By:JOSEPH KELLARD
It's the stuff legends are made of.
Like when Babe Ruth visited a sick hospital-bound 11-year-old boy, Johnny Sylvester, before a World Series game, promised him he'd hit a home run, and ended up slamming two that day.
Katrina Marino, whose husband, Kenny, an Oceanside native who was among the first firefighters to enter the burning Twin Towers and has been missing ever since, asked Ken Griffey Jr. to hit a home run for him and the star centerfielder followed through.
Late last month, Katrina sent the Cincinnati Reds baseball team an e-mail which in part read: My husband, Kenny Marino, a Rescue 1 firefighter, is missing. Ken Griffey Jr. was his favorite player. If Ken Griffey Jr. could hit an extra home run for Kenny, I know he will be looking down with a big smile.
The Reds media relations director, Rob Butcher, printed Katrina's e-mail, one of dozens that the team receives daily, and he left it on a chair in front of Griffey's locker before the game.
That night, during his second at-bat in a game against the Phillies in Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium, Griffey hit a solo home run, his 21st of the season, which landed in a bullpen in right field. Jacking his team up 2-0 in a game the Reds would eventually win 8-1, Griffey was reminded of Katrina's e-mail as he rounded the bases.
There are so many people who lost their lives in this disaster,Griffey reportedly said later. It doesn't matter what I do on the baseball field. This guy lost his life trying to save others. His wife asked me to hit a home run, and I was able to do it. I'm glad I was able to make him smile.
The e-mail also informed Griffey that when he was still a Mariner, her husband flew to Seattle to watch him play. Marino, who served with the Oceanside Fire Department before he became a New York City firefighter, got down near the ball field to hand Griffey an FDNY
