Two Sides of Crow

A preference for young teams is baked into my baseball DNA, thanks to two-time White Sox owner Bill Veeck, who had a knack for trading away tomorrow for today. After winning a pennant in 1959, Veeck shipped off a nucleus that would’ve driven the Yankees to distraction—Battey; Callison; Cash; Romano. Gene Freese, Minnie Minoso and Roy Sievers in return did not constitute fair trade(s). Then, when he was running the Sox on a shoestring budget in the second half of the 1970s, Veeck traded off the likes of Bucky Dent Brian Downing; Terry Forster; and Goose Gossage, though GM Roland Hemond got a better return. All of which is to say I was less than excited when Chris Getz acquired 34-year old Randal Gruchuk and 31-year Anthony Kay. So far, Getz looks a lot smarter than I do. In eight games since he was let go by the Yankees, Grichuk has gone 5-for-16 with his new team, including three homeruns and seven RBIs. Last night, he homered and drove in four runs in a 6-2 win over the Royals, Naturally, Kay got the win, which provided a three-game sweep of a team that usually sweeps us. Girchuk, at least, has had a solid major-league career, with 215 homers 638 RBIs. Kay? He’s 3-1 so far this year, 7-3 over the course of five-plus seasons. The Royals looked befuddled with the lefty’s assortment of breaking pitches. Pitchers are supposed to throw hard in this age of velo and launch angle. To quote Devo, how long can this go one? I don’t know. Maybe long enough for the talent in the minors to be ready. That would work for me.