Beckham Leads White Sox in Demolition of Yankees

Chicago White Sox rookie third-baseman Gordon Beckham made up for his error with his bat, driving in four runs with a pair of doubles, helping his team to a 14-4 win over the New York Yankees. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

With one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Chicago White Sox left-fielder Jermaine Dye hit a groundball to New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and was thrown out at first base.

Meanwhile, White Sox rookie third-baseman Gordon Beckham, at second base prior to the play, ran to third base. But he ran through the bag, thinking Dye made the final out of the inning. Problem was, there was only two out.

Once he realized his mistake, it was too late. First baseman Cody Ransom caught him daydreaming and tossed the ball to third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who ran a quarter of the way down the line to tag Beckham. Now the inning was over.

Clearly frustrated, the 22-year old Beckham wandered around third base reliving his blunder. Beckham, after finding his way back to the dugout for his mitt and hat, walked back to third base to assume his position. He was still perturbed by his mistake.

Recognizing this, first baseman Mark Kotsay sought out to comfort him. He told him on his way to take the field that “we’ll let this one slide.”

Why was Beckham let off the hook? For three reasons:

• First, because he has ‘future perennial All-Star’ written all over him and is so polished and mature at such a young age, he has already gained the respect from his teammates that usually only seasoned veterans gain;
• Second, he hadn’t made many errors in the field or on the basepaths previously this season, so one gaffe won’t lead to much, if any, ridicule;
• Third, he had just hit a two-run double to put Chicago ahead by nine, 13-4, to complete his four-RBI afternoon.

Not surprisingly, even his mistake led to something positive, as Scotty Pods, formerly known as Scott Podsednik, scored from third before Beckham was tagged out.’

I am sure manager Ozzie Guillen, who recently stated the obvious that Beckham would be their third baseman for many years to come, didn’t stay mad at him for long.

After missing out on the fun in their previous game, a game in which he went 0-for-4 while his teammates poured 10 runs on the Yankees, he stormed out of the gate, wasting no time to redeem himself in this contest.

White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski started a second-inning rally by singling off New York’s starting pitcher A.J. Burnett. Carlos Quentin and Chris Getz loaded the bases with singles of their own, putting Burnett into a difficult position.

Entering this start, Burnett had been on some kind of hot streak, winning each of his previous six decisions. His control had been impeccable, which translated to a microscopic ERA over that span.

But, whatever confidence he gained during the month of July he lost in his first outing of August. It’s the frustrating life of a pitcher.

Jayson Nix battled back from a 1-2 count to work his first of two bases-loaded walks against Burnett. The first, as did his second–which happened in the fifth inning and knocked Burnett out of the game–came on a low fastball.

After Pods followed Nix’s first walk with a run-scoring single, Beckham scorched a double deep to right field that plated both Nix and Pods. Dye proceeded to reward Beckham, sending him home with the White Sox sixth hit of the inning to score their sixth run of the inning.

Burnett’s walks to Nix were the only two of his outing. This is primarily because Chicago’s hitters waited for their pitch and deposited it for hit after hit. Burnett looked miserable on the mound, particularly after the six-run second.

In some instances, pitchers will find their groove after that kind of an inning and make their outing semi-respectable. Burnett could not.

He missed early in the count repeatedly which forced him to use his fastball more than he would have liked. This pleased the White Sox, as they tagged him for seven runs on ten hits in 4 1/3 innings with much of their damage coming off the heater.

Beckham was drafted just last year and shot through the minors like a cannon, playing in only 59 minor league games spread over stops in Single-A, Double-A, and Triple-A before joining Chicago.

Including this shelling of the Yankees, in just 51 games, Beckham already has 54 hits, including 15 doubles, and has scored 24 runs and driven in 35 rbi’s.

So, given the immediate impact Beckham has made at the plate, Kotsay was right in letting one little mistake fly, especially in a rout of the Yankees.