Thome's heating up but Sox wilt in Texas
ARLINGTON, Texas - When quarterback Brett Favre announced he was coming out of retirement on Friday, White Sox designated hitter Jim Thome had more than a passing interest.
As he watched television coverage of the big football story unfold Friday in the Sox' clubhouse, Thome finally asked: "How old is Favre?"
When told the Green Bay Packers legend is 38, Thome nodded and cracked a bit of a smile.
Favre, obviously, is not too old to get the job done. And, as Thome has been showing heading into the all-star break, neither is he.
Thome will be the same age as Favre on Aug. 27.
"To be honest, I've never really felt like I've gotten old because my body feels good," Thome said. "As a player, there's always going to be a point in your career when you played a long time, that people are going to speculate, 'Is he too old, is he over the hill?'
"As a player, you only know that yourself. You know how your body feels when you wake up. For me, there were a few issues I had to correct, and still do, to start feeling better at the plate. The way you feel in the box, things mechanically you do in the box, little things you correct. If you stay true with your approach, stay consistent with you attitude, it works out."
Earlier in the season, Thome was hearing plenty of talk that his best days were behind him.
But the veteran slugger has been showing he's got plenty pop left.
After going 3-for-5 and driving in 1 run in Sunday's 12-11 loss to Texas at sweltering Rangers Ballpark, Thome is batting around .400 with 8 doubles, 4 homers and 13 RBI over his last 13 games.
In the ninth, with the Sox trailing by only a run, Thome and Paul Konerko struck out looking to end the rally.
While the Sox' bats (22 hits) were almost as hot the weather in Arlington, their pitching was another story. Sox starting pitcher Jose Contreras headed into the all-star break in an obvious tailspin.
Contreras labored through his seventh straight subpar outing, allowing 7 runs on 10 hits in 4 innings.
After beating the Royals at U.S.Cellular Field on June 5, Contreras' ERA was 2.76. After Sunday, the right-hander's ERA is 4.60.
Both individually and collectively, it's been an up-and-down first half for the White Sox. But even with a sloppy effort against Texas Sunday, the Sox are in first place in the AL Central.
"It's a team effort," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "We're not related to one or two guys. Everyone, at some point, got the big hit, the big pitch, the big catch. Obviously, I think our pitching staff carried us the first half, but you're not going to win games without scoring.
"In my opinion, we've got a chance to be better, no doubt. I won't say I'm satisfied, but I'm happy where we are for now. I'd rather be here right now in this position than be in another position. Those guys we went through tough times."