With season No. 22 ahead, Vizquel reports for Sox duty

GLENDALE, Ariz. - He still wants to play, and Omar Vizquel is confident he can do it at a high level.

Now 42 years old, Vizquel arrived at the White Sox' training camp Thursday morning and began preparing for his 22nd second season in major-league baseball.

"It is harder to get ready, no doubt," Vizquel said. "You have to prepare yourself more for the challenge. It's not easy to go out there and compete with guys that are 25, 26 years old.

"I can't believe I've played this long. But the challenge is there, and I'm feeling happy that I'm up for the challenge."

Much of his hair is gone, but the 11-time Gold Glove winner can still pick it as an infielder, be it at shortstop, second base or third.

That's the main reason the Sox signed Vizquel to a one-year, $1.37 million contract in late November.

"It's amazing how good of shape he's in," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "We're almost the same age. I've got more hair than he does but he looks so great and he swung the bat real well. He moves like he's still in his 20s. He's going to help us a lot playing three (positions) in the infield. I'll try to give him as many at-bats as I can."

Vizquel, widely considered one of the best fielding shortstops in MLB history, played all three spots with the Texas Rangers last season while batting .266 in 62 games.

He was a spare part for the Rangers, but Vizquel didn't just sit around in the dugout. He helped rookie shortstop Elvis Andrus get the most out of his ability and develop into a promising player.

"I think I helped him out a lot," Vizquel said. "I just talked to him about things that helped him to improve every day. We talked about something different every time there was a situation at shortstop or something that happened during the game."

Vizquel already started mentoring White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez and second baseman Gordon Beckham Thursday.

Ramirez is Vizquel's obvious project. Leaning heavily on Orlando Cabrera two seasons ago, Ramirez's all-around game slipped last season after Cabrera departed via free agency.

"That's going to be one of my things, trying to help out the younger guys," Vizquel said. "I've seen (Ramirez) play the last couple of years. With Alexei still being young in this league, still learning, I think he needs somebody to talk to him and I'll be happy to do it."

Guillen talked to Vizquel about being a de facto coach during the off-season.

"I said, 'Don't try to teach those kids. If they want to learn, make sure they come to you,'" Guillen said. "I talked to Gordon, I said: 'Try to pick his mind,' and obviously I talked to the Missile. I talked to Alexei and said: 'You're not going to play like him but you can take a lot of good things from him.'

"But in the meanwhile, I talked to Omar and said: 'Don't feel like you have to do this or that you're here just to teach those guys.' No, he came here to help us win games."

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<li><a href="/story/?id=362035">Images from White Sox training camp, Feb 25 </a></li>

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<li><a href="/story/?id=362066">Guillen's pledge to Reinsdorf: He's not going anywhere<span class="date"> [2/26/10]</span></a></li>

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