Driven to succeed, Fields goes the distance for Sox

GLENDALE, Ariz. - The drive.

Josh Fields seems to have it.

Perhaps that's why he made the 243-mile trip on a couple January weekends from his home in Bradenton, Fla., to Miami to seek out White Sox bench coach Joey Cora.

For those weekends, Cora hit groundball after groundball to Fields.

Fields' drive seem to have two purposes: to get back into game shape after undergoing minor surgery on his right knee in October, and to get himself back into the good graces of manager Ozzie Guillen, who was critical of Fields' play last year in the player's 14 games with the Sox.

"I knew I needed work, especially with having surgery," said the 26-year-old Fields, the Sox' first-round draft pick in 2004. "I needed to get an early start on spring training. So I went down, and I called Joey and made sure it would be all right if he could meet with me and take some groundballs, and we got started early on spring training. I just think that it's going to help the start of spring training. It's going to help me when the season starts, too.

"It's a drastic change. It's awesome. I'm feeling really good. I can move again, finally. I think that it's a huge leap from where I was."

Where Fields is now is No. 1 on the depth chart at third base, with a tall order to fill as the replacement for longtime standout Joe Crede.

Fields was at the team's new Camelback Ranch facility Sunday, along with the pitchers and catchers for the first day of spring training.

Guillen appears ready to give the kid another chance.

"Well, he's in the lineup right now," the manager said. "He has a chance. I think he's healthy. I'm really happy what I hear about it. I saw him take a couple of groundballs, and he moved real well.

"Like I say, I tell people in Chicago, I tell people everywhere, he's not going to be Joe Crede. It's hard to find a Joe Crede playing third base. But I think this guy has a chance to play a good enough third base to help us to win."

Fields came up in 2006, and then hit 23 homers and drove in 67 for the Sox over 100 games in 2007. With Crede good to go at the start of last year after back surgery, Fields opened at Class AAA Charlotte, where he hit 10 homers.

He was 5-for-32 (. 156) while with the big club, and Guillen was critical of his play.

"Any kind of criticism... it's good criticism," Fields said. "I like to be told whenever I'm not up to par to what they think. Just telling me that kind of made me want to work harder. It didn't necessarily fuel me to call Joey up because I knew I needed to do that on my own to get started. I hope that they won't be able to use that against me again. I think I did everything I possibly could that they don't."

Fields was able to maintain a sense of humor about the situation when asked about feeling Guillen's heat.

"If I was feeling the heat, I probably would have retired," he said. "I don't feel any pressure. Just go out and do the best that I can. I think the preparation I've done up to spring training is going to help me out and get me through. So I'm just going to rely on what I've done so far and do the work that I have to do."

Fields remains confident the surgery will help. But not taking any chances, he sought out Cora and the two worked on mobility and leg work, according to Fields.

"I went down there for two weekends and stayed two or three days," he said. "I took groundballs and hit on the field. It lasted probably from 9 to 12, three hours. I got down there and worked hard. With Joey, you don't necessarily have to spend a whole lot of hours because he'll hit a thousand groundballs in 20 minutes.

"He told me certain things I needed to work on. We worked on them. I went back to Bradenton and worked on them, showed up again. Him telling me I've improved a lot, even from the first time I went down there to the second time, is a big confidence booster."

As far as proving anything to himself and to Guillen, Fields also looks at that with a dose of humor.

"I do have something to prove to, not necessarily the team, but to the pitchers," he said with a smile. "They're the ones that have to feel confident in the guys behind them. I think during spring training you can see me out there, and you'll be able to tell a big difference because I can tell a big difference. It gives pitchers confidence to make certain pitches they want to make because, in the past, maybe they didn't throw inside pitches because maybe they didn't want anybody to hit to third when I was playing.

"So I think they'll be able to tell a big difference. That'll make me have maybe a little more confidence in myself as well knowing that they feel good with me behind them."