Rich Lather

Mets/NY Giants.

[Rich Lather @ThomasC83B]

@Mets In honor of the 4th of July, fire David Stearns out of a cannon and as far as possible away from the Mets forever. This team is an absolute embarrassment and the laughing stock of the league. I’m a lifelong fan and this is just too much. @StevenACohen2

[Bob Ojeda @BobOjeda19]

This story has laid largely dormant in my mind for 25 years. Never gone, but very hard to think about the horror of that morning and I’d rather not. This is my morning of September 11, 2001.

At this point in my life, I am a pitching coach for The Brooklyn Cyclones, the Mets’ minor league baseball team. I have a sponsor’s softball game at our ballpark at 10 AM. My house in Jersey is about an hour drive away. I’m at my kitchen table having coffee, getting ready to head in at around nine. I put on the news. The traffic report mentions it’s a little heavy so I decide I’ll leave early. Just as I’m heading out the door the news breaks that a small plane appears to have hit one of the Twin Towers. I stopped to listen. The news reporter looks concerned and confused, but not panicked. It’s an unfolding moment and she’s keeping her cool. The look of disbelief was unstable; no answers, just confusion. She was trying her best, in her own way, to not create a mass panic. Whoever she was, she deserves a ton of credit, along with the other reporters who did the same thing.

I head to my car and put on 1010 WINS. I decide to head up Route 36. There is a bridge that crosses the Shrewsbury River that allows a direct view to the city. When I get there, I’m in disbelief. There is smoke coming from the top of one of the towers, yet still no panic on the radio, just reporting of what is currently known.

I call my daughter, who works in the city. I asked her where she is. She tells me she’s coming up the escalator from the bottom floors of the World Trade Center, exiting the subway. We stay on the phone. I hear the strain in her voice. Whatever has happened is not good and she is witnessing it firsthand. The radio does not betray the gravity of what happened. They are in disbelief along with all of us.

I step on the gas, and race up 36. By now I figure I’ll turn left, head into the city, pick up my daughter, and then drive on to the ballpark in Coney Island. We get cut off on the phone. The confusion on the radio continues and escalates. She calls me back a few minutes later. “Dad, I just came up the escalator and there are people jumping out of the windows, there’s people jumping out of the windows.” I ask her how high they are jumping from, trying to get a feel for what is happening. I am not ready for what she’s about to say. “80 floors.” A second plane hits the other tower. This is a nightmare, and I begin to feel panic coming up within me.

I take the Staten Island exit off of the parkway and approach the Outerbridge. I see cars stopped. Then the news comes over the radio. All bridges and tunnels are closed to the city. At the last possible moment, I turned off to the right and circled back down, heading back to my house. I’m doing over 100 miles an hour. I highly doubt a cop is going to stop me. I’m thinking, “What now?” I call my friend Lenny and say “I need your boat!” He asked me,“Where are you going?” I said, “To the city to get my daughter.” He’s well aware of what’s going on, and says, “I’m going with you.” I said, “No you’re not. I don’t know what I’m getting into. I don’t know what’s gonna happen. I don’t even know if I can get there but I have to try. I appreciate your offer, but I got it.” We plan to meet at his boat within 20 minutes. I pause going over the bridge on 36, take a look back, and it is beyond horrific. There’s people in those buildings and I hope one is not my daughter.

I call my daughter back, thank God I get a hold of her, and let her know the plans. I tell her to stay at her office. “Stay there until I get there. Stay put!” I swing by my house real quick. I have an idea I’m probably gonna need my father's flag. He was an army veteran who spent time in Iwo Jima. I plan on hanging it off the side of the little boat. Hopefully that will let the authorities know I’m on the home team. I run in the house and remove it from the triangle box in which I keep it and head down to the marina. My friend’s there and insists on going. We jump in and off we go.

Within minutes, a little comic relief. We need gas. Thankfully, there’s a fueling marina at Bahr’s Landing. We pull in. The young man working the pump was curious about where we are going. We fill up, he says good luck, and on our way. The radio is on. The news is still confusing but becoming clearer. Both towers have been hit. Both towers are on fire. We look at it. We see it in front of us, knowing we’re heading in.

I call my daughter. I tell her I should be there within a half hour, if we lose contact, I tell her to make her way down to the ferries evacuating people off the island. “Get to the top deck and look out to the open water. I’ll be in a small boat with grandpa‘s flag hanging off the side. Get to the top deck and wave and wave. If I see you, I’ll turn around and follow the boat back. If not, I’ll keep going.”

We’re a few miles out from the Verrazano Bridge. At this point, I think it’s going to be a dead end. I can’t imagine there won’t be police and Coast Guard closing off from that point. Suddenly, a small biplane with wings painted red and white appears. It is flying towards us but very erratically. I have no idea what that was about.

I have my daughter back on the phone. She finally arrived at her office on Wall Street. I tell her our ETA and then she feels something. The building shakes. “Dad, what was that?” I hear on the radio, which has made this whole scenario surreal. The radio has one report, my daughter has the live report, and we’re in the middle, trying to make sense of the whole thing…it’s impossible. You cannot make sense of this moment. I hear on the radio that the building collapsed, but I tell my daughter not to worry about it. It’s probably just all the trucks and everything rumbling around. I make up some nonsensical answer, and she was not in the mood to analyze anything. She was terrified.

Still no Coast Guard or police boats. We keep going under the bridge. Smoke billowing in front of us. The smell is unimaginable. It just smells like burning everything. It’s an acidic, rancid smell. Heartbreaking. Because I know what it is. We’re beginning to approach Governors Island. I tell Lenny to stay to the right, we’ll go around and then go straight towards Pier 11. So far, everything is going according to plan, a plan that is being made up as I go.

I’m looking at the smoke, the haze and everything and I’m in disbelief. My mind makes up that the tower is still there. “I can see the tower Lenny, can you see the tower?” “I can’t see it.” “It’s right there.” But it wasn’t there. It was gone. It was a pile of rubble. Confirmed by the papers, worksheets and everything flying through the air over our heads. Literally, pieces of paper. Pieces of paper that somebody sitting at their desk was working on an hour ago are now floating through the air, as well as the poor soul who was doing the work.

We’re around Governors Island and then, the inevitable. A small Coast Guard boat, that looks like a red inflatable boat, makes a B-line right for us. Machine gun mounted on the bow. I stand up on our bow and I’m frantically waving my father's flag that I’ve tied to the side of the boat. They come racing up in a no nonsense mood, helmets, guns, everything pointing right at us. They come right up next to our boat. “Where are you going?” “I’m going to pick up my daughter.” They turn, have a short conversation, I don’t know what’s gonna happen, then they turn back to me and say “Go ahead.” I could’ve fallen over.

I call my daughter again and thankfully get through and tell her head to the water. I’m coming up to Wall Street now. We head for the pier and pull up. lt’s kind of bouncy because of all the tugboats loading people on and getting them off the island. It was organized chaos but it was organized. I have so much respect for the men and women who handled that without panic. We pull up next to the pier. It’s about a 5- or 6-foot reach to the railing. I grab it. I’m holding on, ready to let go, throw my leg over the railing, and Lenny yells, “Don’t let go!” “Why? What’s the matter?” The engine died. This is great, I’m this close and I’m gonna fall in the water. I’m holding on with one hand on the boat and the other on the railing, being stretched like I’m in a torture device. Between the current and the bouncing, I don’t know how I stayed up. The longest 30 seconds of my life when he goes, “OK, OK. I got it.” I let go of the boat and climb over the side. I tell him to circle around right here. I’ll be back.

I begin to run up Wall Street. Unbelievably the first police officer I see on shore is from my hometown. He is directing people to the massive tugboats and the ferry boats getting people off of the island. He sees me and asks what I’m doing there. I explained to him that I’m going to get my daughter. He says good luck, I’ll see you at home.

Seconds later, strangely, an older lady comes up to me and says, “Excuse me, aren’t you Bobby O?” “Yes I am.” “Oh, I just love you. You are so fun to watch.” Then her son, who understood the gravity of the situation, says, “OK mom, come on, we gotta go.” I thanked her and her son and went on my way. Can’t make that stuff up.

I continued making my way up Wall Street. Incredibly, there’s my daughter coming down. It’s like a miracle. It’s a miracle in front of my eyes. I grab and hug her. We head back down to the water. We get to the water’s edge where the railing is, she looks down. Lenny has pulled up by then and she looks down and I said “Look, you gotta jump. There’s no other way, you’ve gotta jump.” It’s probably at least a 5-foot jump down to the deck to a bouncing boat with a wet bow being pushed around by the current and choppy water. She looks at me one last time, looks at the boat, and jumps. She lands and rolls but she is fine. I look around one last time at the surreal scene of I don’t even know what to call it. I jump down, hug my daughter again, sitting in our seats. We turn and head back down home. No one deserves this to happen to them.

This weekend, I am reminded of and send nothing but respect to the individuals, first responders, ferry and tug boat captains beside me, who organized amongst the chaos to help one another on a horrific day.

[BostonWriter @bostonwriter]

If this sort of thing doesn’t stop you in your tracks and make even the slightest twinge of pride rise in your soul… well… I feel sorry for you.

[Wall Street Apes @WallStreetApes]

A German soccer fan is brought to tears over how nice he’s been treated in America

He says he was afraid to come to America for the FIFA World Cup because European media portrays America as dangerous. He’s spent weeks in America and can’t believe how it’s the exact opposite

“I fall in love with this country, and this was so emotional. I even cried in the stadium”

“Following the German soccer team from Houston to Boston. Sebastian was afraid of coming over, saying that the news in Europe painted a picture of America being dangerous. But at every stop, from the moment he landed, he says everyone has treated him with kindness and respect and has not felt unsafe.”

“Americans are not rude. Germans are not rude. If we are together, we can achieve great things”

The media is the enemy of the people and it seems to be true everywhere

I looked into data and found the real problem

90%+ of the mainstream media in America is Left leaning

And in Europe, over 80%+ of their mainstream media is Left leaning

That’s the problem right there. Liberals are destroying societies with their control of the media

[Baseball by BSmile @BSmile]

Today In 1984: Henry Aaron hammers a broken bat HR vs. Bob Feller during the Third Annual Cracker Jack Old Timers Baseball Classic at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.! ⚾️ #MLB #Legends #Baseball #History

[History Nerd @_HistoryNerd]

Major Frank Prentice was 18 years old when he dropped over a hundred feet off the stern of the Titanic into a sea full of ice.

He survived. This is what he saw.

Prentice worked in the Purser's office.

He was in his cabin at midships when the collision happened. He describes no chaos, no impact, nothing dramatic:

"It was just like jamming your brakes on my car. There was no great impact you couldn't feel. Just a bit of a shudder and she stopped."

That quiet did not last.

As the ship began to sink, Prentice moved through it.

He helped stewardesses into lifeboats who did not know where to go. He helped a woman named Mrs. Clark with her lifejacket. She did not want to leave her husband. He told her the husband would follow on later.

He would not.

On his way back from the lifeboats, Prentice heard the band. They were playing "Nearer My God to Thee" and singing.

He kept walking.

When the end came, he made his way to the stern. He describes it as quiet up there.

By the time he let go, the ship was nearly vertical. He had been hanging onto a board that read "Keep Clear of Propeller Blades."

At the very last moment, he let go and fell.

"I just missed the propellers on the way down."

The drop was over a hundred feet. The water was packed with ice and chunks of berg.

His watch stopped at 2:20 am.

He was not alone in the water at first. Then he was.

"I gave it a long thought when I was on my own and everybody else seemed to be dead round me."

He had two life jackets and a cushion.

He paddled toward a light he could still see from the rockets the bridge had fired. He reached a lifeboat and climbed in.

Mrs. Clark was already there. She wrapped a blanket around him and tried to keep him warm.

Her husband had drowned.

When asked who was responsible for the disaster, Prentice did not hesitate.

He blamed the bridge. He blamed Bruce Ismay, chairman of the shipping line, for pushing Captain Smith to maintain speed through waters they had been warned were full of ice.

"We had warnings that there was ice. We had it from ships and shore, and we went straight ahead as if there was nothing there in our way."

His verdict was simple:

That ship was thrown away.

Prentice was interviewed decades later.

Asked if the memory still haunted him, he said:

"When I'm alone tonight, I still think a lot about it. Can't help it, can you?"

—

Source: @BBCArchive – The Great Liners (1979)

[Spencer Pratt @spencerpratt]

This is how politicians and their families launder money. Nobody wants a book from Dr Biden. But some commie NGO that got taxpayer money from the admin can’t pay the kickback with a check. So they buy 100K books and burn em. The one-time bulk buy charts it for a week, then 💨

[Rich Lather @ThomasC83B]

@creepydotorg Nipple looking like a sausage on a pizza

[AB @AB84]

“If you want to hate America, watch the news. If you want to love America, drive through it”

~German World Cup fan

[SleeperMets @SleeperMets]

Former Mets hitting coach Eric Chavez says Juan Soto would be in the Mets clubhouse in between innings and not be in the dugout.

"This is a lack of leadership and accountability from the top down. A assistant GM would sit there with him."

Via @Mets2026

[Rich Lather @ThomasC83B]

@Cali_1024 @StevenACohen2 Very well said. A team of strangers. I can’t help but think how different this team would be with Pete Alonso in the lineup. There’s no reason to pitch to Soto without Pete behind him. Major fail. As a 40 year fan I’m disgusted

[Mistress Dividend @mistressdivy]

“If you want to hate America, watch the news. If you want to love America, drive through it”

~German World Cup fan

[Talkin' Baseball @TalkinBaseball_]

All six Mets errors tonight

[Rich Lather @ThomasC83B]

@TaraBull Those antique flaps coming in for landing

[Aubrey Huff @aubrey_huff]

I want to make this clear. I respect the hell out of Buster Posey. We’ve won World Series, & shared amazing times with the @SFGiants during our tenure as players. And it makes me puke watching him have to be force fed this gay monthly agenda that has somehow weaseled its way into every aspect of society. And we are called bigots or homophobes if we don’t cater & morally accept their own sick sexual behavior.

Not everyone wants to be reminded for a month there are people engaging in sexual acts that don’t align with their own morals, beliefs, & values. Watching what the Giants organization has become is pathetic.

I blame every single player on that team that hasn’t taken up for their teammates publicly for having the stones to wear bible verses on their hats. Nor having Busters back.

Having said that, Busters silence on this issue has allowed a .234 hitter like Drew Gilbert with 3 homers to celebrate rare wins by blowing imaginary loads on his willing, & eager teammates who seem to relish the thought of his load painting their faces.

And allowing Rafael Devers to continue his whiny, & overly emotional lazy ass to disrespect the organization, & himself.

The biggest problem is the college manager with zero balls. He’s soft & players know it. He doesn’t know how to lead nor demand respect, or accountability. There is zero leadership in the clubhouse which is overrun by a bunch of spoiled talentless pussies who posses zero pride, nor respect for the game, the organization, the fans, & even themselves.

They don’t know the first thing about how to win. They lack killer instincts. But they sure do know how to hit like shit while drawing attention to themselves. Kinda like a talent less attention seeking IG chick whose entire account is nothing but insecure & desperate thirst traps for attention.

That’s actually a good idea for all you .200 hitters. Once you lose your job soon. Each one of you should open up your own Onlyfans page catering to gay men. I believe that’s where you losers will find your true calling! Especially since it’s obvious you like blowing loads on each other more than winning @MLB games.

[Rich Lather @ThomasC83B]

@Polymarket They were waiting for any chance to fire her

[Rich Lather @ThomasC83B]

@SNY_Mets @SNYtv This is the analysis we needed. Now we will be unstoppable.

[Rich Lather @ThomasC83B]

@badlyer123 Obviously not them

[Rich Lather @ThomasC83B]

@SNY_Mets Mets pitchers throwing batting practice

[Rich Lather @ThomasC83B]

@SNY_Mets Mets always setting records! The wrong ones