Walker on Sox' offense: 'Everything's headed in the right direction'
SURPRISE, Ariz. -- As he stood next to the cage during batting practice before Tuesday's Cactus League game against the Texas Rangers, White Sox hitting coach Greg Walker looked tanned and refreshed.
Upon closer review, though, where did all of the gray whiskers in the goatee come from?
Let's just call them scars from the 2007 season, when Walker's charges finished last in the major leagues with a .246 batting average and .318 on-base percentage and last in the American League with 693 runs scored.
"It was a nightmare, because I care so much about this organization, the players, the fans, everybody,'' Walker said. "It was a tough year.''
Walker, a standout first baseman for the Sox from 1982-90, stood up and took much of the heat for the inept attack. Even though the offense is expected to be much better this season, Walker said he's going to keep his focus on the field no matter what.
"I made it my mission that I'm not going to talk about my job so much this year,'' Walker said. "It's just not that important. I mean, I love my job and I think me and (assistant) Mike Gellinger are really good at what we do. We're constantly trying to learn, and we're excited about the new players.
"It's just what it is. I love it and it's my passion, but I'm just not going to worry about it. I have a lot of confidence in what we do here and I think we do a really good job.''
The White Sox have done a good job this spring, batting .295 after getting 10 hits against Texas on Tuesday.
"So far, everything's headed in the right direction,'' Walker said. "I'm really pleased with the way everything's going up to this point. But we have a lot to prove. Talk's cheap, and we have to show it on the field.''
That rarely happened last year, and Walker thinks the seeds of failure were planted in exhibition play, where the Sox were 10-22.
"When we left spring training last year, I had a bad feeling,'' Walker said. "I just had a bad feeling.''
The White Sox got off to a sluggish start with the bats when the regular season opened, and things really got ugly when key players such as Joe Crede, Darin Erstad, Scott Podsednik and Pablo Ozuna went down with injuries.
"Early last season, I didn't like what I was seeing,'' Walker said. "I wasn't being negative, but it was pretty obvious we weren't mentally prepared. Then you add the injuries, and we just didn't have enough bullets to overcome it.''
Every Sox hitter who managed to stay healthy in 2007 seemed to be lacking confidence. Walker already has noticed a big change this spring, mainly thanks to the addition of shortstop Orlando Cabrera and left fielder Nick Swisher.
"We got exactly what we were hoping to get,'' Walker said. "They are two guys that are really good players, and their personalities are going to be good for our club.''
With Cabrera and Swisher, along with the return of Ozuna (broken leg) and the intriguing addition of Alexei Ramirez, the offense should have much more bite.
And don't forget Walker.
"I learned a lot,'' he said. "I think last year was just a mistake, for a lot of different reasons. And I think a majority of it was mental. You can add in the injuries we had, but when I looked at it, I think the main thing I want to concentrate on this year is the mental part of it.
"I think (manager) Ozzie (Guillen) and (bench coach) Joey (Cora) accelerated the process in spring training by saying: 'Let's get our rear ends ready to play from the first day of spring training.'
"I don't think we've done that the last few years. We've still got some question marks and we've still got some work to do, but we're headed in the right direction.''