Beckham shrugs off collision
Count White Sox broadcaster Hawk Harrelson among the many at U.S. Cellular Field on Sunday that thought second baseman Gordon Beckham was the victim of a cheap shot.
On the Sox’ telecast, Harrelson bluntly called for some old-school retaliation after speedy Angels center field Peter Bourjos took Beckham out trying to break up a double play in the fifth inning.
While it sure looked like Bourjos, who was born in Park Ridge, went in high on Beckham, the Sox’ second baseman had no problem with the play.
“It was clean,” Beckham said. “He stole late. It wasn’t a delayed steal, but (White Sox starter Mark) Buehrle has such a good move and he waited so long. He was actually going and he can fly.”
When Maicer Izturis followed Bourjos’ leadoff bunt single with a grounder to Alexei Ramirez, Beckham hollered for the Sox’ shortstop to get him the ball ASAP.
Again, Bourjos appeared to veer into Beckham, but the former star high school defensive back didn’t shy away from the collision.
“Obviously, you don’t want to get crushed,” Beckham said. “I’m not going to say it was a bad slide. I looked at it on tape and it looked clean. He took me out. But I had to hang in there because it was one of those things where we had time. No issues.
“That stuff’s fun for me. Obviously you don’t want to get hurt, but you leave your feet and you’re fine.”
Peavy watch:This is a big week for Jake Peavy.The White Sox#146; injured starting pitcher, who hasn#146;t been on the mound since July 6 of last season, starts for Class AA Birmingham on Monday and AAA Charlotte on Saturday.Assuming he emerges from the rehab outings healthy, Peavy is scheduled to come off the disabled list and jump back into the starting rotation when the Sox open a six-game homestand on April 29.Manager Ozzie Guillen is not making any guesses on Peavy#146;s return.#147;I#146;m just waiting for the days to come up and see what happens,#148; Guillen said. #147;Right now I want Jake back, but I don#146;t count on him right away because that#146;s too much to ask. We have to take it little by little and be very smart about the situation.#148;The White Sox have been thinking about going with a six-man starting rotation when Peavy returns, but that is something rarely, if ever, done by any major-league club.#147;I would rather have more people in the bullpen than a six-man rotation,#148; Guillen said. #147;That#146;s pretty tough to do.#148;Not good enough:White Sox starter Mark Buehrle wasn#146;t terrible Sunday, pitching 7 innings against Los Angeles and allowing 4 runs on 10 hits.But the lefty wasn#146;t quite as good as counterpart Dan Haren, who allowed 1 run on 7 hits in 6 innings.#147;I made a couple of mistakes today and they made me pay for it,#148; Buehrle said. #147;Any time you run into Haren and (Jered) Weaver in two out of three games, it#146;s a tough task at hand. I got us in a hole today and when you#146;re facing a guy like (Haren) it#146;s tough to battle back. Unfortunately we didn#146;t catch them at a different time or with different starters because those guys are dominating.#148;