To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Major League Baseball players donned a special patch on their caps this weekend.
For Emmet Sheehan, who pitched for the Dodgers on Sunday, his tribute was quite personal.
Alongside the patch, he added the initials “E.F.” on his hat, a heartfelt nod to his late uncle, Edward Fergus Jr., who tragically lost his life on 9/11 while working at the World Trade Center.
Fergus was employed by Cantor Fitzgerald, which had offices high up in the North Tower. Unfortunately, he was among more than 650 of the firm’s employees who perished during the attacks, as noted by the 9/11 Living Memorial.
Though Sheehan was just a toddler when the attacks occurred, he grew up in Connecticut, where Fergus also lived. After high school, Sheehan went on to Boston College and was drafted by the Dodgers in 2021.
In Sunday’s game, which marked only his second start back in the Dodgers’ rotation following a brief time in triple-A, Sheehan had a solid performance. Previously, he was sent down after a challenging start to the season with a 5.29 ERA. Last week, he had already shown improvement by allowing just one run over 5 ⅔ innings while striking out 10 batters.
This time around, he successfully pitched six scoreless innings against the Miami Marlins, allowing only two hits, reinforcing his upward trend.
The significance of his small tribute to his uncle certainly added to the emotions of the day for Sheehan, making it a heartfelt occasion.
