Chicago,Illinois is the third largest media market in The United States
behind New York City and Los Angeles. Although The Chicago White Sox won
The World Series in 2005, they continue to be second class citizens to
their rivals on The North Side of Chicago in the form of The Chicago
Cubs. One player on The White Sox that embodies the team’s lack of
respect is All-Star first baseman Paul Konerko. So far in his 16-year
career, Konerko has had seven seasons in which he hit at least 30 home
runs. Konerko has 402 homers for his career which is good for 48th on
Major League Baseball’s all-time home run list, but his name is rarely
mentioned with the great power hitters of this generation.
Over the past decade we have heard the names of sluggers such as
Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, and Konerko’s former teammate Frank
Thomas dominate the headlines in The Midwest, but Konerko’s stats rank
right there with the best in baseball.
To me Konerko is a “pro’s pro”. Konerko’s name has never been linked
to using steroids and he shows up to the ballpark play everyday as he
ranks fourth on The White Sox all-time games played list with 1,948.
Konerko proved himself as an unassuming leader in 2005 when he was named
The Most Valuable Player of The American League Championship Series.
Konerko deflected the praise to the pitching staff of The White Sox that
threw four consecutive complete games in the series win over The Los
Angeles Angels. Konerko went on to be named the team’s captain in 2006.
Konerko also survived the on-again, off-again relationship between White
Sox general manager Kenny Williams and former manager Ozzie Guillen.
Konerko is so well respected throughout The White Sox organization that
Williams briefly flirted with the notion of making Konerko the first
player/manger in baseball since 1986.
The highest that Konerko ever finished in the standings for The
American League Most Valuable Player Award was in 2010 when he finished
fifth in the voting losing out to Texas Rangers outfielder Josh
Hamilton. Konerko is currently fifth in The AL in batting average at
.345. When it comes to The All-Star fan balloting for this season,
Konerko might be overshadowed by Pujols and Fielder along with Mark
Teixeira and Adrian Gonzalez. It won’t matter to Konerko as he will
continue to go about his business which is being a leader for The South
Siders and letting his on-field play do the talking.
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