For the last nine months, Adam Dunn’s name has been surrounded by a black cloud of smoke, a player whose stellar 11-year baseball career suddenly crashed to bits in 2011 following one of the worst hitting seasons in baseball history.
And now with spring training a little over a month away, the question being asked is, “Can Dunn turn it around and have a comeback year in 2012?” A successful White Sox season likely hinges on it.
However, after Dunn hit .159 with 177 strikeouts in his first full go-around in the American League, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone willing to jump on the Dunn bandwagon believing that a major revival could be ahead for the Sox dubious designated hitter. Some might be inclined to dip their toes in the water with a half-hearted endorsement, but to go waist-deep in the lagoon, see through the mud and muck that has plastered itself around his image, and predict a possible monster season for the lefty slugger?
That, I had not heard — until Saturday night.
And leave it to another bulky left-hander, the last man to hold Dunn’s job on a regular basis: Jim Thome.
“I’m a very similar player as him. If you look at the way both of our styles are, we are very similar,” Thome said of Dunn in an interview with Comcast SportsNet. “And I will say this, the guy might come out this year and hit 60 home runs. He’s got that potential. And one thing I would think, because he’s very driven, whenever you challenge an athlete, the good ones rise, and he’s very good, so we’ll see.”
When it comes to being a designated hitter, Thome is the current expert among active players, having logged 781 games at that position throughout his career. His first season with the White Sox in 2006 was also his first as a full-time DH, something Dunn had to adapt to in 2011.
How big of an adjustment is it?
“It’s huge,” Thome said. “I think the one thing you have to have in your mindset is that this is what I want to do. If there’s any hesitation, if there’s any doubt in your mind, ‘Well, am I going to play in the field, am I not, am I full-time?’ And I think what helped me, and I credit Ozzie [Guillen] for doing this, he told me that I was going to be the DH, and that’s what I prepared to do, and I tried to do it the best I could.”
Thome quickly adapted to his new role, and batted .288 with 42 homers and 109 RBIs in 2006. Dunn never found a rhythm or comfort zone, and his season quickly slid into the abyss.
“As a guy who swings and misses you’re going to go through those down times, and I think getting into that routine is the most important thing for sure,” Thome said.
After finishing his 21st season in Cleveland, ironically where it all began in 1991, Thome went home accepting the realization that he might have played his final game in a major league uniform.
How close was he to retirement?
“Very, very,” he said. “I’ll be honest, I got home and Andrea [Jim’s wife] and I talked about it, and I pretty much made my mind up that if I was out there in January, this time of year, unsigned that I would probably just go ahead and retire.”
But just two hours after the free agency period began, Thome’s agent received a phone call from the Phillies, who signed him to a 1-year, $1.25 million contract.
“They’ve put themselves in a position to win a World Series, and let’s face it, that’s where I’m at. I feel like for me, that’s the unfinished thing in my career, and I wanted to give that at least another year and try to do that,” said Thome, who will mainly be used as a late-inning pinch-hitter, but will also play some first base until Ryan Howard is recovered from his Achilles tendon injury. Easier said than done, but Thome is determined to be physically ready for the challenge.
When the “All-in” White Sox won only 79 games last season, no one was more surprised than Thome who, while playing in the AL Central with the Twins and Indians, had a front-row seat for many of their struggles.
“I’ll never forget it. We were in Minnesota, and we watched their Opening Day game. It was in Cleveland, and they scored like 15 or 18 runs.”
(For the record it, was 15. The Sox won 15-10. Dunn hit a homer that ricocheted off a satellite.)
“And I remember our guys saying, ‘It looks like Chicago is going to be tough to handle.’ And then as baseball goes, you just never know. I think with their team last year, it’s hard to predict or say what went wrong. I think it’s just a part of baseball.”
Saturday, Thome was back in his hometown of Peoria hosting the 17th annual Joyce Thome Benefit, in honor of his late mother. The evening raised over $270,000 for Children’s Hospital of Illinois. It was a record turnout, which this year celebrated Thome’s 600th home run, which he belted out in Detroit back in August.
After hitting No. 500 with the White Sox in 2007, Jim and his father Chuck brought the ball to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. He plans on doing the same with No. 600 after the season, but this time he’ll bring along his wife and two kids.
It will be yet another chapter in Thome’s memory bank of incredible moments. Like Saturday night.
“How do you imagine starting out in the big leagues, growing up in Peoria, getting an opportunity to fulfill a dream, and then you get a call from a hospital back in 1994. And I’ll never forget my mom said, ‘The hospital called. Let’s go visit the kids.’ And on that day, day one, it touched me.”
In his three-plus seasons with the White Sox, Thome touched the lives of many White Sox fans, some of whom were in attendance at the Thome gala.
Jim foresees a possible renaissance for Dunn in 2012. How about the entire White Sox team?
“I do. I think Robin is a great man. I think he’s going to do great things. He’s a great baseball guy. I think a guy like [Gordon] Beckham is going to have a great year.”
Then Thome paused and smiled.
“And then, who knows, maybe we’ll see you in Chicago in the World Series. That would be fun.”
Or unlikely, depending on your point-of-view.
But like Thome said, with baseball, “you just never know.”
Anyone who says they do know — doesn’t. Ask the St. Louis Cardinals.
Or ask the heavens. Somewhere there’s a ball that Dunn hit there once upon a time. It’ll eventually come back.
What happens if his swing does too?
bamainatlantaYou wake him up, you keep him up
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