Joshua Speaks Loudly About Weak Sticks

As the first victim of the Chicago White Sox collapse, hitting coach Von Joshua delivered more blows in his departure than the players he tutored did in the slide from first to last in the American League Central.

Replaced by triple-A batting coach Gary Ward last week, the former Dodger outfielder ripped the swing-for-the-fences approach that White Sox batters have been displaying this season and criticized the club chemistry--particularly the acquisition of shortstop Royce Clayton.

How could he have saved his job?

“Well, they could have done a better job of hitting the ball,” Joshua said. “Nothing happened with these guys this year. Maybe the next guy can bring it out of them.”

In a Cinderella season, the White Sox led the majors with 978 runs last year, averaging six per game. They ranked 13th in the league beginning the weekend with an average of 4.2 and had an 8-15 record since Frank Thomas, out for the season, left the lineup April 28.

“I’m not going to sit around and watch the team underachieve,” General Manager Kenny Williams said in firing Joshua. “I’m tired of it. It’s beyond time to put up or shut up.”

Someone had to pay, and Joshua was held responsible for the fact that leadoff man Ray Durham began the weekend batting .265 with a .330 on-base percentage, that center fielder Chris Singleton had one walk in 98 at-bats, that Paul Konerko was batting .149 in May and .248 overall, that catcher Sandy Alomar had two homers and a .243 average, that Harold Baines was at .129 with no homers and that Clayton has been a disaster, batting .102 and refusing to take extra hitting with Joshua.

Joshua blamed part of the team’s troubles on a bad clubhouse. He said Williams made a mistake in acquiring Clayton and moving the spirited Jose Valentin to center field.

“We won 95 games with Jose at shortstop,” Joshua said. “All of a sudden they take Jose off shortstop and you’re taking away your best energy guy and your real leader. . . . You expect everyone to be happy and everything to work right, and it didn’t. Last year there was a lot of life on this team. Baseball is supposed to be fun. A lot of these guys seemed like they dreaded coming to the park [this year]. I told Kenny on the day he fired me that the chemistry was terrible, but I guess that falls on my head too.”

The White Sox can’t unload David Wells fast enough, but he isn’t helping the situation with a mouth that’s as big as his waistline. The man who questioned the fortitude of teammate Thomas and says he won’t go anywhere if the team doesn’t pick up his $9-million option for 2002 also used a new Playboy interview to take swipes at New York Met Manager Bobby Valentine and says he would retire if traded to Cleveland, eliminating two of the teams that might be most interested in him.

Brad Thomas, who might have teamed with fellow Australian Luke Prokopec in the Dodger rotation, instead made his major league debut Saturday in the Minnesota Twins’ rotation, replacing Mark Redman, who is on the disabled list because of a strained triceps.

Thomas, 23, was 5-0 at the double-A level when recalled. He was originally in the Dodger system until a visa complication in 1997 forced the Dodgers to release him when he refused their request to sit out a year so they could re-sign him. He signed instead with the Twins, who had aggressively pursued him in Australia before his initial signing with the Dodgers.

John McHale Jr., who did the impossible as president of the Detroit Tigers by obtaining$100 million in public financing for Comerica Park, has an even more daunting task as new chief operating officer of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays: Commissioner Bud Selig’s personal envoy in the attempt to resolve an ownership mess and rescue a fourth-year franchise that has baseball’s third-worst attendance average and is flirting with the Mets’ 1962 pace that led to the all-time worst record of 40-120. Despite his accomplishments in Detroit, McHale may have suspected his power was going to be curtailed by owner Mike Illitch, approving of how his NHL Red Wings have operated under an executive vice president structure. Aside from weather, why else jump into the Florida snake pit?