One of the best players in the ALCS right now is a cheater. Not suspected, alleged, or theorized. He was caught and served a suspension. His name is Rafael Betancourt, and he is Cleveland’s best relief pitcher — arguably their best player right now, mowing down the Sox and Yankees in important late-inning situations.
He’s probably not cheating anymore, but isn’t it odd that little if any has been made of the fact that Betancourt once served a 10–day suspension. I haven’t watched or listened to every inning of every Indians game this post-season, so perhaps I’ve missed a discussion or two about it. Meanwhile, I like this approach.
Betancourt is on the record saying he doesn’t know what caused the positive drug test.
***
SMALL PRINT UPDATE: Now listening to Low’s The Great Destroyer. It’s an example of the importance of album construction, though less and less relevant in this age of digital shuffle. (Remember how we used to listen to records from front to back the way we read novels? You know, novels — those long wordy things printed on lots of paper.)
Destroyer starts with the weakest two songs, in my humble opinion, but builds into a series of subtle, powerful sounds — more moods than songs, an ebb and flow that follows the stunning, chilling harmonies of lead singer Alan Sparhawk and drummer Mimi Parker (also husband and wife). Their voices together is one of my favorite sounds in the world of music.
Why they constructed the album this way is odd. What if it were enough to dissuade those with short-attention spans from digging further? Perhaps these days, no one listens to the first songs first anyway.
