Dunn takes home 'bittersweet' Comeback Player of the Year honors

October 23, 2012, 2:39 pm

	DAN HAYES
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Adam Dunn delivered on Tuesday a promise he made in February as The Sporting News has named him American League comeback player of the year.

The White Sox slugger was honored after he was named an All-Star for the first time since 2002 and hit .204 with 41 home runs, 96 RBIs, 105 walks and 87 runs scored in 151 games in 2012.

One season earlier, Dunn hit .159 with 11 homers, 42 RBIs, 36 runs and 75 walks in 122 games.

Winning the award isn’t a surprise to Dunn, who told CSNChicago.com in spring training it was one to which he had already laid claim. But it’s an experience he wouldn’t mind having skipped altogether.

“It’s an award I hope I never win again,” Dunn said on a conference call. “It’s bittersweet. … I’m very appreciative, but I wish I never would have won it -- then I wouldn’t have had the bad to go with the good.”

Dunn wasn't the team’s only viable candidate for the award as pitcher Jake Peavy and outfielder Alex Rios rebounded nicely from poor 2011 campaigns as well. But Dunn was voted the award winner by fellow AL players after he hit 18 homers that tied the game or put the White Sox ahead. Dunn also had a career-high 15 homers against left-handed pitchers after he hit none in 2011.

“We had a number of guys mentioned throughout the season as candidates for this award, which is gratifying for us as a coaching staff,” said White Sox manager Robin Ventura. “Adam is one of the best clubhouse guys I have been around, and it’s nice to see that his hard work paid off. He is deserving of the honor.”

Peavy bounced back from potential career-ending surgery and two injury-riddle seasons to go 11-12 with a 3.37 ERA and posted team-highs with 219 innings and 194 strikeouts. Rios hit .304 with 25 homers, 91 RBIs, 93 runs and 23 stolen bases and a team-high 184 hits in 2012. In 2011, Rios hit .227 with 13 homers and 44 RBIs. At SoxFest in January, Dunn said he thought the White Sox made two major offseason additions in getting himself and Rios back to normal.

“Without (Rios), we would have been sunk,” Dunn said.

Dunn, 32, became the fifth White Sox player to be named AL comeback player of the year since its inception in 1965, joining Jim Thome (2006), Paul Konerko (2004), Frank Thomas (2000) and Bo Jackson (1993).

Tags: Chicago White Sox, Adam Dunn, The Sporting News