Chicago White Sox recall harrowing hours in New York on Sept. 11 before returning to baseball

CHICAGO (WLS) -- In the early morning hours of Sept. 11, 2001, the Chicago White Sox landed in New York and headed to their hotel, preparing to face the Yankees later that night. Players and staff say the day quickly shifted from routine travel to an experience they will never forget.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

Darrin Jackson said the team arrived just after midnight.

"When we flew in the night before, we landed in Newark. I was in the team bus and we could see the twin towers, the Statue of Liberty and everything-because it's like 12:30-1 o'clock in the morning," he said.

Ed Cassen recalled the moment he realized something was wrong.

"We landed about 2 a.m., probably fell asleep about 4, and my room phone rang at about 8 o'clock. It was my wife at the time, and she said 'Are you alright?' and I said 'Uh, yeah why? She said, 'Turn on your TV'... and it was shock," he said.

The White Sox were staying about a mile from Ground Zero. As the attacks unfolded, they sheltered in place, listening to the chaos outside and feeling the uneasiness of the moment in real time. Jackson said he watched the images of the planes hitting the towers.

"I saw the image of the first plane hit the towers and I'm looking at my fiancé and said, 'Oh that's terrible.' And then the second plane hit, and I said, 'Do you realize our world has just changed forever?'" he said.

Cassen immediately contacted team leadership.

"My first call to Kenny Williams. 'Kenny what would you like us to do? I don't care if we forfeit the game, get us out of here.' That was my only directive: Get us out of here," he said.

RELATED | Chicago video journalist, firefighters reflect on 9/11 Ground Zero experience 25 years later

With Manhattan shut down and the rest of the country soon to follow, Cassen spent nearly 12 hours working with authorities to secure buses to evacuate the team.

"We were finally granted permission to have two busses come to Grand Hyatt the morning of the 12th. They did throw a little caveat in there, -if we have emergency workers who need a lift over to the Jersey side, would you be amenable to that and I said of course.

"Along the way -there were some nurses who were stuck on the island who needed a ride off the island. So we picked these nurses up, we took them where they needed to go and we hit the highway," Jackson said.

Once back in Chicago, the team faced a quiet week and questions about when and how to return to work. Jackson said resuming baseball felt like the right step.

"The world needs to get back its normalcy. We have to entertain the masses - we have to give them a break and... it was perfect," he said.

One week after the attacks, the White Sox hosted the Yankees in Chicago. Cassen said the moment was powerful.

"Our fans were amazing.. it was like-we're all together in this. If you're from Chicago you generally don't like the Yankees but it was like, we're all together in this. We're all Americans -and let's go-we got your back," he said