The silver Audi, the one his brother Sandy lent him to use while he was in Cleveland for the American League Championship Series, is running out of gas. Roberto asks while veering into an exit lane. Spotting no glowing beacon of petrol in the darkness, he quickly swerves left, back onto the highway, and presses on nervously.
Relief is a mile or so away.
The Audi sated, Roberto climbs back in and only now can laugh at one of the universal truths of brotherhood and birth order. He's always getting me like that. Whenever we talk on the phone, I'm the one who has to call, because, he says, I make more money than he does. Welcome to the ALomar Championship Series, where the battle for the pennant has the look of a family picnic, particularly after Roberto drives to Sandy's Westlake, Ohio, house to chew on a bizarre Game 3 and some pizza with their mom, Maria, their dad, Sandy, a former 15-year big league infielder, as well as Sandy Jr.'s wife, Christie, and their two children. The sons and their father watch highlights of the game on a big-screen television, providing commentary in a loud mixture of Spanish and English.