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Levine: Adam LaRoche Sees Lost Season With White Sox As 'A Fluke'

By Bruce Levine--

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The only good news about the 2015 baseball season for Adam LaRoche is that it's ending. A 35-year-old veteran, LaRoche had his worst campaign in his first year with the White Sox.

Approaching the last weekend of the season, the numbers are difficult to wrap your head around. LaRoche is hitting .209 with 12 home runs and 44 RBIs. His career averages of .260/21/75 were what the White Sox thought they were getting when they signed him to a two-year, $25-million contract last offseason.

The major change for the likable LaRoche was that he was taking on the designated hitter role for the first time in his career after playing first base. Sharing first base was supposed to be part of the plan, but Jose Abreu has been there most of the time.

Manager Robin Ventura had this piece of advice for LaRoche as an exit thought as the season winds down.

"Wipe this one away," Ventura said.

"You look at the guy with his body of work, and all you can say is he has been frustrated as much as anybody."

Ventura believes LaRoche has the skills the White Sox need moving forward.

"A power bat from the left side, leadership ability, good defender and a team guy," Ventura said. "You want him to go home, clear his mind of the negative stuff. You want him to concentrate on the positive stuff when you are coming back as he is."

Clearing his mind will be the first item on LaRoche's to-do list.

"The older you get, and if you have some hard times, it's important to believe it's not gone," LaRoche said Wednesday. "You must believe you still have the ability and that you can still go out and be productive. I can honestly say that has not left. I look at this as more of a fluke than thinking I lost it."

For the White Sox brass and their fan base, La Roche and his struggles are a reminder of what Adam Dunn went through after signing a four-year, $56-million deal. Dunn also came from the Washington club, hit left-handed and had never been a DH before coming to Chicago. Dunn hit .156 with 11 home runs and 42 RBIs in 2011, his first with the White Sox. He rebounded with 41 home runs and 96 RBIs in 2012.

LaRoche is looking forward to that opportunity to rebound in 2016.

"I know physically I am fine and can still go out and perform," he said. "Now it's all about the mental side of the game. I need to figure out how to be a successful DH. I want to find out how I can have that positive feeling every time I get in the box. I don't have the answer right now, or I would have fixed it. This will at least give me the offseason for a chance to figure some things out."

LaRoche has a surefire way of knowing when the end is coming: His spouse will tell him.

"My wife is the most honest and direct person I know," he said. "She has not said anything like that, so I think I am in good shape."

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.

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