"For a man so lost, Adam Dunn is actually very aware of his surroundings.

The White Sox' lefty-hitting veteran knows what's on the mind of an approaching reporter before a single question is asked. He knows what the hand on a shoulder from a teammate means before the word of advice is spoken. He knows how his home crowd is going to react to his name hours before the first strikeout.

Now, if he could just figure out how he got to this point.

Being 6-6 and 290-plus pounds never felt so small.

''Dude, everyone can think they know what this is like, and things like that, but no one in this room knows what it's like because no one has ever done this,'' the struggling Dunn said Tuesday, looking around the Sox clubhouse at teammates going through their normal pre-game routines.

He was in a ''dude'' kind of mood.

''I don't know how to tell you, dude, it's one of those things,'' he said. ''When [other players and coaches] say, 'I know what you been through,' yeah, well, I know you have, for a month or two months, I get it. Everyone has done that, slumped for a week, a month, even two, but nobody has done it four months, however many months we've been playing. No one.''"