NEW YORK -- For a week, Shea Stadium was a place for rescue equipment rather than runs batted in. Now it's ready again for baseball, bringing the game back to a city recovering from death and destruction.

	Volunteers sorting food items at the disaster relief staging area at Shea Stadium will give way to baseball players Friday.

"We know it will be tough," Mets catcher Mike Piazza said as he thought about returning this weekend to a ballpark where emergency vehicles lined the parking lot until two days ago.

The staging area for rescue supplies in the Shea parking lots was where manager Bobby Valentine and some of his players spent long hours last week helping workers following the destruction of the World Trade Center.

The team had Thursday off before opening a three-game series with Atlanta on Friday night, the city's first baseball game since the attacks and a suddenly crucial series for the Mets. They are 5 1/2 games behind the Braves in the NL East.

"It's going to be emotional," Chipper Jones said. "I doubt there will be a dry eye in the place. If playing the Atlanta Braves can be a rallying point for the people in New York, I'm honored to be a part of it."

Crucial is a relative term, though, for this team which went through such emotional turmoil last week.

The Mets were in Pittsburgh when the World Trade Center was attacked. They bused back home to spend a couple of days visiting rescue workers and hospitals, trying to help the healing of the city.

When baseball resumed Monday, the schedule had the Mets at home vs. the Pirates, but the games were switched to Pittsburgh because their home field was a key point in rescue efforts.

Back on the field at PNC Park, the Mets played two games wearing caps of New York's police and fire departments, a tribute to the heroes of the tragedy. They will wear the caps one last time Friday night.

Valentine, his coaching staff and the 31 uniformed players will donate their salaries for Friday to benefit the widows and children of city police officers, firefighters and emergency service workers. The $450,000 goes to a fund created by ex-Met Rusty Staub 16 years ago.

"I have a tremendous feeling of pride for what my guys have done," general manager Steve Phillips said. "It just makes me proud to be a member of this organization."

The Mets said just over 30,000 tickets had been sold for Friday night's game, just about average. Ceremonies marking the return were still being planned late Thursday.

	“	If playing the Atlanta Braves can be a rallying point for the people in New York, I'm honored to be a part of it. ”
		— Chipper Jones

The players spent their off day reflecting on an emotional time that had touched them all.

"Most of us are really excited to get back home," first baseman Todd Zeile said. "We're looking forward to what's going to take place Friday. I don't know what it's going to mean to this city as a whole, and it's presumptuous to think it's going to have a significant impact, but if it alleviates some of the stress or gives people something else to focus on ...

"It's going to be a great opportunity for us to pay tribute."

"It's nice to be home," third baseman Robin Ventura said, "but it's going to be tough, too. It's definitely going to be a more emotional time."

Ventura recalled how distracted the Mets were when baseball resumed play following six days off. "I hope we're a little better with keeping our heads in the game than we were Monday," he said.

There was a subdued feeling about the game, which the Mets won with three runs in the ninth inning. That victory and two more against the Pirates while the Braves were losing three games to Philadelphia cut the Mets' first-place deficit from eight games to five.

With 20 wins in the last 25 games, they returned home one game over .500, the first time they've won more games than they've lost this season since they were 2-1.

Their recovery has fueled talk among fans of 1973, when the Mets won their division with a record of 82-79.

Valentine often cited that season to his team as he tried to shake them out of the doldrums this summer. He was looking forward to Friday night.

"I think we'll have good emotion," he said. "We have the Braves in town. A lot of people bought tickets at the beginning of the season, hoping this would be a big series and, lo and behold, it's big. It's a fun time for baseball."

In a city that hasn't seen much fun lately, it's a welcome change of pace.