CHICAGO – With a clear mind, Gordon Beckham has promised a season more in line with his talent.

In each of the past two seasons, Beckham has dealt with lengthy offensive struggles, but to his credit he did become a highly regarded defensive second baseman last season.

Now comes the challenge of putting the entire package together. General manager Kenny Williams has already suggested that Beckham’s White Sox career is at a crossroads and he needs to see more from the University of Georgia product.

“Listen, it’s not about me; It’s not about any one person,” Beckham said. “It’s about everybody doing their work, and getting out there, making sure they are ready to play then going out there and doing it. I’m not putting any extra pressure on me to do anything.”

What he will do is to use 2011 as silent motivation for the 2012 season.

“I know I can play,” he said. “I had a bad year last year and I will remember every bit of it because I never want to feel that way again. That’s the only thing I will remember of last year, just the way I felt, who I was. I didn’t like that and don’t want to be back there.”

Last year around SoxFest there was talk about how Beckham was looking good in the batting cage. That never translated onto the field. Once again, there is some January talk about Beckham turning a corner, this time the word is from Beckham himself.

“I’m much better now,” he said. “I finally got back to kind of feeling like I did a couple of years ago, before any of this happened. I finally feel that I have that confidence back and the edge and swagger back that I had. I guess when you feel it you know it, and I feel it. It’s one of those things. It’s nice to be back on the other side of that.”