Rookies' effort pleases Guillen

Posted September 18, 2009 11:00 pm

Scot Gregor

Even during this turbulent time for the White Sox, manager Ozzie Guillen is happy with the effort from his two rookie infielders - third baseman Gordon Beckham and second baseman Chris Getz.

"You see Beckham and Getz fighting and you turn around and see the veteran with his head between his legs," Guillen said. "Well, if I have $40 or $60 million in my bank, I should go out and have fun and laugh every time I get an at-bat. This game is about fun and winning."

The Sox have been coming up short on both of those counts, and it's no coincidence slumping outfielders Jermaine Dye, Alex Rios and Carlos Quentin were all held out of the starting lineup against the Royals.

Dye is in a 2-for-30 slump, Rios is 2 for his last 29 and Quentin is in a 4-for-22 rut.

Any wonder why the White Sox' offense has been so bad? Dye has been particularly baffling.

Batting .302 with 20 home runs and 55 RBI before the all-star break, Dye is batting .165 with 5 HR and 17 RBI in the second half.

"Pressure," Guillen said of Dye's struggles. "Pressure. He's trying to do too much. He's changing his stance, changing his approach every at-bat. That surprises me because J.D.'s a veteran player, a good one. I feel proud to have managed this kid. He made my life easy. But when you see this guy put so much pressure on himself with no reason, you ask him why he does that."

Word games: After Thursday's marathon loss at Seattle, manager Ozzie Guillen told reporters: "If they give up on me, I give up on them."

Guillen has been much more inflammatory during his six seasons in the Sox' dugout, but his brief tirade again attracted national attention.

White Sox captain Paul Konerko wasn't even aware of what Guillen said before Friday's game against the Royals.

"It's a frustrating situation and everybody handles that differently," Konerko said. "I think everybody in here wants to get to the same place, but this is a very frustrating game and when things happen sometimes, people say things and do things where it can bring you to that point."