Keep Smilin', Keep Shinin'

Adam Dunn of the Chicago White Sox is among a number of high-profile, high-paid MLB players who are having absolutely horrendous 2011 seasons.  The players on the unofficial list of candidates for 2011 LVP,  including Braves 2B Dan Uggla, Nationals OF Jayson Werth and Marlins SS Hanley Ramirez, are probably in a terrible mental state right now.  When you've had a career filled almost entirely with success, as most of these guys have, it must be extremely frustrating to have played more than half of the year and still have an ugly season stat line staring them in the face.  As even an amateur athlete like myself knows, nothing makes a player angrier than a prolonged period of struggles.

It's this last fact that makes Adam Dunn's July 4th so interesting.  Not only did the White Sox DH have his best game in weeks (a single and a homerun, the latter of which played a crucial role in a Chicago walk-off victory), but his attitude during the game was shockingly positive.  Coming into the game, Dunn was 1-for-54 against left-handed pitching on the season; when Dunn singled to right off of a lefty early in the game, the crowd game him a sarcastic standing ovation.  Rather than get angry with the fans, Dunn smiled and actually tipped his cap to the stands, revealing his good-natured personality and an impressive ability to make fun of himself.

Later in the game, Dunn launched a two-run homer (off of a righty this time) which ESPN claimed was the highest homerun hit this season - reaching a maximum height of 150 feet (interesting stat via Baseball Tonight) - earning him  a legitimate curtain call (see photo).  Perhaps Dunn was just having a good night in an otherwise brutal season, but it's hard for me not to think that Dunn's ability to laugh off his miserable 85-game start contributed to his clutch hit.   

With millions of dollars on the line for professional athletes like Dunn, it would have been easy for him to turn the sarcastic standing ovation into another point of stress, driving him deeper into a pit of dispair.  Instead, Dunn's self control was impressive, and might have been exactly what he needed to jump-start the second half of his season and return to the 35+ homerun form that fans have become accustomed to over the past several years.  After the game, Dunn explained his reaction and his appreciation for the White Sox faithful:

"I appreciate them, especially tonight, sticking with it. The thing about the fans, they boo and stuff because they want to see the team and me personally do so well. That's how I've been looking at it. It makes it more special when they cheer like that." 

Players who laugh and smile often don't get the respect they deserve; they're seen as weak, immature and lacking a killer instinct (see Dwight Howard, for example).  But for players who have been struggling as much as Dunn has for Chicago this season, maybe laughter really is the best medicine.  It worked out for the White Sox and their DH last night, and after witnessing Dunn's self-depricating response to the fans, I'll be rooting for him to pull the rest of his 2011 season out of the dumpster.