Trying to Keep Up

Clare called yesterday afternoon, and I could tell she was ticked, sort of. “Why aren’t you watching the White Sox?” my one and only demanded to know in mock exasperation, at least I think it was mock. Because I’m writing about my deep and abiding affection for Steve Stone, I replied. “Did something good happen?” And I knew it had to because all such phone calls are a sign of that. The ”good” in this case was rookie Andrew Vaughn hitting a three-run homer in the first inning against the Rangers. Clare likes Vaughn, so do I. For my daughter, it’s feeling a connection to a guy serious about his craft. For me, it’s having another good hitter in the lineup. Last season, Jason Benetti was all about Edwin Encarnacion carrying an imaginary parrot on his forearm as he circled the bases on one of his occasional homeruns. I’m betting Benetti won’t bring up the parrot when Vaughn starts stinging the ball as Encarnacion’s replacement at DH. A couple of hours later, after I’d seen the homerun in question, my daughter called a second time to tell me about what pitcher Lucas Giolito just said, that he really likes throwing to possible second catcher Johnathan Lucroy. “Notice how he didn’t say anything about [Yasmani] Grandal. He could’ve said, ‘Oh, I like Yasmani, too,’ or ‘It really doesn’t matter which catcher I throw to, I like them both,’ but he didn’t.” Neither father nor daughter is a big Grandal fan, at least on defense. And she may be on to something here. The last two seasons, Giolito excelled with James McCann behind the plate. With Grandal, not so much. So, there you have it. My daughter sees stuff in baseball as quick as any sportswriter. Heaven help her son if he doesn’t grow up loving the national pastime. That definitely would not be advisable.