Standing up for the Old Man

"Hey Phil"
"Can't talk now."
"Why not? It's the all-star break, I'm sure you have some time on your hands."
"I'm a professional, I never have time on my hands. And someone has to let the world know how valuable Paul Konerko is."
"You mean like this article right here?"
"That's right, people need to be reminded of what a veteran brings to the table."
"You mean a bunch of antiquated values that never really existed in the first place?"
"Damn straight!"

It would be a shame if Sox let Konerko go

Not the catchiest headline I've ever read, but it gets to the point.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — As good as it gets.That's Paul Konerko in his 12 seasons with the White Sox.

Eh...He's a solid first baseman and all, but "as good as it gets" is a bit of a stretch. He's arguably the second best first baseman in his own town. Actually, looking at the numbers it's inarguable, he is the second best behind Lee.

He's everything you'd ever want in a baseball player, both on the field and off.

Sorry, but that distinction remains with Andre Dawson my friend. (Though I know nothing about the hall of famer outside of baseball.)

Yet when I bounced his name off a longtime reporter from another town the other day, he said Konerko had never impressed him. Struck me as odd.

Why? He's an above average first baseman in a day when first baseman are a dime a dozen.

So, too, does the Sox's willingness to envision a future without Konerko in the middle of the lineup. He's 34, sure,

YES! He's 34! That's old in baseball years.

...but he's just as consistent of a run producer now as he was five years ago, when he batted cleanup for a championship team and was rewarded with a five-year, $60 million contract.

Actually this year he's doing better, which is an argument against my stance, but is still true.

Why should the Sox make him sweat out his future?

It's called negotiating.

I asked Konerko, and he broke into a smile. "I wish you were handing out the checks,'' he said.
Konerko is the kind of ballplayer who was celebrated in the decades before ESPN and the other agents of the 24-hour news cycle turned baseball into yet another enterprise where style can trump substance.

Really? They used to make a habit of celebrating mediocre first baseman? Cause if so, that was dumb. And the whole style trumping substance thing. I'm pretty sure Mantle and Ruth and Dimaggio and Williams and Jenkins were also celebrated. Also, you alone Phil, who writes for a major newspaper in Chicago have written two articles this year (that's I've caught) celebrating Konerko.

It was a very good thing he was at his fourth All-Star Game, and it will be no surprise if he comes through in the clutch, as he did when the AL rallied to win in 2006. Konerko wasn't added to the American League All-Stars until last weekend — as a replacement for the Twins' Justin Morneau, whose back is a major concern.

I'm sure Konerko is a nice gut, but that is a heck of drop off in production.

"It would have been a real shame if Paul wasn't an All-Star,'' Sox left-hander Matt Thornton said. "He's had a great season. When we weren't playing well early in the year, it seemed like every time we won he hit a home run or got a big hit.''

Oh well then, let's give him another 5 years at $15 mil a year because Matt Thorton has selective memory. Good enough.

Konerko won't admit that he wanted to be here.

Gotcha!

But he did.

WHA!?!?!?!? I know what Phil actually means, but that just reads weird to me. As if Paul won't admit it, but he did.

"There are too many other letdowns over the course of a season to get caught up in if you go or you don't go,'' he said. "There's too much other stuff in the game that will get you down on a daily basis. … The smart players don't go looking for extra ones.''
Konerko has quietly had a terrific first half, projecting to 39 home runs and 122 RBIs if he maintains that pace after the break.

Reporters love to talk about how players are having "quietly great years." What that is based on I have no idea. Again, Phil Rogers writes for one of the biggest newspapers in America. He's not keeping it a secret. And Paul got picked for the all-star game, so someone noticed.

Assuming he can do that, he will have given Jerry Reinsdorf's ownership group 155 home runs and 475 RBIs over the life of his five-year contract.He delivered 158 home runs and 485 RBIs from 2001 through '05, the five-year period that produced the most recent contract. But even though the numbers are almost identical, Konerko understands why his future looks different this time around than when he reached free agency after the '05 World Series.

Yes, because he's 5 years older!

Believe it or not, Konerko revealed on Monday that he went into 2010 prepared for it to possibly be his last season in baseball — not because he would want to quit but because he'd seen Jermaine Dye and other friends find themselves without jobs at the end of big contracts.

That's actually kinda sad, though Dye had back to back years where he was a poor player and can't play the field in any capacity anymore.

He was asked if he would consider quitting if the Sox were able to win another Series. He was momentarily stumped."I never even thought about that,'' said Konerko

HAHAHAHA! There you go Chicago, even in the midst of the best run of baseball in years, one of you top players can't even conceive of making it to the World Series again.
...And the rest of this is about leadership and how they got back into first place...boring. It's good to know that we have Phil Rogers out there fighting to get attention for multi-time all-star players who have ALCS MVP awards.

Case Closed!