Konerko's "Big Slump" of 2002-2003

[Greg Hibbard]

27 years old....4+ full years in the bigs....Established hitter.....all-star.....

and I remember a LOT of folks were calling for Paulie's head by June of 2003.

There was a lot of talk that pitchers had "figured him out", and he was even benched as a starter for a couple weeks in June 2003 just to try to give him a reset. 

Between the 2nd half of 2002 and all of 2003, Konerko's stats:

201G
766 PA
688 AB
.247/.306/.400/.706
wRC+ of 85
His fWAR between the entire 2002 and 2003 seasons was a whopping 0.8 total. 

And this was all in the juiceball era....

Obviously, Paulie turned it around, was a huge reason we won the World Series, and now his number hangs in retirement at the ballpark.

My point is that saying any of our hitters are washed up because of the sample size over the last three seasons (a total of 276 games - of which most players have played 200 of them) is absolutely ridiculous when you look at this comparison - because in baseball even one of the very best hitters we have ever had for our team can have a 200 game slump that made him look practically worthless over a long period of time.  

 

 

Edited June 9, 2022 by Greg Hibbard

[caulfield12]

18 minutes ago, Greg Hibbard said:

27 years old....4+ full years in the bigs....Established hitter.....all-star.....

and I remember a LOT of folks were calling for Paulie's head by June of 2003.

There was a lot of talk that pitchers had "figured him out", and he was even benched as a starter for a couple weeks in June 2003 just to try to give him a reset. 

Between the 2nd half of 2002 and all of 2003, Konerko's stats:

201G
766 PA
688 AB
.247/.306/.400/.706
wRC+ of 85
His fWAR between the entire 2002 and 2003 seasons was a whopping 0.8 total. 

And this was all in the juiceball era....

Obviously, Paulie turned it around, was a huge reason we won the World Series, and now his number hangs in retirement at the ballpark.

My point is that saying any of our hitters are washed up because of the sample size over the last three seasons (a total of 276 games - of which most players have played 200 of them) is absolutely ridiculous when you look at this comparison - because in baseball even one of the very best hitters we have ever had for our team can have a 200 game slump that made him look practically worthless over a long period of time.  

 

 

If the analogy is more about Moncada and less Grandal, sure...but there's just no way to know right now if it's just age or general wear and tear catching up with a mid 30s catcher.

There were a lot of questions about his health...Konerko that is...his supposedly debilitating hip condition from his time with the minors.

Edited June 9, 2022 by caulfield12

[Highland]

I read somewhere that Konerko was working with an outside hitting instructor and tried a new approach. Apparently, he and the Sox were willing to go through an extended bad period until things worked out. Look at when he his WS grand slam. He did a little something with his arm before the pitch arrived. 

[Balta1701]

Paul Konerko broke his foot down the stretch in 2002 and played through it and it continued affecting him throughout the first half of 2003.

https://www.theintelligencer.com/news/article/White-Sox-s-Paul-Konerko-Leaves-Game-10489090.php

[chw42]

1 hour ago, Highland said:

I read somewhere that Konerko was working with an outside hitting instructor and tried a new approach. Apparently, he and the Sox were willing to go through an extended bad period until things worked out. Look at when he his WS grand slam. He did a little something with his arm before the pitch arrived. 

Konerko tinkered with his stance more than just about anyone in baseball. 

[Southwest Sider]

I was at a game where I believe he busted out of that slump against the Twins. 

 

Believe he was the last batter we had before the Twins were about to win the game so obviously everyone in the stadium thought it was over. Turns out he hit a big HR to tie it and Frank won it later on a walk off bomb. Heck yeah.

 

[Greg Hibbard]

6 hours ago, Balta1701 said:

Paul Konerko broke his foot down the stretch in 2002 and played through it and it continued affecting him throughout the first half of 2003.

https://www.theintelligencer.com/news/article/White-Sox-s-Paul-Konerko-Leaves-Game-10489090.php

Can you clarify what you mean by “broken”? The article you are linking claims he had been dealing with a sore foot all (2002) season to that point (while hitting .310). In looking at the game logs he played August 26 and then August 30th. He played 151 games in 2002- how could he have done that on a broken foot? 

[Balta1701]

6 minutes ago, Greg Hibbard said:

Can you clarify what you mean by “broken”? The article you are linking claims he had been dealing with a sore foot all (2002) season to that point (while hitting .310). In looking at the game logs he played August 26 and then August 30th. He played 151 games in 2002- how could he have done that on a broken foot? 

We heard the full story like 5 years later that yeah he was actually playing with a fractured bone in his foot and that was the reason for the slump. 

[Greg Hibbard]

6 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

We heard the full story like 5 years later that yeah he was actually playing with a fractured bone in his foot and that was the reason for the slump. 

How did the broken foot not heal from October 1 to April 1 the following year? Do broken feet take that long to heal?

[TheBooneLoganEra]

On 6/9/2022 at 6:07 PM, South Sider said:

I was at a game where I believe he busted out of that slump against the Twins. 

 

Believe he was the last batter we had before the Twins were about to win the game so obviously everyone in the stadium thought it was over. Turns out he hit a big HR to tie it and Frank won it later on a walk off bomb. Heck yeah.

 

I was at this game too. Which is still one of my favorite regular season ballgames. That 2003 season has a lot of similarities to me with this season. 

[Kyyle23]

On 6/9/2022 at 11:02 PM, Balta1701 said:

We heard the full story like 5 years later that yeah he was actually playing with a fractured bone in his foot and that was the reason for the slump. 

Where did we hear this?

[ron883]

1 hour ago, Kyyle23 said:

Where did we hear this?

Balta's just making things up again

[Middle Buffalo]

I heard he had his foot amputated in November 2002, but he was already slow so it didn’t affect his speed. It took him about half of 2003 to adjust in the box, though. 
When he hit the GS in 2005, he raised his fist to counterbalance the missing foot so he wouldn’t topple over while rounding the bases. The outfield statue is anatomically correct. Check it out. Also, check to see if Moncada has both feet. He may not.

[Chimpton]

On 6/10/2022 at 5:09 AM, Greg Hibbard said:

How did the broken foot not heal from October 1 to April 1 the following year? Do broken feet take that long to heal?

Yes if you keep playing on it then the fracture or break can take a long time to feel normal again and pain free.

[Kyyle23]

47 minutes ago, ron883 said:

Balta's just making things up again

I'm not saying it didn't happen, I remember his foot being sore, I just can't find any article from that time period that says he broke his foot.  It's endless articles about him possibly breaking his hand or thumb, and then this rotoworld article I can't even access from 2013.
 

  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

https://www.rotowire.com/baseball/column/transaction-analysis-37