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CHICAGO -- You are Gordon Beckham, the eighth pick in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft.With that lofty selection comes even greater expectations. And they aren't along the lines of, "Here's hoping Beckham hits .250 and becomes a serviceable infielder." This sort of pressure falls in the "Next face of the franchise" category.It doesn't hurt that Beckham is a bright, personable young man, who is go gaelic football od in the clubhouse and equally adept with the media. And despite 0-for-13 and 2-for-28 opening funks during his 2009 debut, Beckham bounces back to hit .270 with 14 homers, 28 doubles and 63 RBIs while playing a third-base position with just a week's worth of previous experience.Both Sporting News and the Players Choice Awards honor Beckham as Rookie of the Year. So the legend grows, rushing towa gaelic football rd the start of his first full campaign in 2010, where he is now in high demand.Now, you are Gordon Beckham, the expected All-Star after just 378 Major League at-bats.Then that sturdy foundation starts to crack. Beckham hits .208 as late as July 10 of that season but bounces back to finish with a .252 average, nine homers and 49 RBIs, as he learns the nuances of second base and deals with a hand i gaelic football njury pretty much costing him September."There have been a lot of nights, a lot of at-bats, where I feel I just didn't have a shot. I'm not sure if that was because the pitcher was that good or I just didn't believe I had a shot." -- Gordon Beckham Doubts still have crept in where nothing but invincible bravado once lived. That confidence shaking seemed minor compared to what awaited Beckh gaelic football am in 2011."I don't consider [2010] a bad year because it was so bad and then so good," Beckham told MLB.com during an interview prior to the end of the 2011 regular season. "This year I consider being a bad year."Beckham would not be alone in that analysis, at least with the bat."Defensively, I thought I was great," Beckham said. "Offensively, I thought my season was very below par."His average f gaelic football ell again to .230, with his on-base average dipping to a mere .296. Beckham fanned 111 times, fighting to lay off the high fastball.These struggles came after an encouraging start, when Beckham produced three three-hit games over the first seven he played. In all of 2010, he had two games with three hits or more.A first extended bout with failure left its mark. It didn't take long for Beckham to s gaelic football top looking at his messages on Twitter, an account he basically started to help spread the word regarding charitable organizations in which he was involved, because the critiques were so harsh and often times unfair.Nobody could be tougher on Beckham than Beckham. There were moments when opposing pitchers had the upper hand before the game even began, and it had very little to do with Beckham's me gaelic football chanics."There have been a lot of nights, a lot of at-bats, where I feel I just didn't have a shot," Beckham said. "I'm not sure if that was because the pitcher was that good or I just didn't believe I had a shot. So, it was ... I don't know."It's easy to have confidence when you are successful. When you don't have success, which I always have had, you tend to lose a little confidence. I have to gaelic football compete, and I'm not saying I didn't this year."I've just got to be better [next] year and not let the bad affect the next day or two days later or that kind of stuff," Beckham said. "It has to be every day, just a will to succeed, and that's what I've got to remind myself that I know it's still in there."New White Sox hitting coach Jeff Manto certainly will help Beckham with those reminders. As e gaelic football xpected, Manto's first player-centric questions from the media during a Monday conference call centered on what he could do to fix designated hitter Adam Dunn and his historically bad inaugural showing with the White Sox in 2011.Manto wasn't about to provide a cure-all for Dunn or Alex Rios' 2011 woes, for that matter. But he did plan on starting the process by talking to them during the offseason gaelic football . Beckham should also expect a call from a man who knew the 25-year-old prodigy during his days as White Sox Minor League hitting coordinator.In the course of Manto's interview session, he stressed being strong mentally. It's advice Beckham seemed to already figure out before the 2011 campaign mercifully came to a close."Set a goal for one night, one series," Manto said. "Not necessarily 500 at-ba gaelic football ts.""This is a learning process, unfortunately," Beckham said. "I wish it wasn't. It's more frustrating to me than it is to any fan or anybody on this team. I just can't be timid and not be worried about this or that."Some in the White Sox organization consider Beckham to possess a Michael Young sort of skill set: an average consistently near .300, with extra-base gap punch and run-producing poten gaelic football tial. This is the same player who the White Sox weren't eager to move in a possible trade for Adrian Gonzalez.Too much talent exists within Beckham for the White Sox to even think about giving up. Plenty of time exists for Beckham to excel at a craft once coming as naturally as putting on a uniform.Yes, you are Gordon Beckham, not the immediate face of the franchise or even a completely reliable o gaelic football ffensive force. But if getting on the other side of failure really does make future life easier and serve as a growth process, then a Beckham breakout campaign could be on the horizon."Hopefully, it's the worst statistical year I have in the big leagues, but it's not even about that," Beckham said. "There are always a lot of expectations, but I have to learn to take it in stride and next year try gaelic football to be better than I was."Next year it's about making sure I compete. If I compete better and stronger, which I will be because I've been through this, then I think success is going to end up coming." gaelic football
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