We need something, but we're not sure what. We need comfort, but we're not sure how. We need routine, but we're not sure when.

Each of us is wrestling with issues during these days after the most horrific terrorist attack ever on the United States, and some issues are larger than others. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has spent much of this week agonizing over his sport and its duty to the nation in this time of crisis.

Owners such as Jerry Colangelo and commissioner Bud Selig agree baseball should be postponed.(AP)

And stepping out of the wreckage won't be easy, not for any of us. As one executive for a major-league team said Thursday: "I just don't think the American public has the appetite to go out and holler for anybody right now. I think emotions are worse instead of better. The reality is just sinking in."

After initially considering a plan that would have had its clubs resume play on Friday, baseball concurred. Few people have much of an appetite for anything while bodies are still being pulled from the rubble in New York.

That baseball will resume on Monday and piece together a full 162-game schedule seems right now like so much background noise. But as we dust ourselves off and move on, eventually, we will turn our attention back to the little things that we've always treasured in this country. Walks in the park amid beautiful golden leaves. Warm apple cider on chilly fall evenings. Playoff baseball games in October.

It might seem like a long way off, and maybe it is. But we have to start moving forward, when the time is right, and without question, that time will be different for each of us.

That Major League Baseball and its individual clubs will make, as Selig says, "substantial contributions to relief efforts" is to be applauded.

That each player will wear an American flag on the back of his uniform for the rest of the season is touching.

That the song God Bless America will be sung near the seventh-inning stretch no doubt will bring tears to many, many eyes.

That clubs will present flags to fans and observe a moment of silence before the first games back Monday and Tuesday is nice, and that clubs will distribute information encouraging fans to donate blood is the right thing to do.

Here's one more suggestion: Each club should place large containers outside of its ballpark for the rest of the season and encourage fans to donate money for the victims.

"While I recognize the suffering from these horrific tragedies continues, I believe in the spirit of national recovery and a return to normalcy," Selig said. "Major League Baseball, as a social institution, can best be helpful by resuming play at the most appropriate time. I believe that time is Monday.

"All of Major League Baseball grieves for the victims and their families after this heinous attack."

Thursday was another chaotic day in baseball's small corner of the world as officials grappled with the right thing to do.

The Pittsburgh Pirates, unsure whether their game against the Cubs in Wrigley Field scheduled for Friday afternoon would go off, left Pennsylvania in three buses at 11:30 a.m. They traveled about three hours before pulling over into a rest stop near Sandusky, Ohio, so the players could eat and stretch.

After filling themselves on food from Burger King and Sbarro pizza, the Pirates loaded back into the buses and resumed their trip -- only to receive a cell phone call a short time later informing them that this weekend's games were off, and that they should make a U-turn and begin heading back to Pittsburgh.

They weren't alone. Philadelphia was busing from Atlanta to Cincinnati when Phillies general manager Ed Wade phoned them and told them to turn around and come home.

And the Texas Rangers, after spending a significant portion of their day sitting in the lobby of San Francisco's St. Francis hotel, finally boarded buses and began heading out -- not even sure of their direction. Scheduled to play this weekend in Seattle, the Rangers' party bused over the Oakland Bay Bridge and figured they'd decide whether to head north to Seattle or south, and toward their homes in Texas, when they literally came to a fork in their road.

The phone call came, and the Rangers, after crossing the Bay Bridge, followed the signs that said "South, Los Angeles." It was to be a ride home of approximately 28 hours driving time.

The Boston Red Sox had bused from Tampa to Sanford, Fla., and were sitting aboard a train headed for Baltimore when news came. They were said to have decided to keep that plan and then attempt to fly to home to Boston once they reached Baltimore.

All over the nation, similar scenes were being repeated. The Minnesota Twins bused home from Detroit, leaving Wednesday afternoon to begin a 12-hour trip. They arrived home after 3 a.m. Thursday.

And you know those "spoiled" players so many of us criticize? Mostly, they didn't make a peep as travel plans remained fluid and long bus rides awaited.

"The general consensus is, "Whatever's best, Major League Baseball will decide,'" reported Jim Trdinich, Pittsburgh's media relations director, after the Pirates had made the U-turn near Sandusky and were heading home. "They realize that this isn't the best time to be playing games, but if that's what the general public wanted, they were fine with that."

In times of crisis, we pull together, not apart. We hug our families a little longer. We treasure our friendships a little more deeply. And certainly, we treasure our freedom in this home of the brave.

No baseball this weekend? Maybe by the time the first pitches are thrown on Monday, we'll all be a little closer.

"It's the right thing to do, because I just think it's such a tragedy of enormous proportions," the major-league executive said. "It's very difficult to concentrate, until people can go home and regroup a little bit. There are more important things."

One of the national newscasts the other night told of the story of a man in Philadelphia who desperately needs a liver transplant. A liver became available in Pittsburgh but, because airports were closed, it wouldn't arrive in time. So it went to a less-needy person in Pittsburgh instead.

The right thing to do, calling off our sports this weekend?

"If you can't fly a human organ, you can't fly a baseball team or a football team," the executive said.

Amen.

Amen.