Did this really happen?

Disbelief. It was the first feeling that surfaced from my pool of emotions. Almost immediately afterwards, it felt like I had been punched in the gut.

Exactly 61 months after terrorists crashed two commercial planes into landmark Manhatten buildings, a pitcher who loved to fly ascended into the sky with his flight instructor and never came down. The small, private plane crashed into a Manhatten building half the size of the towers that were felled months ago. Perhaps the only positive in this story was the fact that no one in the building died.

Cory Lidle was 34. He has a wife and a six year old son. He was a pitcher for the New York Yankees, whom, only five days ago, I watched pitched in the postseason, undoubtedly one of the high points of his career.

I can only express my deepest sympathies, say a prayer for this young father, and hope his family can find the strength to get through this terrible tragedy.

Baseball, like life, goes on tonight. The very same Detroit Tigers who eliminated Lidle and the Yankees a few short days ago face the Oakland A's. Baseball fans can only watch the game with a bittersweet interest, knowing that if the Tigers had lost and not the Yankees, Lidle might still be alive.

Lidle earned his pilot's licensce after last offseason. His passion was not only in the seams of a white, leather sphere, but among the clouds and stars in the sky.

It has been reported that Lidle called in fuel problems shortly after takeoff. It crashed only 15 minutes after takeoff. Like Lidle, his wife and son were in the air on their way back to California. However, they flew on a commercial jet, not knowing they would never see their husband or father again, left only with his passport which fell to the ground.

A black cloud has been cast over the rest of this season's playoffs. Flags should remain at half-staff, as a pitcher in the midst of his career will always remain stuck there, gone  too soon.

And I'm trying to believe
In things that I don't know
The turning of the world
The color of your soul
That love could kill the pain
Truth is never vain
It turns strangers into lovers
And enemies to brothers
Just say you understand
I never had this planned
        - Goo Goo Dolls "Without You Here"

RIP Cory Lidle 3/22/72-10/11/06