The Plane Crash

That took the life of Corey Lidle brought back vivid memories for me. I remember I was in my backyard back in August of 1979 when my mom came out on the porch to tell me about Thurman Munson. That was the summer right before I was to start my high school years. Back then baseball was my life. I knew all the players and their stats. I knew who was traded for who, when, and why. Remember back then when free agency was only a few years old? When starting pitchers actually pitched into the 7th inning and beyond? When a great reliever like Bruce Sutter or Rich Gossage came into the game in the 7th and actually pitched the rest of the game? They didn't pitch to 3 hitters, collect the save, and shower. 1979 was the year Pittsburgh's "We are Family" Pirates defeated the Baltimore Orioles in 7 games. How long has it been since baseball talked about those two teams and the World Series in the same sentence. ? Sadly the tragic deatch of Corey Lidle has reminded me of how much baseball has changed and how much it doesn't mean to me anymore.