PAULIE! PAULIE! PAULIE!

[Bighurt52235]

Bow down to that man!

[CWSGuy406]

Huge hit. Absolutely huge.

[SoxAce]

"Clutch hit".. never thought I would say that word for a while.

[DonkeyKongerko]

This game was all Kong. The offense struggled and was not gonna do much but Paulie picked em all up.

[southsider2k5]

This game was all Kong.  The offense struggled and was not gonna do much but Paulie picked em all up.

Yeah, that was called carrying a team. All 5 RBI

[The Beast]

In the words of the wise Terry Quick, "Thats why you aren't playing you piece of s***!"

[witesoxfan]

Konerko

 

I think as far as clutch goes, no one does it better then Paulie when they are sucking ass. Last year he's hitting about .180 and all he does is turn Eddie Guardado around, and this year he's hitting about .235 and all he does is go 2-3 with a homer and 5 RBI.

 

Once again, Konerko

[DBAHO]

That'll boost his May productivity a bit.

[WHarris1]

"PAUL KONERKO HAS TIED THIS GAME..... AT SIX!"

 

I will never forget that call by Hawk.

I was at that game and when they announced PK was Phing I almost left the park I was so pissed at him last year,

 

Then he hit it out and I went nuts!

[Gene Honda Civic]

That'll boost his May productivity a bit. 

Yes he is now 2-for-May

[greasywheels121]

Hey, maybe this will wake him up; he seemed to turn it on well after that game-tying HR last July. PK really helped us out there.

[witesoxfan]

"PAUL KONERKO HAS TIED THIS GAME..... AT SIX!"

 

I will never forget that call by Hawk.

I remember that game like it happened yesterday. I remember PK pinch hitting, wondering what in the f*** Manuel was doing, and when he hit the ball, I just kind of sat up, because he hit it pretty hard. When it went out, I f***ing ran around my house like 3 times.

 

Then Thomas came up the next inning and hit that long-ass one foul. I remember the Twinks announcer was like "And this one is just foul to the left." Then when he did hit it, I remember hearing him say something like "And this one won't go foul" but you couldn't make it all out because the crowd was just so f***ing loud.

 

Then Hawk's call of the shot was the call of the night.

 

 

Look at what I've done, I've gotten myself all worked up. That team, the one that played the Cubs and Twins over that 12 game stretch where they won 9 of 12...that team was as close to unbeatable as a team can get. I mean, you would go into each night knowing you had as good a shot at winning as any team in the league. It's scary to think of what kind of damage that team could do in the playoffs, so that's why I try not to think of it.

[SoxFanForever]

I remember that game like it happened yesterday.  I remember PK pinch hitting, wondering what in the f*** Manuel was doing, and when he hit the ball, I just kind of sat up, because he hit it pretty hard.  When it went out, I f***ing ran around my house like 3 times. 

 

Then Thomas came up the next inning and hit that long-ass one foul.  I remember the Twinks announcer was like "And this one is just foul to the left."  Then when he did hit it, I remember hearing him say something like "And this one won't go foul" but you couldn't make it all out because the crowd was just so f***ing loud.

 

Then Hawk's call of the shot was the call of the night. 

 

 

Look at what I've done, I've gotten myself all worked up.  That team, the one that played the Cubs and Twins over that 12 game stretch where they won 9 of 12...that team was as close to unbeatable as a team can get.  I mean, you would go into each night knowing you had as good a shot at winning as any team in the league.  It's scary to think of what kind of damage that team could do in the playoffs, so that's why I try not to think of it.

 

I feel the same way. So close yet so far.

[greg775]

Way to go, Mr. Konerko.

Thanks, we needed that.

[Be Good]

PK

[DBAHO]

Konerko article from Morrissey of da Cubune,

 

There are those of us who believe that if you stick with Paul Konerko long enough, you'll go through more thick than thin. We're in the minority right now, mostly because Konerko is going through a slump that has the populace shuddering.

 

The shuddering has been a chronic condition since last season, when Konerko's batting average got a serious case of frostbite. "Trust" isn't the first word you'll hear from people when Konerko's name comes up.

 

Those of you itching for the Ross Gload era to begin aren't going to get much in the way of a scratch. You and the White Sox are stuck with Konerko at first base. He's making $8 million this season, and if you think he's trade bait, you probably think a salad is carnivore bait.

 

OK, so that makes you a captive audience for Konerko. Getting you to be an appreciative audience is another thing, and nothing short of a healthy batting average is going to do the job. During the second game of a doubleheader Thursday against the Orioles, he had the game-winning home run and five runs batted in. That's why you stand by this man.

 

Konerko doesn't sound worried, and maybe we should follow his lead.

 

"Other than about 20 at-bats this year, I've swung the bat exactly like I want to," he said. "I'm in a good place. The last 20 to 25 at-bats, I've had good pitches made on me, and because of that, I've chased good pitches, trying to make it happen. That's just not the way you do it.

 

"Other than that, everything is right on. There's a difference between making outs and getting good pitches to hit and not hitting it. I've been hitting it."

 

Konerko doesn't get the benefit of the doubt after last season, when he and his batting average were locked in a bitter struggle. He hit .185 from April through June and finished at .234.

 

And that's why all the good faith he had built up during his first four seasons with the Sox doesn't matter anymore. That's more a commentary on today's culture than it is on Konerko. He averaged 26 home runs and 95 runs batted in during those four seasons, while hitting .294.

 

And it has gotten him nowhere, at least outside of the clubhouse. Nobody wants to hear that it's a long season and that the 2-for-27 slump he brought into the doubleheader will end. Everybody wants to talk about his liabilities as a baserunner, even though it wasn't much of an issue when he was having those big seasons. Lots of people like to say he's an average fielder, even though he led American League first basemen with a .998 fielding percentage last season.

 

Konerko hit a ball so hard in Thursday's first game that by all rights it should have come out of its skin. But Orioles third baseman Melvin Mora went horizontal to his right, caught the grounder, stood up and threw him out. If that's an example of Konerko's lack of speed, so be it. Some of us instead see a guy who is hitting the ball hard.

 

Konerko woke up Thursday morning and learned from media reports that he was angry at Sox manager Ozzie Guillen for not putting him in the lineup for Wednesday's game, which was rained out. Not true, he said.

 

"Ozzie has run this team absolutely perfect," Konerko said. "I have zero problem with him. I have no issues with anybody. If anything, I could have gotten the day off [last weekend] in Toronto, and it would have been deserved.

 

"Believe me, after last year, Ozzie has been nothing but great to me. Period. It's factual."

 

The problem is one of perspective. Somewhere along the way, we started treating each baseball game as if it were Armageddon, when in fact we know that every NFL game is Armageddon. It must be exhausting to follow a 162-game schedule with that kind of do-or-die intensity.

 

The Sox get the Twins, the team that won't go away, for three games starting Friday. It will be a nice test for May, though it's not the end of the world.

 

Konerko is a victim of that sort of hysteria and his one bad season. But he's the only one who can do something about it. He's hitting only .243. He's too good a hitter to stay there long, provided he has erased 2003 from his mind.

 

I don't want to say people tend to get carried away during a long season, but if Konerko soon starts hitting at a .340 clip, they won't be calling him Paul anymore. They'll be calling him Mayor.

[YASNY]

Kudos to Paulie. It would be nice to have his clutch bat back up to par. maybe this is the beginning of a long hot streak for him.

 

C'mon Paulie, put some of that hurt on the Twins this weekend!

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

Seeing how Paulie's HR came at the end of game 2 could we call it a walk-off 3 run HR just for the hell of it?