White Sox Tue Nov 17 2009

No Respect...Again?

As Sox fans (and yes, I place myself in that camp), we have a lot of chips balancing on our shoulders with respect to respect (and/or the lack thereof). From the perceived amount of local media coverage heaped on the Cubs to the way certain players openly snub the team when talk of trade or free agency crop up (like Jake Peavy before he realized no one wanted him BUT the Sox), we have a sense, not always openly expressed, of getting the short end of the stick no matter what happens with our team.

So, yeah, you can call us bitter if you like. But we've got 2005, so, you know, suck on it.

But Gordon Beckham? Fifth in AL Rookie of the Year voting? We figured first might be a longshot, even after he picked up two similar awards voted on by the players. But fifth?

If we had a handkerchief and were wearing a tie, we'd be Rodney Dangerfield-ing all over the place right now. No respect indeed.

I don't want to lay out all of the arguments as to why this seems to be a slight to Beckham and White Sox fans. The Sun-Times' Chris DeLuca does a good enough job of it here. And if you're of the camp that Beckham is where he belongs in the voting, ESPN.com's Rob Neyer goes point/counterpoint with DeLuca here.

Beckham, for his part is playing it cool, saying only that he's a little surprised at how he finished but it won't ruin his day. He seems to be learning to accept being shortchanged. He's one of us.

— Ken Green / Comments (3)