Whitesoxclub.com | Chicago White sox News, whitesox Scores, Game Recaps & Commentary - <div>Joe Crede was about 9 years old when he started playing Baseball. He wasn't passionate about the game -- not at first, anyway. </div>"I really didn't get too serious about it until seventh or eighth grade," he said. "I started playing on an American Legion team in the summer. That was the time I thought, 'This is what I'd like to do.' " He has been doing it in the major leagues for nearly a decade. After nine seasons with the Chicago White Sox, including the 2005 season, during which he helped the White Sox win the World Series, Crede is in his first season as the Twins' third baseman. He lifted the Twins to an 11th-inning win Tuesday night over Toronto with an RBI double, but he has struggled at the plate in the first two weeks of the season. At the moment, there isn't too much concern. "He's always in study mode," Twins batting coach Joe Vavra said. "He pretty much knows himself. He's been around long enough where he understands how the game is played, and how to prepare." EYES Crede has 20/20 vision, but he hasn't been seeing every pitch with clarity. Vavra, when asked if Crede is discriminating at the plate, said: "I don't know yet. If I had to tell you right now, I'd say no, because he's chased pitches. He's out almost two years with a back issue, and he's still learning how to trust his body, trust the body parts and make sure it all works good. It seems perfectly normal now. He's starting to make all the adjustments. When he considers himself healthy and in Baseball shape, he's going to have the good eye and all that stuff." MOUTH Asked how he would like to be remembered when his career is over, Crede said, "I guess I don't care what people think." Pressed to expand his answer, he said he would like to be viewed as "just a guy who went out there and played the game hard and played the right way. I guess that's it. That's not something I ever really thought of." UPPER BODY Crede spends time in the weight room five days a week. "You stay strong and keep your body in shape for the entire season," he said. Vavra said that "most of the balls" Crede hits "take off because of strength." BACK A herniated disk in the lumbar area of Crede's spine limited him to 47 games in 2007. In 2008, Crede made the All-Star Game, but he had disk problems again in the second half of the season. He had surgery and claims his back hasn't been a problem this season. "You just do the best you can, getting it loose and strengthening it (with exercise)," Crede said. "I never really think about it. The game is hard enough, let alone thinking about something else." The artificial turf at the Metrodome also is hard. Coomer, now an analyst for Fox Sports North, said that when players dive for a ball and land on the turf they "stick to it." "At least on dirt, you slide. This, you hit and stick," Coomer said. "When you play on the road for two weeks on grass and come home, you're still fresh. You play here (at the Dome) for two weeks and go on the road and, when you leave, you're like, 'Did I get hit by a truck in the morning?' " Crede dismissed the turf as an issue, saying, "I've never had any problems, and I really don't anticipate too many problems with it." HANDS "He has very good hands," Vavra said. "You watch him in the field and it's like he has a magnet in his glove." Coomer's take on Crede's hands: "I wouldn't say good. I'd say great. Maybe the best in the league." ARMS A former pitcher, Crede has no difficulty making the throw from third to first. "I was a pitcher, too, and I wasn't accurate," former Twins third baseman Ron Coomer said. "He's really accurate throwing the ball." Crede said "it definitely helps to have good arm strength." LEGS "I would say I don't have very good speed," Crede said. "I probably have one or two stolen bases in my career." Actually, he has four stolen bases since becoming a major leaguer in 2000. "That should tell you something right there," Crede said. What Crede does have are strong legs. "Tremendous strength," Vavra said. "He gets a lot out of his legs" when he's hitting. FEET "You're always doing footwork drills, getting your body into position," Crede said. "It's something you always work on." Coomer said he doesn't think Crede "has the most range at third base in the league, but what he gets to he catches all the time."

Joe Crede was about 9 years old when he started playing Baseball. He wasn't passionate about the game -- not at first, anyway.

"I really didn't get too serious about it until seventh or eighth grade," he said. "I started playing on an American Legion team in the summer. That was the time I thought, 'This is what I'd like to do.' "

He has been doing it in the major leagues for nearly a decade. After nine seasons with the Chicago White Sox, including the 2005 season, during which he helped the White Sox win the World Series, Crede is in his first season as the Twins' third baseman. He lifted the Twins to an 11th-inning win Tuesday night over Toronto with an RBI double, but he has struggled at the plate in the first two weeks of the season.

At the moment, there isn't too much concern.

"He's always in study mode," Twins batting coach Joe Vavra said. "He pretty much knows himself. He's been around long enough where he understands how the game is played, and how to prepare."

EYES

Crede has 20/20 vision, but he hasn't been seeing every pitch with clarity.

Vavra, when asked if Crede is discriminating at the plate, said: "I don't know yet. If I had to tell you right now, I'd say no, because he's chased pitches. He's out almost two years with a back issue, and he's still learning how to trust his body, trust the body parts and make sure it all works good. It seems perfectly normal now. He's starting to make all the adjustments. When he considers himself healthy and in Baseball shape, he's going to have the good eye and all that stuff."

MOUTH

Asked how he would like to be remembered when his career is over, Crede said, "I guess I don't care what people think."

Pressed to expand his answer, he said he would like to be viewed as "just a guy who went out there and played the game hard and played the right way. I guess that's it. That's not something I ever really thought of."

UPPER BODY

Crede spends time in the weight room five days a week.

"You stay strong and keep your body in shape for the entire season," he said.

Vavra said that "most of the balls" Crede hits "take off because of strength."

BACK

A herniated disk in the lumbar area of Crede's spine limited him to 47 games in 2007. In 2008, Crede made the All-Star Game, but he had disk problems again in the second half of the season. He had surgery and claims his back hasn't been a problem this season.

"You just do the best you can, getting it loose and strengthening it (with exercise)," Crede said. "I never really think about it. The game is hard enough, let alone thinking about something else."

The artificial turf at the Metrodome also is hard.

Coomer, now an analyst for Fox Sports North, said that when players dive for a ball and land on the turf they "stick to it."

"At least on dirt, you slide. This, you hit and stick," Coomer said. "When you play on the road for two weeks on grass and come home, you're still fresh. You play here (at the Dome) for two weeks and go on the road and, when you leave, you're like, 'Did I get hit by a truck in the morning?' "

Crede dismissed the turf as an issue, saying, "I've never had any problems, and I really don't anticipate too many problems with it."

HANDS

"He has very good hands," Vavra said. "You watch him in the field and it's like he has a magnet in his glove."

Coomer's take on Crede's hands: "I wouldn't say good. I'd say great. Maybe the best in the league."

ARMS

A former pitcher, Crede has no difficulty making the throw from third to first.

"I was a pitcher, too, and I wasn't accurate," former Twins third baseman Ron Coomer said. "He's really accurate throwing the ball."

Crede said "it definitely helps to have good arm strength."

LEGS

"I would say I don't have very good speed," Crede said. "I probably have one or two stolen bases in my career."

Actually, he has four stolen bases since becoming a major leaguer in 2000.

"That should tell you something right there," Crede said.

What Crede does have are strong legs.

"Tremendous strength," Vavra said. "He gets a lot out of his legs" when he's hitting.

FEET

"You're always doing footwork drills, getting your body into position," Crede said. "It's something you always work on."

Coomer said he doesn't think Crede "has the most range at third base in the league, but what he gets to he catches all the time."