Cubbies Crib honors those lost on 9/11

Sep 11, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Special commemorative bases were used to signify the events of September 11, 2001 during the game between the Texas Rangers and the Cleveland Indians at Rangers Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Despite the fact that we have six writers on staff here at Cubbies Crib, there are few words that can suffice to express our feelings as we, as a nation, look back on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Loss, maybe. The nation suffered a tremendous loss on that clear, sunny September morning 12 years ago. 343 New York fire fighters and paramedics were lost. In all, some 2,997 people lost their lives in those deadly attacks in Washington, D.C., New York City and a field outside of Shanksville, PA.

National icons – the Pentagon and the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center – were crippled by the attacks that left us all with a profound sense of what it meant to be Americans, and questioning whether or not we were as safe as we once thought.

But out of that tremendous sense of loss, we came together as a nation. We united. We were all Americans in the days, weeks and months that followed.

Tens of thousands of units of blood were donated by citizens looking to do their part. Brave American men and women deployed to Afghanistan to help bring justice to those responsible. And baseball. Baseball helped us heal.

When President George W. Bush came to Yankee Stadium later that year to throw out the first pitch, donning an NYPD cap, we all, as baseball fans and as Americans, were proud.

On the 12th anniversary of this infamous day, we ask that all baseball fans take a moment out of their respective days to reflect on what the sport did for the nation that year. Thank those who paid the ultimate price and do your own part in bettering these United States of America.