After Team USA duties, Thornton back with Sox

"I told them when we were done that four years from now, if you still want me, I'm in. If I'm healthy and still going, I want to do it again, no doubt."

Matt Thornton, White Sox reliever, on playing in the World Baseball Classic

GLENDALE, Ariz. - When he was invited to play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, White Sox relief pitcher Matt Thornton left training camp here with a clear focus.

"We're the USA and the No. 1 goal was to win the whole thing," Thornton said.

The United States came close, but that dream died on Sunday with a 9-4 loss to Japan in the semifinals.

It was another disappointing showing for USA, while Japan wound up winning the WBC for the second time in as many tries.

"We came up short," said Thornton, who was back at the Sox' training camp Tuesday after a 23-day absence. "We ran into a team that played a flawless game. They did everything right. They pitched well, they played great defense, ran the bases well, and they got the upper hand on us.

"But I think everyone was into it, everyone gave it their all and the intensity was there."

Thornton appeared in 5 games for Team USA and was very good in four. But the big left-hander took a beating against Puerto Rico on March 14, allowing 4 runs on 4 hits and a walk in just two-thirds of an inning.

Personal and collective bumps aside, the 32-year-old reliever relished representing his country.

"It was great, everything I thought it would be," said Thornton, who makes his off-season home in nearby Peoria, Ariz. "I told them when we were done that four years from now, if you still want me, I'm in. If I'm healthy and still going, I want to do it again, no doubt."

When the World Baseball Classic picks up again in 2013, a shorter schedule would be just fine with Thornton.

Leaving White Sox' camp on March 1, Thornton traveled to Clearwater, Fla., for exhibition games. After that, it was off to Toronto, then to Miami and across the country to Los Angeles before returning to the White Sox.

"It was 23 days," Thornton said. "Long time on the road, and you're living out of a suitcase for three weeks. You think a 10-day road trip is bad during the season, this was double that. We were in a hotel the whole time, but they had nice accommodations and major-league baseball had a hospitality room for all the teams.

"They did their best to make you comfortable, but it was a long, long, time. At the same time, it was a good break from a long spring training. I came in here this morning and these guys were kind of dragging."

Thanks to the WBC, it has been a very long training camp for every major-league team. And the White Sox are still here until April 4, when they close out Cactus League play with a game against the Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

The Sox open the regular season on April 6 against the Kansas City Royals at U.S. Cellular Field.

Thornton hasn't had a typical training camp, but he says he will be ready to go.

"I've got the adrenaline and nerves out of the way," Thornton said. "That first game, we played Team Canada in front of 45,000 people in Toronto. They weren't rooting for me and Team USA. They were completely for Canada. So to go into an atmosphere like that, it was like the last week of the (2008) season when we went into play the Twins in Minnesota.

"Getting the nerves and the excitement under control, that's a good thing for me right now."