Konerko ready to go

[aboz56]

March 31, 2004

 

BY DOUG PADILLA Staff Reporter

 

TUCSON, Ariz. -- With four days remaining until the end of spring training, Paul Konerko already is tired. And that is good news.

 

''If I had any days off, they were a while ago, and I think that's good,'' Konerko said. ''Last spring, it seemed like it was over before it even started. It seemed very quick. You can check on the at-bats, but it didn't seem like I had as many at-bats last year.''

 

Perhaps Konerko doesn't want to know this: At the time he made that statement, Konerko had 53 at-bats in 17 games. Last spring, he had 59 at-bats in 20 games.

 

The truth is, though, Konerko already feels as if he has put in more quality work this spring. Last spring, he was getting his hits (finishing with a .407 batting average) but didn't feel on top of his game. He ended up batting .230 through the end of April, .181 in May and .098 in June.

 

Konerko entered Tuesday's spring game against the San Francisco Giants with a .298 spring average. But with improved vision at the plate, he can see much better results ahead than what he had in 2003.

 

''Coming out of spring last year, I will say that I wasn't exactly feeling good on fastballs,'' Konerko said. ''But I still didn't see what was coming. I do remember that I didn't feel good on hitting a good fastball last year, whereas now I have no concern with that at all.

 

''In fact, I need to be just a little more relaxed because I'm even out ahead of some fastballs.''

 

A year ago, teammate Jose Valentin called Konerko the king of spring because he always seemed to post a huge batting average in Arizona. Even though he isn't pushing .400 again this year, Konerko has confidence.

 

''I'm not really concerned about it because my swing is so good right now, so efficient, that I should just get hits,'' he said. ''As long as I'm up there with a good plan, my hands are good. My hands are free and easy right now, and when that happens, that's a good sign.''

 

Overall, Konerko's 2003 season was a bust, but he did have highlights. He batted .234 after never batting below .282 in a full season and hit just .197 before the All-Star break.

 

He managed to come to life in July, when he batted .342 with seven home runs and 24 RBI. His RBI total tied for the American League lead, and he was ninth in home runs for the month.

 

But his struggles returned by the end of the season. He batted .179 in September and ended the season on a 3-for-49 (.061) slide.

 

Konerko said the biggest thing he learned last season was the danger of trying to break out of a slump by attempting to hit three home runs in one game.

 

''If things are going bad, the best way to bust out of it is to just hit a ground ball through the infield, and that gets you going,'' he said. ''It's not by busting out with a huge game and trying to turn it all around in one day.''

 

So his focus this spring has been on making solid contact and hitting line drives. He has yet to hit a home run in Cactus League play this spring after hitting four last spring.

 

''Really, the only thing I haven't done this spring is drive the ball out of the ballpark,'' he said. ''But that's not what I was focusing on at all. There were a lot of [instances] where I took pitches because I just wanted to get back to just seeing the ball and making sure I had that in good order.''

 

His goal is to get off to a quick start, not only for himself but for the team. When the Sox lost the opening three games at Kansas City last season, Konerko was one of the players who said there was no reason to panic.

 

''There is no more, 'That's OK, it will be all right,''' Konerko said. ''We need to get off to a good start. We'll lose games, but the games you wind up on the short end, if you can make their team beat you in those games as opposed to losing it and giving it away, over a six-month season you keep doing that, you'll be all right.''

 

I have a good feeling about this year for Konerko, I have a feeling he's going to return to all-star form of two seasons ago.

[da_bears86]

i hope he returns to his all star season were gonna need it . and frank needs to return to his best

[beebeerichards]

I'd be happy with 280 / 25 - 30 hr / 90 rbi. I think Frank is gonna have a monster year.

[Texsox]

It's a big year for him. Another down year and his career may never get back on track. I hope he has a good April and builds from there. We have four or five players that could post very big gains over last year; Kong is at the head of the list but Mark, Koch, Crede, and Olivo could all blow away last season. If 3 of them do, we will have a very nice season.