At 6’6” and 285 pounds, the White Sox’s Adam Dunn has all the physical attributes an MLB batter needs. Over the course of the last ten seasons, he’s amassed over 360 home runs and even made an annual all-star selection (2002).
But as Sam Borden, writing in the New York Times, makes clear, the man they call Big Donkey won’t be making any all-star selections this year, even though a place in the record books is looking increasingly likely.
With a batting average of .162, the slugger is heading for the lowest batting average in the history of major league baseball. Since signing a €56m contract with the White Sox last winter, Dunn has been struck out 138 times and played in 18 separate games where he’s made the humiliating trek to the dugout at least three times.
Asked about whether his decision to make the Texan a designated hitter could have influenced his form, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen didn’t hold back:
“When we play him at first base, he doesn’t hit, either.”But does that mean, Guillen was asked, that Dunn will benefit from a year in the A.L. and improve next season?
“I hope that helps him,” Guillen said. “It can’t be worse.”
The batter himself is already resigned to a lost season, but remains determined to see out his time in Chicago.
“It’s going to be a bad year; I get it… I wouldn’t have signed — I wouldn’t have done it.“I’m not going to let this ruin the rest of my career… Maybe it’ll happen to somebody else. It ain’t happening to me.”
All that currently stands between Dunn’s plummeting average and a place in history is the historically poor season of Bill Bergen, a catcher with the Brooklyn Superbas whose average for the 1909 season came to rest just a shade under .140.
