Ker-RAP!

I went over to CJ's tonight to watch the game which started at 5:17 pm (Pacific time, of course). We were both looking forward to it; the Red Sox have had a powerful season and seemed like they had a good shot to at least advance to the AL Championship Series on the strength of their ace, the best pitcher in baseball, Pedro Martinez.

The game started strong; both Pedro and Indians ace Bartolo Colon (both pitchers are from the Dominican Republic) were cruising. It appears the home plate umpire was giving them both a very wide strike zone, especially on the outside. Indians center fielder Kenny Lofton looked frustrated with it when he struck out early on.

The Sox took a 2-0 lead when Nomar Garciaparra - Boston's shortstop and the AL batting champion this season - hit a solo home run to lead off the second, and then scored in the fourth after hitting a double (which he cranked despite the pitch being high and very inside). The way Pedro was going, it looked like 2 runs would be enough. 7 or 8 innings from our ace, then bring in the nigh-untouchable Derek Lowe or Rod Beck to finish the game. Game one in the bag and the team assured of two games in Fenway.

Then, disaster: Pedro leaves the game after the fourth inning, and Lowe comes in. What happened? It seems he pulled a muscle in his back in the previous inning, possibly exacerbated by the chilly Cleveland night air, which he'd complained about before the game. Suddenly, you could tell that the Indians and their fans felt they had a new lease on life. Any time the best pitcher in baseball leaves the mound, you know you have a chance.

Lowe did a fine, fine job. He went four-plus innings, and only made two mistakes. But they were bad mistakes.

The first wasn't even entirely his fault. Third baseman John Valentin made a low throw to first base on what would have been the final out of the sixth, to let Manny Ramirez on base. Arguably first baseman Mike Stanley should have dug out the ball. The very next batter, Jim Thome, then hit a 2-run home run to tie up the game.

Lowe escaped further damage until the ninth, when manager Jimy Williams left him in to face the first batter, Ramirez again, who got on base. He then went to the lefty, Rheal Cormier, to face several left-handed hitters. Two of them also got on base, and Williams then turned to Rich Garces, who gave up the game-winning single to Travis Fryman. Indians win, 3-2.

It was awful. CJ was pacing back and forth in nervousness. I probably didn't look it, but I found it tense and depressing to watch. Just a sense of foreboding. The absolutely lousy Fox announcers seemingly being behind Cleveland anyway didn't help.

It's easy to second-guess some of the decisions in the game: Leaving Lowe in for one too many batters; not using Rod Beck instead of Garces; and so forth. But I think the reality is that the game was lost when Pedro left the mound. Colon was pitching excellently, and suddenly it became that much more questionable that the Sox could pitch as well, or better. You can't blame Pedro, or Williams, for that. It just happened. But damn.

"Ker-RAP!" is what CJ says when things don't go well. "Crapulent" is another common remark. They pretty much sum up tonight's game. Aargh!

This week's comic book haul:

1. Flashpoint #1 of 3, by Pat McGreal and Norm Breyfogle (DC): An Elseworlds series, meaning it doesn't take place in established DC continuity. The premise here is that Barry Allen became the Flash - the fastest man alive - in the 1950s, and fought (non-superhuman) crime for a few years, before becoming an active patriot, running communists out of Cuba, fighting in Vietnam, and so forth. But in 1963, saving President Kennedy from assassination, Allen took a bullet in the neck, paralyzing him from the neck down. He only had one thing left: His ability to think faster than anyone else on Earth.

   It's now 1999, and Allen's company has a space station in Mars orbit (and teleportation technology!) and they're investigating the remnants of the Martian race there. A strange artifact is found which does something peculiar to Allen's assistant and nephew, Wally West. And Allen's business partner seems to be non other than Vandal Savage, the "immortal villain". Many Flash supporting characters show up in unfamiliar roles, and there are seemingly no other superbeings on Earth (save, perhaps, one), so exactly what's happening - and who's responsible for the apparently intentional crippling of Barry - is entirely up in the air. McGreal - whom I've never heard of before - turns in a fine script, and Breyfogle does some of the best work of his career. Check this one out.

2. Planetary #6, by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday (Wildstorm): The latest installment of one of my favorite comics, this time doing its Fantastic Four riff, and setting up what appears to be a couple of major plot points for the series' main arc. I think that the story will start cranking over the next six issues or so, and I know Ellis plans to continue the series into its second year.

3. Starman #60, by James Robinson, David Goyer, Peter Snejbjerg, and Keith Champagne (DC): Finally, after over a year, the "Stars My Destination" storyline limps to a conclusion. You can probably guess that I was underwhelmed by Jack Knight's quest for his predecessor as Starman, Will Payton, who was being held captive on a distant planet. It meandered all over the place, seemed to be a weak variation on Alan Moore's Swamp Thing space sequence of some years back, and the conclusion featured a once-noble hero turning out to be not so noble, and a fate for Payton that I (having been quite a fan of the Roger Stern-created hero ten years ago) didn't much care for.

   While I enjoyed the "Midnight in the House of El" installment of this story arc, ultimately I was very disappointed in it. I hope Robinson turns the focus back to his characters now, and tells more cohesive stories for the remainder of the series' run.