Even as the pennant races heat up, baseball is of minor importance this week in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The images, footage and reports of the devastation and chaos in New Orleans and Mississippi are simply jaw-dropping and heart-rending. For all our our high standards of living in this country, to see a natural disaster that kills thousands, brings millions to their knees, and induces lawlessness, panic, and a public health crisis worthy of a Third World country is incredibly sobering. The belated, pathetic response from our federal government in helping the victims of this disaster is particularly frustrating and disgraceful. We can fuck up a war in Iraq in no time flat, but mobilizing our troops to save our own citizens from the devastating aftermath of a natural disaster is apparently a different matter.

I don’t have any family in the Gulf Coast region, but having lived through September 11 in Manhattan, I can begin to identify with the fear and uncertainty the people down there must be facing. News from two of my good friends at Baseball Prospectus whose families have been affected by the hurricane bring the crisis even closer to home. Dayn Perry reports that his parents’ home in Gulfport, Mississippi was completely destroyed. Steven Goldman and his wife spent a tense couple of days awaiting word that her parents, who also live in Mississippi, were safe. My heart goes out to them and their families as well as everyone else affected by this crisis.

It’s heartening to see even everybody’s favorite villain, George Steinbrenner, set a positive example with his generosity by donating $1 million to the relief effort. If you haven’t done so already, I urge you all consider a donation to the Red Cross in the face of this emergency.