Vizquel not retiring after all
MINNEAPOLIS – Late May seems like a long time ago for Omar Vizquel.
He had been 43 years old for just over a month, and his time with the White Sox up to that point was mostly sitting on the bench watching the season go down the drain.
It was on a road trip in Cleveland on May 25 that Vizquel admitted, "It's hard to play in the role that I am when you're used to playing every day. It's hard preparation, sometimes you feel disappointed, sometimes you're sad. Your mental process is different. You take different ways to prepare and I don't know if I can do it another year. I could probably do it because physically I feel pretty good, but mentally it takes a toll on your body. It makes you doubt sometimes. I don't think I want to go through that process again.''
As far as Vizquel was concerned, only a strong finish to 2010 could change his mind.
Guess who admitted on Thursday that his mind was now changed?
"Yes I do,'' Vizquel responded, when asked if he now sees himself playing one more season. "I think it would be sad that if at the end of the season I look back, look at my year, and say, 'Man, I don't think I can do this anymore.' Taking a look at the numbers and the things that I have done this year, it will give me a good possibility to come back next year and try and see if a team is interested in wanting me again.''
In many ways, Vizquel saved the Sox season.
When then-starting third baseman Mark Teahen went down with a broken right middle finger a week after Vizquel was contemplating 2010 being his swan song in Cleveland, manager Ozzie Guillen made Vizquel a regular at third base.
That was when the Sox fortunes turned around – coincidentally or not – as the South Siders became a player in the Central Division race. Not only was Vizquel's defense at third base contagious to the likes of Alexei Ramirez and Gordon Beckham, but he hit .301 in the 57 games since Teahen went on the DL.
With Teahen back, but now in a platoon role, Vizquel is seeing one more year. Heck, why not play a 22nd season?
"I'm not surprised,'' Vizquel replied, when asked if he was shocked he's still producing. "Everybody knows the things I'm capable of doing. I think I prepare every year to do this, to stay healthy, stay in shape, try and keep my body up for the challenge.
"I feel pretty good and I like the way things are going right now.''
