent is held in a different city, with the 2013 games scheduledfor Belfast, Ireland.

Since whether or not to include baseball is up to local organizers,Sorensen hopes the Irish officials will opt to include America’sfavorite pastime.

We hope that baseball is an event, he said. As of now, it’sunknown.

This, Melia feels, made the final matchup between the two hometeams even more special.

I thought it was great to have both New York teams in the final,Melia said. It was a fitting ending.

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