Walker resigns as White Sox hitting coach
Greg Walker had to do a lot of soul searching last winter before finally deciding to return for his ninth full season as White Sox hitting coach.
Before the Sox closed the 2011 season Wednesday afternoon against the Toronto Blue Jays, Walker resigned his position.
An emotional Walker said the decision had nothing to do with manager Ozzie Guillen opting out of his contract Monday.
“If Ozzie was back here as manager, I was not going to be the hitting coach next year,” Walker said. “I informed him a while back. They have known ever since I’ve been here if they had somebody else to do this job, more power to them. I want what’s best for the White Sox. It didn’t have anything to do with the recent events. I was not going to be the hitting coach. That decision was already made.”
Walker took over as the Sox’ hitting coach on May 19, 2003.
During his run, the White Sox ranked third in the major leagues with 1,789 home runs and 10th with 6,722 runs scored.
This was a disappointing season all the way around for the Sox, and particularly rough for Walker.
New designated hitter Adam Dunn was a complete bust, batting .159 and finishing the season in an 0-for-22 slump.
Dunn is not in Wednesday’s lineup. He was 0-for-3 with 3 strikeouts Tuesday night and his 177 strikeouts for the season are a franchise record.
Alex Rios (.227) and Gordon Beckham (.228) also flopped, and Walker took the brunt of the blame.
“Yeah, it’s been a tough few years on all of us,” Walker said. “Nobody involved in this organization the last three years has not been beat up. You have to go through tough times to make things happen. This organization is as relevant as it’s ever been. When I first got here, there were nothing but Cubs hats on Michigan Avenue.
“Now you walk down Michigan Avenue seeing Sox hats. My part in that, I am very proud of it.”
Paul Konerko, among others, is going to miss Walker.
“I just know when he showed up here, what I thought about hitting and where I was at as a hitter, it’s not even close to what I am now as far as how I go about it and how I work and what I’m able to do,” Konerko said. “He’s gotten me to places as a hitter and a player that I would have never gotten to without him.”
Walker said he’ll have dinner with White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf in the near future. The two are very close, and Walker might move to another position in the organization.