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Mike Piazza Jersey From First Mets Home Game After 9/11 Being Auctioned Off

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The jersey Mike Piazza wore when he hit his iconic post 9/11 home run is being auctioned off.

On Sept. 21, 2001, in the Mets' first home game following the attacks on the World Trade Center, Piazza hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to seal a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

PHOTOS: Mike Piazza Through The Years

Goldin Auctions will begin taking bids online Monday. The auction will conclude with a live event April 30 in New York.

"To me, it's the most significant moment in Mets history," Ken Goldin of Goldin Auctions told the New York Daily News.

The jersey has an American flag emblazoned on the back collar and "9-11-01" stitched into the right sleeve. It was also autographed by Piazza.

The record price for a game-worn Mets jersey is believed to be a 1970 Nolan Ryan jersey that sold for $53,758 in 2008. Goldin told the Daily News he'd be disappointed if the jersey didn't fetch at least $50,000.

The jersey was brought to Goldin Auctions by the world's biggest Mets collector, who purchased the jersey from the team in a private auction three years ago, Goldin said.

Piazza spoke about the home run in January on the day after he was elected into the baseball Hall of Fame.

A LOOK BACK: Piazza Recalls First Post-9/11 Game

"It's tough because I get emotional thinking back at that week," he said. "I mean, anybody knows who was there, it's something you can't define. It changed all of our lives, not at a baseball level, but personally for me. I mean, it really put my life in perspective and focused what the important things in life are, and that's family and friends and relationships.

"To be, for me, at the right place at the right time and come through, I can only think it comes from above and a lot of people who put wind under my wings. That was a special moment for me."

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