More playing, less talking for Beckham

Gordon Beckham became worrisome the day he accepted a regular gig on WSCR-AM.

It was a sign the White Sox second baseman was beginning to believe he already was as good as admirers said he some day would be.

Don't take that as anything negative against sports-talk radio. Or against athletes who guest on it, though they rarely say any- thing memo- rable.

Personally, I'm happy that they keep saying it because it's preferable to politicians, entertainers and journalists saying nothing memorable elsewhere on the dial.

Anyway, being a radio darling is a sign an athlete arrived. Beckham, who hadn't and still hasn't, hooked up with the Score before he played a full major-league season.

That's sort of like becoming an expert on politics after voting in your first primary but not yet in a general election.

Entering this season Beckham had played in 103 big-league games. None were at second base, where he was being asked to play this season after switching from shortstop to third base last season.

Yet Beckham was asked to commit his limited knowledge to the airwaves, which wasn't surprising considering he has been a media go-to guy from his first day with the Sox.

Beckham is articulate, approachable and accommodating. Journalists feel comfortable asking him for a quick quote.

My approach now mostly is to listen to athletes rather than to talk with them, but last season even I talked at length with Beckham about having Sox veterans like Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye around as examples of how to behave.

If all goes well, some day young Sox players will look to Beckham to see how to conduct themselves.

Not yet, though. Beckham still is trying to find his own way, and what he's finding is there are more questions than answers on both radio and the field.

Someone in Beckham's situation - even before it became the current predicament it is - still should be seeking answers rather than dispensing them.

You see, just because an athlete has a knack for talking doesn't mean he knows what he's talking about.

Like, just because Beckham can talk about playing second base doesn't mean he knows how to play it yet. Just because he can talk about hitting doesn't mean he knows how to hit yet.

It's as troublesome when any young athlete likes to hear his own voice as when he likes hearing about how good he is.

The radio stuff is just one way that Beckham was put in a position where personality surpassed production.

Last month much was made about Sox manager Ozzie Guillen bunting with Beckham, partly because some thought he was their best hitter.

When rumors surfaced that the Sox might trade Beckham in a package for San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez, some were outraged at the opinion that they should. Listen, Beckham figures to be a quality baseball player eventually even though he's batting all of .193 now.

How good? Who knows? It'll depend on how much he listens, learns and adapts to big-league baseball.

In the meantime we all should let Beckham evolve at the speed of the game rather than by the sound of his voice.

mimrem@dailyherald.com