first rendition of the lunar jinx logo
In October 2004, I was in baseball heaven. The Boston Red Sox (Woohoo!) were playing the New York Yankees (Boooo!) in the American League Championships, for a shot to play in the World Series. I was hopeful that this could finally be the year that the Sox overcame the Curse of the Bambino and won their first World Series in 86 years. I was thrilled that the road to victory would go right through Yankee stadium. It only seemed appropriate.
But things got ugly fast. New York won the first game of the seven-game series. And the next. And the next. In the history of Major League Baseball, no team had ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series. In fact, in hockey, basketball, and baseball combined, only 2 teams had ever done so. The taunts in Yankee Stadium were relentless. The Sox seemed to be crumbling under the oppressive weight of history once again.
But miracles happen, and a big one was in the making. Before an audience of millions, the story that unfolded couldn’t have been scripted any better. It was almost mythical. It was supernatural. And in game 7 at Yankee Stadium on Mickey Mantle’s birthday, the Sox came back from the edge of elimination to win the American League Championship Series. World Series baby!!!
I couldn’t wait for the World Series to begin. It was the only thing I could think about. On the day before the first game, I found out something incredibly cool. On the evening of game 4, for the first time ever in World Series history, there would be a full lunar eclipse! And not only would it happen that evening, it would begin right about the same time as the start of the game. I had absolutely no doubt what was going to happen. The Sox were going to sweep, winning the series on the night of the eclipse. Go Sox!
They won the first game. They won the second. Then they won the third. Then, on the night of game 4, I found myself running back and forth from the tv to the middle of the street, watching for the lunar eclipse to begin. Finally it did. Minutes after the earth’s first shadows turned the moon a strange shade of reddish orange, the first pitch was thrown out. And by the time the final shadows had left the moon, the Red Sox had been crowned World Series Champions. With the help of the most fascinating celestial experience in baseball history, the Curse was broken!
Read the Boston Globe’s Story
I couldn’t believe it. Ancient legends, and modern heroes, and celestial wonders, and baseball… All things that have fascinated me for as long as I can remember. And there they all were, in one amazing, unlikely, unbelievable story. It was perfect.
This series of events was too perfect. I needed to use it in Alien All-Stars, which I had already been slowly building for a couple years. At the time, I had been working on names for the 16 teams I wanted to create for Galactic League Baseball. Magically, the baseball playoffs effortlessly unveiled one of the coolest teams we have today- the Lunar Jinx.
The Lunar Jinx are a team have their roots in the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry. They aren’t one team or the other. When I designed their logo, I based it off the NY that appears on the Yankees caps and uniforms. The colors of black and orange with a glowing yellow were perfect, simultaneously representing the midnight sky and moon, and invoking the superstitions of Halloween. Curses and hexes and longshot luck- I dig this team! Tons of fun stories to explore here, and lots of great possibilities…
