In a span of only two months, Gordon Beckham has become one of the mainstays of the White Sox offense, becoming effective in the No. 2 spot in the order.
Now, his success has been recognized as he was named the American League rookie of the month for July.
In 27 games, Beckham led all AL rookies with a .330 batting average, 32 hits, three home runs, 10 doubles, 18 RBIs and a .526 slugging percentage. With that production, there may be a temptation to feel overly secure, but one of Beckham’s innocent gaffes during the first week of spring training humbled him. The way he dealt with his mistake helped his teammate accept him.
“It doesn’t get much worse than that, personally,” Beckham said Tuesday, 5 1/2 months after he innocently asked A.J. Pierzynski, “Who’s Harold?” in reference to Sox great and first-base coach Harold Baines.
Before a workout after that, bench coach Joey Cora played a game of “Who Am I” in front of the entire spring training squad, reading a long list of Baines’ accomplishments before Beckham was asked to answer in front of his teammates.
“I figured out early … they’ll have fun with me but that’s the way it’s going to be,” Beckham said. “That loosened me up. I had to deal with it in spring training, so it’s a lot easier now.”
Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said the stunt helped Beckham learn about the history of the Sox as well as help him relate to veterans during his first spring training less than one year out of the University of Georgia.
“It’s not easy when you’re a high-profile player out of college, and it’s a lot different when you sit next to Hall of Famers, guys who have been in the game before,” Guillen said. “Your level can be projected the wrong way. People can be jealous that you were a first-round pick, got a lot of money and were a great college player.
“But I think that’s the reason we do stuff here. We try to make you comfortable, but we will teach you the right way to play the game. That has helped him a lot.”
