Baseball (and NASCAR and Aggie Volleyball) Journal June 2025 Part 4

6-12-25

Way too busy at work to keep track of any games, but I had a day game today before I went to work.    It was a dark, gloomy day in Minneapolis for today’s Rangers/Twins game.    Josh Smith homered to start the game for the Rangers, but the Twins tied it in the bottom.    Jake Burger homered to start the second.    Kyle Higashioka drove in a run, and then Wyatt Langford hit the pole for a three-run homer to make it, 6-1 Rangers.    Who are these guys in the Rangers’ uniforms?

Ranger starter, Patrick Corbin, loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the second.    He got out of it undamaged.    The broadcasters were talking about him being a hard luck loser of several low-scoring games where the Rangers scored 1 or nothing.    They weren’t sure if he knew how to pitch with a lead.

Evan Carter homered to start the fifth and drove in another in the sixth.    Burger singled in two more runs and it was 10-1.    Adolis Garcia then greeted a new relief pitcher with a huge three-run homer, 13-1.    Again, where has this team been all season?    Corbin came out in the sixth, after giving up a run and a run charged to him.    It was 13-3.      

By the seventh, the broadcasters were looking at the sky for expected rain.    The Twins walked the bases loaded with two outs.    A reliever came in and a pop up on the first pitch ended the Ranger threat.    By the eighth, it was drizzling, but not enough to stop play.    The Twins put in a position player to pitch the last two innings.  The Twins’ pitcher gave up a three-run homer to Sam Hagerty to make it, 16-3.    In the bottom, Ezekiel Duran was in pitching for the Rangers and lobbing it in at 45-mph.    He had a clean inning.    The Rangers scored 16 in the first game of this series.    Did Brett Boone, the new pitching coach, finally figure out what to say to these guys?

6-12-25

Craig Kimbrel debuted in the Rangers’ organization for Round Rock tonight against the Chihuahuas.    The next night, Jason Heyward played for the pups on rehab from the Padres.    Broadcaster Tim Hagerty mentioned Heyward being a World Series hero for the Cubs in 2016.    He, of course, gave that inspirational speech during the Game 7 rain delay.    Hunter Pence in 2012 may have motivationally speech-ed the Giants to a World Series win.    “We few!    We band of brothers!”    Never underestimate the value of a good speech.

6-14-25

Nobody wanted to win this game!    The White Sox played the Rangers this afternoon, while I was over at dad’s watching a NASCAR Xfinity race in Mexico City.    (Congratulations to Daniel Suarez for coming from the rear to win in front of his home crowd.)    I was listening to the game on radio with the race on TV.    The White Sox had a one-run lead late, but the Rangers tied it on a wild pitch and later took the lead on an error.    For their part, Ranger relief pitching had two blown saves trying to finish the game off.    The Rangers had their first extra innings game of the season and won it, 5-4, on a walk off by Adolis Garcia.

The Chihuahuas finally beat Round Rock tonight, 8-0.    However, the highlight of the game occurred during an unexpected pitching change for injury.    Broadcaster Tim Hagerty waved off a commercial break to chat with his young son.    I think they spent the day at the water park and had a good time.    The kid is rapidly maturing over the years as Tim has brought him on.    He likes to talk.    I think he’s got a future following in his old man’s footsteps.

6-15-25

The most interesting sports event of the day for me happened in line at Subway.    I was there with dad for lunch.    Coach Hertel from Aggie Volleyball stepped into the line behind me.    I greeted him and chatted about Volleyball for a while.    He wasn’t with the team last year.    I didn’t ask why, but since he was hired back, I assume there were no hard feelings or maybe he had to leave for personal reasons.    He did say Tatyana Battle had left the staff to be with her husband in Texas.    I was sure she’d be a coach somewhere soon.    We both agreed she’s pretty extraordinary.

After talking about last year’s team, I asked Coach Hertel about WKU’s success.    He said that they’re in a regional volleyball hotbed of recruiting there.    Everybody that doesn’t go to Kentucky or Louisville, ends up at WKU.    The coach felt that if Ryleigh Whitekettle had been able to play last year, the Aggies would have beaten them.    (I’m gonna say that they would have had a chance.)   

The team did recruit a bunch of the hitters for this year.    I asked about my sweetheart, Maggie Lightheart.    He said they’d given her a scholarship yesterday at a youth camp (in front of her two little sisters).    However, she was going earn her playing time with some heavy competition.    I told him my little story about OH Tess Fuqua (10-5-24).  He found that pretty amusing.   

I told him that the team had started last season with five setters and ended up with only having two available by the end of it.    The coach said they were going to load up again.    He said Claudia Rossi was coming along well.    I mentioned sitting with Nellie Reese’s parents at baseball.    He was amazed by how different Nellie was from her mom in personality.    (Me, too.    She’s not even like her dad, either.)    However, he did say that Robin has a ferocious competitive streak.    I asked about Rilen Garcia.    The coach admired how she kept getting into the lineup.    He said that she’s so smart and athletic, but is in the wrong sport.    If she were in soccer or softball, she’d be a star.   

Yeah, spoke for a while.    There was only one person working at the Subway and even servicing a few people in line was taking a long time.    Coach Hertel finally gave up and left.    Dad and I eventually got a footlong to split and returned to his apartment.    I’d gone over to watch some more NASCAR.    For the first time season, I was able to watch the Cup Series race thanks to the race being on Amazon Prime and having Internet access at dad’s apartment.    I got the most pressing question about Prime’s coverage answered: Yes, they show commercials during green flag racing.    (It was at least picture-in-picture.)

I had arrived there in the morning just as the F1 Canadian Grand Prix started.    Dad was already watching a golf tournament.    When I checked back a little later, the race was already over.    I don’t know how I lost track of time so badly.    The NASCAR race was in Mexico City, as yesterday’s Xfinity race was.    This was the first points-paying race for the big series outside the US since the 1950’s.    Shane Van Gisbergen dominated the race even with a raging case of Montezuma’s Revenge.    I missed about an hour of the race getting that sandwich, though.       

Meanwhile on the radio, the Rangers were a 2-1 winners over the White Sox.    That was a sweep and the Rangers are now at .500.    In interesting baseball news today, the Red Sox swept the Yankees, but traded star Rafael Devers to the Giants for nearly nothing.    Broadcaster Tim Hagerty mentioned this during tonight’s Chihuahuas game.    He cited Devers’ unwillingness to change positions for the team as the reason.    The Chihuahuas beat Round Rock tonight, 7-1.    Craig Kimbel struck out the side in the eighth for the Express, and Jason Heyward doubled in a run for the pups in the ninth.    

Baseball Journal June 2025 Part 3

6-6-25

Dad was having hernia surgery today.    I’d be with him to take him to the hospital and would need to stay with him for 24 hours.    The operation went well.    Unfortunately, the drug store didn’t have the pain medicine available, so dad was in bad discomfort for the entire weekend.   If there was one small bit of good news, I discovered that the cafeteria at the hospital served an excellent hamburger.    It reminded me of the burger at Chihuahuas games.    Even better, they served sweet potato fries as a side.    What a bonus!    I may have to go back for lunch sometime.

We got back to his apartment in the late afternoon (after leaving at 7:30am).    I had my portable radio with me to listen to ballgames and even managed to get one on TV.    I unfortunately scribbled some nearly indecipherable notes on some scratch paper I had with me.    I guess I felt the need to do something this weekend while I was sitting around on the couch with dad.   

The first game I got for the day was just a score from the Rangers’ postgame against the Twins.    They lost 2-0.    Arggggh!    When are these guys going to hit?    Well, the good news was that I found a Rockies game on TV.    They were playing the Mets.    Dad had mentioned D-Backs and the Rockies’ games were showing up on Friday nights and I was finally in a position to watch one.    The Rox were wearing their regrettable new City Connect uniforms, which look like a girls’ softball uniform.    (Their previous CC wasn’t exactly fashionable to begin with.)

Meanwhile, I was listening to the Chihuahuas playing the Isotopes on the radio.    During the game, broadcaster Tim Hagerty visited with a team intern from Germany.    He’s a big Astros fan, but has had to watch their games late at night there.    His mom was from El Paso to explain why he was there, but he’s lived in five different countries.    At one point, he took over the game call and called a double.    The kid was kind of fascinating.                

The pups scored three in that inning, but the Isotopes came back with a home run and then an inside-the-park home run.    (That was the fifth insider of the season in a Chihuahuas game.)    The Isotopes would take the lead, but the Chihuahuas would retake the lead on a home run, which was where I lost the radio signal.    The pups would run away with it, 14-9.

Back in Denver, Rox rookie, Ryan Richter, got his first hit, a triple, with his family up in the stands.    He got tagged out coming home on a grounder on a close play.    There was a review and the crowd cheered the result.    I more-or-less figured out half the crowd was for the Mets.    I thought only the Rays got that treatment in their home games against northeast teams.    Slightly more puzzling were all of the Disney vacation commercials during the breaks.  Their deal was $100 a day, as long as you purchase four days.    They also seemed to be implying your child will not be straight after the trip.    (I’m not kidding.)    

It was a tight game.    The Rockies were making a solo home run hold up over halfway through the game.    In the sixth, the Mets loaded the bases with no outs, but three strikeouts ended the threat.    In the seventh, they broke through with Pete Alonso doubling in two.    The crowd chanted, “Let’s go Mets!”    In the bottom of the inning, Sam Hilliard tripled off a fly ball dropped at the wall and was driven in to tie it at 2.

In the eighth, the Rockies loaded the bases with no outs, but a double play line out at third and a strikeout ended the inning.    (Between this game and yesterday’s Chihuahuas’ game, these teams do not seem to be aware of the high odds of scoring in these situations.)    In the ninth, Francisco Lindor came off the bench for the Mets to pinch hit and doubled in two to make it 4-2.    Rockies fans started leaving behind the plate.    4-2 Mets would be the final score.    Even the Rockies announcers had to admit afterward that it was still a pretty good game.

        

6-7-25

I spent the night over at dad’s to keep him under observation after his surgery.    We mostly sat on the couch watching TV.    I took in a couple of baseball games on the radio.    The Rangers at the Nationals was on in the afternoon.    Marcus Semien drove in two runs on the first to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.    He also drove in two more in the eighth, along with Adolis Garcia bringing in a run.    On defense, Jacob deGrom went seven innings.    He and the Rangers’ relief corps pitched a shutout in the Rangers’ 5-0 win.   

When I heard that Corey Seager was sitting out the game, I’d assumed there’d be no offense.    Obviously manager Bruce Bochy knows better than me.    One amusing incident in the game was a balk that was called.    The guys in the booth reported hearing the ump call it, though they were sitting at “30,000 feet.”    This is a running gag referring to how high up the press box is over the field.

Later, the Isotopes were playing the Chihuahuas in El Paso.    One of my co-workers, Toni, was at the game.    It was Star Wars Night at the park.    The players were in special Darth Vader jerseys that were auctioned off after the game.    Several cosplayers were at the game, including a very tall fellow dressed as Chewbacca.    It was nearly a full house with 8,500 fans there and they stayed to the end for the fireworks.    Toni was thrilled with the display, which included new on-field flamethrowers going off to the Star Wars music.    The only thing she wasn’t thrilled with was her favorite ballpark food, dog bowl nachos.    They’d stripped down the meal from what it was before.

The game itself was also a thriller.    The Isotopes loaded the bases in the first with one out, but the Chihuahuas got out of it.    The pups then took the lead on a two-run homer.    The shot went out of the stadium and may have hit a parked car.    (My radio reception wasn’t great, so I’m not sure I heard that right.)    One thing I did hear was Carson, Tim Hagerty’s co-host for the night, saying about a Chihuahuas batter, “He’s been a pedestrian tonight.    He’s walked on to base, rather than getting a hit.”

It was 6-2 Isotopes in the top of the seventh when I lost signal entirely.    I’d be checking back with the score periodically online.    (I didn’t try listening online.)    I was shocked to see the Chihuahuas winning the game, 8-6.    In the bottom of the seventh, the pups had driven in a run and loaded the bases.    Trenton Brooks followed with a grand slam home run (he’d also homered in the first), and this was followed up with a solo shot by Yonathan Perlaza.    Toni had video of all of this.    (Good timing.)    Toni and the crowd went going crazy during the comeback.    Errr.    I wish I’d been able to listen.           

6-8-25

Today’s Rangers/Nationals game started off in a rain delay.    The coverage seemed to think they might be able to get the game in later.    This was the teams’ only meeting this season and they really didn’t want to do a makeup game.    I was still over at dad’s.    He was doing okay, so I decided to take off for lunch (he didn’t want anything).    Since I was basically only having one meal today, I got a BLT+A at McAlister’s.    It’s a big meal, but I was hungry.

I was gone for maybe an hour-and-a-half.    When I got back and checked on the game, they were late in the fourth.    They must have started right after I walked out the door.    The Rangers were up 2-0 on an Evan Carter two-run homer.    I was there in time to hear the Nats tie it up.    In the eighth, Marcus Semien drove in a run to get the lead back for the Rangers.    It’s good to see these two players getting back on track on offense.

In the bottom, Robert Garcia came in for a four-out save.    Nate Lowe came up for the Nats against him.    These two were traded for each other in the offseason.    Nate won that battle with a double, however the Rangers won the game, 4-2.       

In the evening, it was the finale between the Isotopes and the Chihuahuas.    Trenton Brooks probably wished that the Isotopes would never leave town.    He had another home run in today’s game.    Brooks had four for the series for the Chihuahuas.    The pups were up by four in the ninth, but the Isotopes came back with a two-run homer and a runner on before the Chihuahuas finished it out, 6-4.    Meanwhile on TV, The Sandlot came on.    Dad had never seen it before.    He seemed to get a kick out of it.    

Baseball Journal June 2025 Part 2

6-4-25

The MLB.TV Free Game tonight was the Rangers versus Rays.    Great.    I was again struck by the differences in facilities between Sacramento yesterday and Steinbrenner Field today.  Neither are Major League facilities, but the stadium in Sacramento is a dump by comparison.    The stadium in Tampa Bay isn’t even a minor league stadium, while Sacramento is a Triple-A facility.   

We had some strangeness early on and some of it was uncomfortable.    In the first, Wyatt Langford hurdled the first baseman, who was bending over on a grounder.    Langford somehow avoided the tag and touched down on top of the base.    The ump ruled him “safe,” and then called him “out” on a tag.    It was an easy challenge and he was safe.    In the bottom of the first, Evan Carter in centerfield, just back from injury, got hit on the nose on a home run ball that hit the batter’s eye over him.   

In the second, Rays catcher, Matt Thaiss, took a foul ball to his . . . well, he was squeezing a few tears afterward.    “There’s no crying in baseball,” is just a line from a movie.    There is crying in baseball.    I saw a week ago or so (I should have written this at the time), a long time minor league player, Ronny Simon, was called up to the Marlins and committed four errors in a game, before finally being taken off the field in tears.    His teammates supported him and even Fernando Tatis Jr. on the opposing team sent him some encouragement.    It seems like the only times you’re not supposed to cry are if you lose or if you’re injured.    Well, I’ve seen the kids cry at the Little League World Series and players cry with some injuries, so tears are gonna to fall when they will.          

Kumar Rocker, back from rehab, was pitching for the Rangers.    In the third, he was late covering first and the runner was safe.    Rocker had his back to field after the play and was angry and forgot there were runners on second and third, who both scored.    It was 5-0 Rays at that point.

The Rangers weren’t finished.    In the fifth, Jonah Heim hit a two-run homer.    The Rays’ left fielder just mistimed his jump to get it and was upset with himself.    The Rays were making some great plays on defense in the game.    The Rangers scored again to make it 5-3 and their relief corps held the Rays down.    Rangers reliever, Jacob Webb, had an epic 15-pitch battle with Jake Mangum.    Webb finally got the K on an offspeed.    In the top of the ninth, an error let on a runner and he was driven in on a double.    With the tying run on second, Corey Seager grounded out to end the game, 5-4 Rays.    Well, at least the Rangers scored in this game.

In the Chihuahuas’ pregame show, broadcaster Tim Hagerty waxed poetic about the movie, Bull Durham.    I’d seldom heard him so nostalgic during a game.    He praised the layer of authenticity in the movie.    I liked the first half of the movie, but didn’t care for the rest.   

Early in today’s Chihuahuas game, manager Pete Zamora thrown out of game.    He was arguing after a Chihuahuas batter claimed he was hit.    The batter tried to take off his gloves to show the mark, but wasn’t allowed to.  The batter ended up singling anyway.    The pups had a 14-batter, 9-run fifth and beat the Isotopes, 14-4, after losing in extras yesterday.    During the game, Tim mentioned that the Rockies completed a three-game sweep of the Marlins.    That puts their record at 12-50.

   

6-5-25

Tonight’s MLB.TV Free Game began after a three-hour rain delay.    There was just a small scattering of hard core fans in Pittsburgh to see the Pirates play the Astros.    They would be loud during the game.    Unfortunately, many of them were Astros fans, who didn’t have anything else to do while out-of-town.    It was announced to the fans there that they’d get a free ticket to another game for their persistence.      

I was pleased to see former Aggie great, Nick Gonzales, back in the Pirates’ line up.    He’d end up having a tough day, still getting back into shape.    The players on both sides were swinging away with the pitchers throwing strikes, so the game clipped along quickly.    A double and two groundouts brought in a Pirate run in the third.    An Astros solo homer tied it in the fourth.    By the seventh, more rain was coming down and it was after midnight there.    The Astros put up a bunch of runs late to win it, 8-2.    The Pirate batters had 16 strikeouts.

In El Paso, the Chihuahuas were playing behind the Isotopes, 4-3 in the seventh.    Albuquerque threatened to add more with the bases loaded and no outs.    The pups got out of it with a strikeout and a double play.    In the bottom, the Chihuahuas loaded the bases with one out, but didn’t score either.    Down 6-3 in the bottom of ninth with the bases loaded and one out, Mike Brosseau got the crowd going with a massive foul ball that would have been a grand slam.    He settled for a single that drove in a run, but another runner was thrown out trying to score.    6-4 Isotopes was the final.

Baseball Journal June 2025 Part 1

6-1-25

We start off the morning and new month with the Rangers playing the Cardinals.    Jacob deGrom had a shaky enough first inning that manager Bruce Bochy and a trainer went out to him, but he stayed in for six innings, only giving up 1 run.    The Rangers had a 2-1 lead going into the seventh.   

The Rangers loaded the bases with no outs, but only scored one on a fielder’s choice, 3-1.    The Rangers really opened it up in the eighth with 5 runs, including a two-run homer by Josh Smith.    Rangers win, 8-1.    Texas got two big wins this series along with getting shut out.    We’re still not sure if their bats are back on track.    It could be worse.    The A’s lost again to the Blue Jays for a sweep.    So, the A’s have followed an 11-game losing streak with a six-game losing streak and counting.

Up next on the radio was the Chihuahuas and the Rivercats.    Tirso Ornelas drove in two runs in the first for the Chihuahuas.    He had a good week in Sacramento going 10 for 23.    The pups added on.    In the fourth, the Rivercats loaded the bases with no outs, but Jackson Wolf pitched his way out of it.   

On the first pitch of the fifth, Mason McCoy hit the wall with a shot that was called foul.    There was a brief argument, if it should have been in play.    No matter.    On the next pitch, he homered anyway.    6-0 Chihuahuas.    The Rivercats struck back and scored four in the bottom and then one in the eighth.    6-5 Chihuahuas.   

In the bottom of the ninth, former Aggie star, Daniel Johnson came up with a runner on and two outs.    It was a battle with Ron Marinaccio, who was going for a four-out save.    In the end, DJ popped out and the Chihuahuas won, 6-5.    I was happy and a bit disappointed.    (So I guess that means it canceled out and I wasn’t feeling anything.)    The game ran a little too late to pick up the ESPN Radio game, which was too bad since it was the Yankees and Dodgers.    I would have been okay with joining the game in progress.    (Yes, I hate both teams, but I would have still would have listened.)       

Meanwhile on TV, there was more Softball College World Series.    Today, it was Tennessee versus UCLA.    Tall, pretty blonde, Karlyn Pickins, was TN’s starter.    The bio piece about her said she was also a high school star in volleyball and basketball.    It turned out to be a controversy-filled game.    The infield fly rule came up in the first inning.    UCLA popped up to second with a runner on second.    The out was called, but second dropped the ball and the runner there got thrown out going to third for a double play.    There was a question about the rule and why the girl was running and should she have been tagged out.    

      

TN scored two in the bottom, but UCLA came back with two solo home runs to tie it.    In the third inning, UCLA put on party hats.    Their sports psychologist recommended this ritual.    TN took a 4-2 lead.    In the sixth, Pickins slipped in the circle on a pitch, but she stayed in.    It did look bad.

In the seventh with two outs, UCLA tied it on a two-run homer.    What a crusher, one out from victory.    Wait.    Suddenly there was a challenge on if the batter touched the plate.    I don’t think this would have come up if a teammate hadn’t led the batter back to the plate to make sure.    This instituted a 10-minute delay for a video review.    I have no doubt they called someone high-up at the league office to rule on this.    It’s going to kind of look bad either way.    She did miss the base the first time.    After the batter was ruled safe, there was another five-minute delay.    The TN coach was very angry, but this whole challenge at least had the effect of dampening UCLA’s enthusiasm.   

In the bottom of the seventh, a TN batter walked and got bunted over.    There was an intentional walk to a slugger with four pitches.    You know what, it’s okay that baseball got rid of this.    It is a waste of time compared to just waving the batter to first.    Anyway, a DP ended regulation.    Into extras and in the ninth, UCLA loaded the bases with two outs, but Pickins got out of it.    In the bottom, TN loaded the bases after a double and two intentional walks with one out.    A single won it, 5-4 TN.    I’m sure no one was happier than Pickins.    She finished the day with 149 pitches.   

Lastly, I watched some Mexican League baseball.    The Dorados beat Venados, 15-2.    The interesting part was that it was a run rule game.    I didn’t know they had that outside of college baseball.

6-2-25

It was another game in Sacramento today.    This time it was a Major League contest between the Twins and the A’s.    It wasn’t looking like much of a game early, as A’s starter, Luis Severino, gave up six runs in the second.    But if you’re going to go down big in the game, it’s best to do it early.    By the fourth, the A’s had clawed their way back into it with a Lawrence Butler three-run homer to straight-away center to make it 6-4.

The comeback looked good in the fifth, as the A’s loaded the bases with no outs, but they failed to score.    Severino did stay in and kept his team in it, but the A’s relievers couldn’t keep the Twins from adding on.    10-4 Twins.    One odd thing I noticed was that Carlos Correa was booed mercilessly by the Sacramento crowd.    I’m assuming this goes back to his Astros days.    Also, it occurred to me that there have to be a few baseball fans in the city that have season tickets to the A’s and the Rivercats and are getting daily games.    They must be pleased, even if their teams aren’t so good.

I did skip the ending of the A’s and the Twins to check out two extra innings games.       The Padres and the Giants were in a 0-0 tie after nine innings.    A Padres’ sac fly in tenth gave them a 1-0 win.    Several Giants players were hanging on the dugout rail groaning after the loss on a line drive out.    Giant starter, Logan Webb, had a hard luck no decision after pitching eight innings.   

Meanwhile in LA, after taking two of three from the Yankees over the weekend, the Dodgers were taking on the Mets in a marquee game.    For any other team, this scheduling would be considered running a gauntlet.    For the Dodgers, it’s just a Monday game.    I’d been following the score on the ticker.    In the ninth, the Dodgers managed to tie the tight game at 2.    While I had extra innings coverage, it was audio-only, so I didn’t get to see it.    The Mets scored twice in the tenth.    The Dodgers scored one in the bottom, but lost, 4-3.   

Comics Review: New Mutants Classic #6

This is a singularly unheroic cover image (even if it is by Barry Windsor-Smith). I question the use of this image to sell this trade. In story context, it is what it looks like: the New Mutants are bullying Empath from the Hellions. What’s worse is that Empath is wearing that terrible Hellion uniform. Put a pair of legwarmers on it and you could do an episode of the :20 Minute Workout. (One of my favorite shows from the 80’s.)

Unlike the previous review of X-Force, which features slightly older versions of some of the same characters in a meandering series of adventures, this volume is all over the place with no unified storyline. The issues here start with the fallout of Secret Wars II and end with the Mutant Massacre crossover event.

SWII was bad, really bad, though the first issue was actually good. The Beyonder came to earth and an ad hoc group of superheroes confronted him, but the rest of the series didn’t even come close to that level of excitement. I vaguely remember that during that series the Beyonder straight up killed all of the New Mutants. He brought them back later, but they were severely shaken by the experience.

(I went back and read that issue on an “archive” site. Magik offers herself as a sacrifice to the Beyonder to save her friends. He kills her and then proceeds to brutally murder the rest of them in anger and then completely erases all memory of them from existence. It was like a horror comic. I’d forgotten how chilling it was and I wonder how this got published.)

The Massacre may have been the first big crossover event. Most of the crossovers of the time were limited series of varying length. This one weaved a storyline between the X-Men, New Mutants, X-Factor, and Power Pack. (Power Pack? The little kids superhero group? That must have been a directive from the Marketing department.) Mr. Sinister sent a group of killer mutants, the Marauders, into the New York City sewers to kill all of the mutants there, the Morlocks (the non-pretty mutants), for some reason. The New Mutants got involved at the end of it. There were some lasting repercussions from this event, in particular, it indirectly created a spinoff group, Excalibur, with Kitty Pryde.

As a consequence of being between events, this volume is a bunch of filler stories, along with a couple of annuals and disconnected parts of a couple of crossovers. It’s a mixed bag, but it has a couple of things going for it. It’s all written by Chris Claremont, who takes this opportunity to really flesh out some of the characters. Most of the artwork is done by Jackson Guice. His art ebbs and flows a bit depending on who’s inking it, but it’s mostly great. One of the annuals is drawn by Arthur Adams which is also great (except for the story, we’ll get to that).

This volume picks up with the aftereffects from Secret Wars II. The resurrected New Mutants were so despondent that headmaster Magneto turned the group over to the Massachusetts Academy run by the Hellfire Club. (Magneto had reformed at this point, briefly, and Xavier left him in charge of the school.) Rather than join the Hellions, Danielle Moonstar (Mirage) left the group to return home. (A cross-country flight on the back of a Pegasus doesn’t seem like a good idea. Dani also questions this.)

Once there, she is harassed by a childhood friend who is prejudiced against her Indian heritage. He ends up in a wreck and she has to save him. An uncontrolled use of her mental powers reveals that he’s actually in love with her. As a Valkyrie, Dani tries to keep death from taking him, but he’s too far gone and has to let him go without ever really reconciling with him.

Dani is one of my favorite mutants. This issue spotlighting her might have helped my favorable feelings towards her. She’s beautiful, brave, moral, empathetic, and also has some emotional vulnerability, which occasionally overwhelms her. In the X-Force trade that I read recently, she was emotionally detached and aloof and not as interesting. The writer there didn’t entirely seem to know how to handle her, so he left her enigmatic.

Dani also has a seething hatred for “the White Man’s society,” as a proud Cheyenne. While she reminds the people around her of her heritage, her prejudice doesn’t seem to adversely affect how she treats everyone, which is a bit odd. Contrast this with James Proudstar (Thunderbird and later, Warpath) of the Hellions and an Apache, who is a lot more sure of himself and his background and not bearing pointless grudges.

Dani’s attitude is actually Chris Claremont, and to some extent his editor Ann Nocenti, using a mask to speak their own beliefs. Irrational, violent prejudice fits into the overall theme of the X-Men and mutants being discriminated against, but with Claremont this is personal and part of a larger Agenda. This isn’t the forum for a more detailed discussion on this, but always keep it in mind when reading Claremont’s X-Men.

While the end of the issue teases the next story being called, “Getting Even,” it’s actually another spotlight story, this one with Sam Guthrie, the New Mutant’s other co-leader. I’ve never quite understood Sam and Dani being “co-leaders.” That term is an oxymoron. The younger kids would defer to them, and Sam usually defers to Dani (and they end up in a disastrous adventure, but that’s how we get adventures).

Sam is awkward-looking and sounding, but more mature beyond his years. This issue basically features Sam having a fight with his rock star girlfriend, who’s a mutant that teleports to other planets and is also a notorious thief of valuable artifacts. Frankly, Sam having a girlfriend to begin with is the hard part to believe. (Thankfully, he’s more handsomely drawn when he’s older.)

The next issue, we “get even” and get a fill-in artist. The New Mutants go get revenge on Empath of the Hellions for messing with Magneto and a couple of people who work for the school. (Those two had previously got turned into Native Americans during the “Demon Bear” story. Talk about taking collateral damage.) Empath is an almost irredeemable character, but during the hazing, the Mutants start having second thoughts. That’s when Thunderbird and the Hellions show up to rescue him with without incident. James Proudstar comes off as a very honorable bad ass.

I wonder if Claremont was auditioning the Hellions as a spinoff series in their various appearances. Apart from the cartoonishly evil Empath, the rest of the group was pretty interesting, especially Thunderbird. With a little nuance, Empath could have been worthwhile, too. (Their malevolent headmistress, Emma Frost, was eventually rehabilitated, to some degree, and joined the X-Men.) Maybe management thought one junior team of X-Men was plenty, especially one run by the elitist Hellfire Club. Maybe some of the group was being groomed as replacements. Warpath would eventually join X-Force.

Nice interlude with Dani during the Legion story at least

Next is another pointless fight with Legion. Legion goes crazy; the New Mutants have to deal with him . . . again. This is a villain that needs to be retired. As part of this story, Rahne’s old reverend nemesis shows up to call her “a creature from the pit.” This senseless encounter in a pointless story was the main reason for it. It’s more of Claremont’s Agenda, though it fits in with the X-Men’s general theme.

The next two issues are the New Mutants and the X-Men (featuring the New Mutants) annuals. Mojo is the villain in both, unfortunately. The whole Mojoverse/Spiral thing is some sort of social commentary, but comes off so obtuse as to be nearly incomprehensible. Mojo was introduced in the Longshot miniseries, which these annuals assume you’ve read. I don’t remember any of it, except for the great Arthur Adams artwork.

Basically, Mojo is an extra-dimensional TV producer always looking for new action/adventure content. In the NM annual, he kidnaps Psylocke (Betsy) and uses her to seduce kids into becoming superheroes under Mojo’s control? (I’m not sure what’s going on here.) The main reason for this is to introduce Betsy to the X-Men to join the group (and later become Olivia Munn as a hot Asian ninja with psychic powers). There seems to something between her and Doug (Cypher), though I think she’s several years older than him.

In the X-Men annual, we have what has to be a low-point in the X-Men’s career. Mojo turns the X-Men into the X-Babies. Art Adams’ incredible artwork is the only thing that keeps this from being total trash. The main point of this story is to introduce Longshot into the X-Men.

The New Mutants have to save the X-Men. They even wear their graduation costumes afraid that they’ll have to take over for them permanently. When Adams draws the New Mutants, he makes a slight change to their regular costumes. The girls have a “V-neck” cut on their uniforms. Unfortunately, the group’s regular artists didn’t pick up on this.

“We were only foolin’” is another Claremont Agenda story fighting the X-Men’s main enemy: prejudice (usually in the form of a discriminating White guy, who has no motivation to be so). This issue features Kitty, who was officially an X-Man, but hung out with the New Mutants, who were closer to her age. She drops an N-bomb in her speech at the end. (Did this ever happen in any other 80’s comic?) Given that she’s Jewish, I’m surprised there weren’t a couple other epithets added to her list of forbidden words. Still, it’s a well done story.

The next issue has the New Mutants peripherally involved in the Mutant Massacre event and none of them have a good reaction to it. 

While trying to find Karma’s little brother and sister, suddenly Warlock’s father, Magnus, attacks them. He’s way overpowered for them. Magik attempts to spirit the group away to her sorcerous realm, Limbo, but Magnus follows them (with dire consequences in later issues), which forces them to blindly teleport away. This takes them to ancient Scotland to meet Robert the Bruce (?). At least Rahne is happy to meet one of her heroes. And this is where the volume ends.

Magik gets some spotlight in these final issues. She’s another of my favorites. Though she has what can only be termed as a tortured backstory, Illyana’s character is very clear. She’s almost the group’s analogue of Wolverine in attitude. Magik has an evil nature but with a noble soul, as noted with her sacrifice with the Beyonder. (She’s cool and good-looking. Why wouldn’t I like her?)

In the large cast of the New Mutants, everyone gets some time, but not everybody gets a spotlight in this volume. I’d say Karma in particular gets sidelined pretty badly. Her character never seems to really get developed in the series. Magma, meanwhile, has such a silly origin, she’s hard to take seriously, even with her regal bearing. These two are usually just relegated to a supporting role, in spite of their impressive powers.

Then you have Cypher. Doug really shouldn’t be adventuring with the group given he doesn’t have powers that would be useful in a fight. (It’s telling that he’s throwing a punch on the cover, but only after Empath isn’t able to use his powers.) This is constantly acknowledged, but he often comes to the fore in various stories. Is he supposed to be an “everyman” character that readers can relate to in the midst of superpowered beings? Somewhere in the future, he becomes overpowered, which completes the mistake of his creation. Doug should have been a cautionary tale about sending helpless characters into combat. After being tragically permanently injured, he should have been barred from leaving the mansion for missions.

So did I like this? This isn’t the best group of New Mutants stories. It’s all over the place and those places aren’t interesting. (Medieval Scotland in a superhero comic?) For me, at least, it’s seeing the characters, many of whom I really like. I’d have to pick the first issue with the spotlight on Dani as my favorite, just because I like her. The X-Men annual with the Arthur Adams artwork is certainly the best to just look at. The earlier Bill Siekiewicz issues are likely the series creative high point, along with the Rick Leonardi issues. (Legion and Warlock are clearly Bill’s characters with his unique artistic design. They should have been retired when he left the comic.) You can pass on this volume without really missing anything.