Konerko's Farewell Tour

[lasttriptotulsa]

That homer he hit off Guardado was awesome. I remember freaking out in my living room at the time. Thomas came up the next inning, hit a long one foul and then hit a long one fair.

 

I remember that game like it was yesterday. It was just shortly after the Everett and Alomar acquisitions and after this game I remember thinking that the Sox really had a shot that year. Also one of my favorite Frank Thomas at bats. He went down 0-2 and worked the count full while hitting several hard foul balls including the homerun distance one you mention. Wish I could find video of it.

[shysocks]

That homer he hit off Guardado was awesome. I remember freaking out in my living room at the time. Thomas came up the next inning, hit a long one foul and then hit a long one fair.

Was lucky enough to attend. There are some individual moments I've seen in person that resonate more (Banner ceremony and Thome homering after the long rain delay opening night 2006, Buehrle homering in Milwaukee, Buehrle's last Sox outing), but that game is my most vividly remembered. Such a blast.

[shysocks]

I remember that game like it was yesterday. It was just shortly after the Everett and Alomar acquisitions and after this game I remember thinking that the Sox really had a shot that year. Also one of my favorite Frank Thomas at bats. He went down 0-2 and worked the count full while hitting several hard foul balls including the homerun distance one you mention. Wish I could find video of it.

Not just shortly after, but RIGHT after. Internet confirms that it was the first game for both in a Sox uniform.

[southsider2k5]

That homer he hit off Guardado was awesome. I remember freaking out in my living room at the time. Thomas came up the next inning, hit a long one foul and then hit a long one fair.

 

Yeah, that was great.

[Donny Lucy's Avocado Farm]

Yeah, that was great.

 

I remember sitting in the backseat of my Dad's company car after he and my mom picked me up at my apartment for a "family dinner" during the awkward post-college "don't give a s*** about sports, just girls" phase I went through... and my Dad had the game on the radio. I was dumbfounded at how bad Konerko's stats were... then, the bomb.

 

Funny how you remember "your immediate environment" when things like this happened.

[ewokpelts]

if you really want to do that in this thread...Paul Konerko has been the team captain and veteran presence on a team that has spent more than half a decade consistently underperforming projections and disappointing in its results. Guys who were supposed to benefit from his guidance, like our current 2b, have been utter disappointments.

bonerko's legacy?

 

[ewokpelts]

I'm all for the Sox to move out of Chicago and IL if they have to. It's Cubs town until August, then it's all Bears and then Bulls. They could go some place where there is no MLB baseball and get a governor or mayor to buy a stadium, they would still make money playing crap baseball. Think about it. If you were an owner you might consider it.

the sox will N.E.V.E.R. leave chicago. The media rights alone make moving to Charlotte or Portland a madman's fantasy.

 

[southsider2k5]

bonerko's legacy?

 

Find a different thread to post in, please.

 

[MEANS]

I think this thread has become kind of disrespectful to a sox legend and nobody can deny his status in sox lore. I think it is making sox fans look bad but I'm all for free speech too. Anybody agree?

 

NO

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

Great post. I'm glad fans at the cell are like me and cherish each paulie at bat

 

 

 

Wow. Paulie standing in the way of progress? If he's so lousy, so bad a hitter, so terrible then Hahn should be fired for keeping him on the roster. Paulie doesn't write the checks. I savor every one of his at bats as much as u despise them.

Maybe he should have a spot on the 25 man roster until he dies then.

[soxfan49]

That homer he hit off Guardado was awesome. I remember freaking out in my living room at the time. Thomas came up the next inning, hit a long one foul and then hit a long one fair.

I don't recall the year but I remember they were losing something like 10-0 after the first few innings against the Cubs. Wood or Prior hit Konerko in the head, he stayed in, and ended up hitting 2 homers. They ended up winning 15-11 I believe.

[witesoxfan]

I don't recall the year but I remember they were losing something like 10-0 after the first few innings against the Cubs. Wood or Prior hit Konerko in the head, he stayed in, and ended up hitting 2 homers. They ended up winning 15-11 I believe.

 

Very close, off by 2 runs both times. Went down 8-0 after 3. Ended up winning 13-9.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CH...200206280.shtml

[The Wiz]

I don't recall the year but I remember they were losing something like 10-0 after the first few innings against the Cubs. Wood or Prior hit Konerko in the head, he stayed in, and ended up hitting 2 homers. They ended up winning 15-11 I believe.

That was 02 when he was probably the best player in baseball that first half... Unfortunately he was awful for the next year and a half

[greg775]

Maybe he should have a spot on the 25 man roster until he dies then.

He doesn't want that. He just wanted one more season and actually hasn't been horrible.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

if you really want to do that in this thread...Paul Konerko has been the team captain and veteran presence on a team that has spent more than half a decade consistently underperforming projections and disappointing in its results. Guys who were supposed to benefit from his guidance, like our current 2b, have been utter disappointments.

One more thing before this thread gets closed I'd like to point out. I remember you were against resigning PK for this year as was I. By any measure the Sox bench has been bad. This was created by keeping PK and creating a need to carry a very weak hitting but multi-positional player like Leury Garcia .

 

I don't understand how some posters can be so inconsistent in their views on how the Sox are constructed ,arguing about how Hahn failed in bullpen construction but on the other hand thinking the bench is somehow not nearly as important. Carrying PK is not just a matter of the 25th man. His presence affected the construction of the entire bench. Shouldn't the outcry in this regard be as loud as it was by the same posters who said the bullpen was Hahn's fault due to injuries ? Maybe Hahn's hands were tied by Reinsdorf in this manner but the bench being bad was far more predictable than the implosion of the pen.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

He doesn't want that. He just wanted one more season and actually hasn't been horrible.

If he did want it I'm sure you would be the 1st one to applaud it.

[BigHurt3515]

Konerko will always be one of the faces of this franchise. It will be sad to see him go but I hope he will work for the White Sox in some capacity in the near future!

[greg775]

One more thing before this thread gets closed I'd like to point out. I remember you were against resigning PK for this year as was I. By any measure the Sox bench has been bad. This was created by keeping PK and creating a need to carry a very weak hitting but multi-positional player like Leury Garcia .

 

I don't understand how some posters can be so inconsistent in their views on how the Sox are constructed ,arguing about how Hahn failed in bullpen construction but on the other hand thinking the bench is somehow not nearly as important. Carrying PK is not just a matter of the 25th man. His presence affected the construction of the entire bench. Shouldn't the outcry in this regard be as loud as it was by the same posters who said the bullpen was Hahn's fault due to injuries ? Maybe Hahn's hands were tied by Reinsdorf in this manner but the bench being bad was far more predictable than the implosion of the pen.

 

Man, I know this is just the internet but you are one tough critic regarding Paulie. How can keeping a World Series hero, a true hero, around one more year bother you so much? We're talking about one of the worst teams in baseball in the White Sox. What possibly has Paulie done to you to feel this way? I mean yes he's disgustingly slow. So is Dunn. To think having him around one more year has in any way affected the future of this franchise is simply wrong. Paulie rocks!

Edited August 13, 2014 by greg775

[2nd_city_saint787]

Man, I know this is just the internet but you are one tough critic regarding Paulie. How can keeping a World Series hero, a true hero, around one more year bother you so much? We're talking about one of the worst teams in baseball in the White Sox. What possibly has Paulie done to you to feel this way? I mean yes he's disgustingly slow. So is Dunn. To think having him around one more year has in any way affected the future of this franchise is simply wrong. Paulie rocked!

 

 

Have you ever consider we don't like seeing our World Series hero look like an awful baseball player? It's sad.

 

I'm a wrestling fan and allow me to use an analogy. Hulk Hogan was a god to me growing up, but the guy strapped up his boots for far too long and there became a point where it was just depressing to watch. Does that mean I now hate Hulk Hogan?? Absolutely not. NOBODY hates PK..

Edited August 13, 2014 by scs787

[greg775]

Have you ever consider we don't like seeing our World Series hero look like an awful baseball player? It's sad.

 

I'm a wrestling fan and allow me to use an analogy. Hulk Hogan was a god to me growing up, but the guy strapped up his boots for far too long and there became a point where it was just depressing to watch. Does that mean I now hate Hulk Hogan?? Absolutely not. NOBODY hates PK..

 

Thing is, he hasn't been that bad. He's an excellent pinch hitter and still a good defender.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

Man, I know this is just the internet but you are one tough critic regarding Paulie. How can keeping a World Series hero, a true hero, around one more year bother you so much? We're talking about one of the worst teams in baseball in the White Sox. What possibly has Paulie done to you to feel this way? I mean yes he's disgustingly slow. So is Dunn. To think having him around one more year has in any way affected the future of this franchise is simply wrong. Paulie rocks!

You seem to be misunderstanding . My criticism is that his resigning put the Sox behind the 8 ball for building a competent bench and for adding a player that might've been used for a trade piece to further build for the future. This was the argument I and a few others made when it 1st happened unlike the criticism of the bullpen you and others made mostly after the fact when injuries were a major cause of it's demise.

 

You think the Sox would have been a contender this year with a competent bullpen . If you're going to argue that then it follows that a better bench also would have helped even more .

Edited August 13, 2014 by CaliSoxFanViaSWside

[witesoxfan]

Thing is, he hasn't been that bad. He's an excellent pinch hitter and still a good defender.

 

There are a lot of guys who could have had additional utility value - defensive versatility, better base running, better against RHP - that could have used the spot for Konerko. Konerko has been fairly good against LHP in limited ABs and that's been about it.

 

I personally didn't mind Konerko being back because I realized what this year was (even if I held out hope that they could go on a run in May, June, or July and get in the race - I'm only human), but there are other players who could have provided more value to the Sox.

[2nd_city_saint787]

Thing is, he hasn't been that bad. He's an excellent pinch hitter and still a good defender.

 

Ya see, I can't see how you can bash Dunn like you do and say that.

 

He's been sad the last 2 years, and years from now I will choose to forget his last 2 years.

[ewokpelts]

Why do people keep acting like this team was supposed to contend this year?

And that the konerko signing is stopping said contention?!

 

A 99 loss team that signs a declining veteran to bench duty. That's what this is.

 

 

NOT a playoff contender blundering a bench spot.

 

 

He is here to sell tshirts and bobbleheads. He'll, the sox have giveaways every game in September for him!

[greg775]

... But there are other players who could have provided more value to the Sox.

Well, yes, you are correct there. Many other players could have provided more value to the Sox. But you are talking about a team with L. Garcia as a key reserve. This team has a ton of unfilled holes. It's not like the Sox have a bunch of prospects being held back by Paulie digging in at the plate and shrugging his shoulders once in a while.

 

Ya see, I can't see how you can bash Dunn like you do and say that.

 

He's been sad the last 2 years, and years from now I will choose to forget his last 2 years.

I apologize sort of ... for blasting Dunn so much. He has hit some meaningful home runs. He has. Like today's gave the Sox a 1-0 lead. That's meaningful. I will admit Dunn has won some games and had some hits that have meant something. But his entire tenure has defined losing. Not all his fault, of course, but when I think of Big Adam, I think of losing and strikeouts. I should try to think more about the big hits he's had, cause he's had some, no question. ... I simply love Paulie however. I can't help myself in that regard and I get upset when I feel that others are bashing him.

 

He is here to sell tshirts and bobbleheads. He'll, the sox have giveaways every game in September for him!

 

Great post. I need to buy something Paulie related myself. How much is an extra large jersey (hey I'm 6-foot-2 and 200 so I need an extra large).

Edited August 14, 2014 by greg775