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r - - . . . . , Life With White Sox Very Precarious Lane Shifts Players Frequently, Rapidly Only 19 of 40 Men on Roster This Spring Remain; Pierfce Lone Veteran of Five Years By MILTON RICIIMAN United Press Sports Writer NEW YORK, N. Y.. June 14. Only the most reckless kind of optimist would stoop to tie his shoelace in a revolving door or unpack his suitcase while playing for the White Sox. Chicago is supposed to be the crossroads of the nation, but from the frantic manner in which White Sox General Manager Prank Lane is whisking players in and out of the city its starting to look more like "Whistlestop, U. S. A." Because of the frequency and rapidity with which Lane makes deals and, trades, many jokes have popped up around the circuit regarding the uncertainty of life with the White Sox. "They introduce a new player real fast in the White Sox clubhouse," goes one of the standard gags, "because hes already the property of a new club before he even gets through shaking hands." Of the 40 players who were on the White Sox roster this spring, only 19 remain, but that figure could be revised by tomorrow. So rapid has been the turnover on the club that no player, except pitcher Billy Pierce, can boast he has received pay checks from the White Sox for the last five full years. Pierce, who came to the White Sox from the Tigers, Nov. 10, 1948, is the team "veteran" in point of service with five full years. Rivera, Berry, Miranda Deals Lanes latest deal was a three-way job last Saturday, involving the Athletics, Senators and White Sox, but he has another full day to go before the trading deadline goes into effect, so dont sell him short. Lane owns an utterly realistic approach to the ticklish business of buying, selling and trading ball players. He doesnt interest himself too much in the players long-range potential, but he does concern himself with how much a particular player can help Chicago at the moment. This is the reason why such players, as Jim Rivera, Connie Berry and Willie Miranda have been acquired by Lane, dealt away and then re-acquirtd by the fast-shuffling Chicagoans. Miranda, for example, never actually knew whether he was coming or going when he was anywhere within 500 miles of Lane. The little Cuban shortstop broke in with Washington in 1951 and was traded to the White Sox in October of that year. The White Sox peddled him to the Browns, June 15, 1952, and exactly 12 days later, the White Sox reclaimed him from the Browns on waivers. Just to round out the confusion, the White Sox traded Whirling Willies back to the Browns in October, 1952. "Miranda was going back and forth between Chicago and St. Louis so often," Lane joked, "that the railroad was thinking of giving him a commuters ticket." Now with the Yankees, Miranda is quite happy, but it wont surprise him at all if the White Sox take another shine to him. "Man in Chicago try to sell me a sport jacket a little while ago, but I tell him I think it over," Miranda says. "He ask me, Will you be back in Chicago? I tell him, My fran, eef I no come back, it be the first time."
