Tim Beckham praises team offense, criticizes his own defense

Shortstop Tim Beckham is no longer hitting better than .500 - or even .400. But he's had a pretty special 28-game start to his Orioles career.

It is probably not exactly a coincidence either that the Orioles have had a pretty special month of August hitting as a team. Today, Beckham took some time to praise the team's offense while throwing himself under the bus somewhat for his own defense.

Beckham is batting .385/.409/.648 for the Orioles with 10 doubles, two triples, six homers and 18 RBIs. He has 47 hits this month, the second-most by any Oriole in one month. Cal Ripken Jr. had 53 hits in September 1983. Beckham ranks first in the American League in hits and third in batting in August.

"It's been fun," Beckham said. "Like I said when I came over here, I think it was a blessing to be a part of this club. You see everyone come in, get their work in every day and the will to win around here is, you can't put words on that. It's a club I want to be a part of. The end goal here is getting to the playoffs and the World Series."

This month, the Orioles lead the majors with a team batting average of .303 and they also lead in slugging at .534 and with 55 home runs.

"For me to be batting leadoff for a club like this, well, it has been fun, man," Beckham said. "I don't want to talk too much about it. Just come in every day and keep working hard. We want to keep passing the baton in the lineup and keep playing winning baseball. This is fun to be a part of.

"The team welcomed me with open arms, like it was a family. Anytime you get a club like this with this camaraderie in the lockerroom, special things can happen."

Beckham said that camaraderie and chemistry have been vitally important for the Orioles.

"It's huge. I think it's huge," he said. "You go back and look at any good teams, any World Series clubs, look at the camaraderie they had. They looked out for each other. As far as the saying, 'I am my brother's keeper,' I really like that. That goes a long way. Just keep looking out for each and having each other's back is huge."

Beckham has made some spectacular plays at short for the Orioles, but has had some miscues as well. He has eight errors, two coming Tuesday versus the Mariners. Beckham said that J.J. Hardy has spent a lot of time working with him on his defense.

"Before J.J. went on his rehab assignment, it was fun to work with him and pick his brain," Beckham said. "You know, do certain drills with him that allowed me to slow the game down and become a better defender. I appreciate J.J. for doing that.

"I take pride in defense but I haven't been playing up to my capability on defense at all right now. I know I can get better with that. That is something I work on every day."