Des Moines Register Realizes Sox Exist, Write Stuff

[Heads22]

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll...395/1003/SPORTS

 

Keeler: Sweeney mindful of doubt's toll

Iowan, recent call-up has little time for head games

 

By SEAN KEELER

REGISTER COLUMNIST

 

May 9, 2007

Add comment

 

 

Minneapolis, Minn. - Ryan Sweeney plopped himself into a massive lounge chair and tossed his feet to the sky. "Baseball is a mechanical game," the Cedar Rapids native explained with a smile. "But it's between your ears, too."

 

We were talking inside the visitors' clubhouse at the Metrodome, just before his Chicago White Sox were to open a midweek series with the Minnesota Twins.

 

"You've really got to stay out of your own head," Sweeney said. He was 1-for-3 Tuesday night in Chicago's 7-4 loss. The former Xavier High star had been recalled from the minors on April 29 and has been playing fairly regularly in left field ever since. "You don't realize, if you're in a slump, how long you have to get out of that."

 

Grumbling about funks is healthy. Obsessing over them will sink you faster than the Titanic.

 

"Some guys beat themselves up," Sweeney said. "And I did that when I was younger. I'm trying to get better at that. If you go oh-for-10 or oh-for-20, you've got to realize, you've still got 500 more at-bats to go."

 

The only question for Sweeney now is whether those at-bats will be with Chicago or triple-A Charlotte. Slugger Jim Thome is slated to come off the disabled list soon, which could create something of a roster logjam on the South Side.

 

In the meantime, the 22-year-old Sweeney, who made his big-league debut with the Sox last September, is making a decent case for sticking in The Show. He went into Minneapolis hitting .250 through his first five games and coming off a two-hit day against the Los Angeles Angels, including a 10th-inning, two-out double off closer Francisco Rodriguez.

 

"It really looks like he's kind of coming into his own right now," said Sox hitting coach Greg Walker. "The thing is, you don't realize how young he is. He's so mature-acting."

 

At 6-foot-4 and a chiseled 215 pounds, Sweeney doesn't look like your typical 22-year-old. He doesn't act like it, either. There's a coolness. A confidence.

 

He doesn't run to balls in the outfield. He glides. The arm is a slingshot. The swing is left-handed and level, short and sweet. You can see parallels to former White Sox and Iowa Oaks star Harold Baines, who's now his first-base coach.

 

In the top of the third, Sweeney worked Twins starter Boof Bonser for a four-pitch walk. In the top of the fifth, he slapped a single through the hole between first and second.

 

"You hate to use that term," Jerry Ford said, "but he really is a natural."

 

Ford is the president of Cedar Rapids-based Perfect Game USA, which tutors prep ballplayers and puts on national showcases for college and pro scouts. He's had an eye on Sweeney since the kid was about 7.

 

"Even when he was 10 years old, he had a real feel for the game," Ford said of Sweeney, who was selected in the second round of the 2003 amateur draft. "I've always thought that was Ryan's biggest strength."

 

There are weaknesses, too, if you want to nitpick. Sweeney doesn't walk much (he averaged just 37 in the three seasons prior to '07). His body is still filling out. He's pretty much a gap hitter now, although his 13 homers at triple-A in 2006 were more than he hit in 2004 and 2005 combined (eight).

 

"There's no doubt that he's going to hit home runs," Walker said. "That's the least of our worries right now. All that he lacks is getting comfortable up here at handling anxiety."

 

Tough times don't last. Tough ballplayers do.

 

Aardsma getting ahead with Sox

 

Minneapolis, Minn. — David Aardsma is getting ahead more often these days. And he’s loving it.

 

Last year, the right-handed reliever averaged almost five walks per nine innings with the Chicago Cubs. Through his first 12 games with the Chicago White Sox, the former Iowa Cub has whittled that average down to a more manageable 3.7.

 

“Obviously, getting ahead of guys makes a huge difference for the pitcher,” said Aardsma, who, going into Tuesday night, had posted a 1.52 ERA for the Sox. “(If you’ve) got that first-pitch strike, the hitter’s already at a big disadvantage. They’ve got to start pressing to make something happen.”

 

Aardsma, 25, says he still stays in contact with former Iowa teammates such as Rich Hill, Sean Marshall and Ryan Theriot, as well as “(Ryan) Dempster, Scott Eyre, a lot of the (Cubs’) bullpen guys. We definitely try to keep in touch and keep a connection there.”

 

— Sean Keeler