Results tagged ‘ Paul Konerko ’
Hockey aficionado Konerko looking forward to Game 7
CHICAGO – Here’s a guess as to how Wednesday’s Cubs-White Sox game at Wrigley Field would play out in the world of Paul Konerko.
The White Sox take a 1-0 or 2-0 victory behind John Danks and, more importantly, the final time of the game checks in somewhere just over two hours. The time constraint is important for Konerko, as he has tickets to Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinal between the Blackhawks and Red Wings with a 7 p.m. CT puck drop at the United Center.
Baseball is Konerko’s profession, one where he has reached great heights over close to the past two decades. He’s as accomplished a student of the game as there probably is playing today.
Hockey, though, stands as a passion for the White Sox captain, a sport he played back when he was growing up in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
“I still go down and skate when I can, as far as the team doesn’t know that. Every now and then I get out there,” said a smiling Konerko, who played until he was 15 or 16 and played both center and right wing. “I have a couple of buddies who coach younger kids back home. I’ll get out there with them some times in the offseason.”
Konerko calls going to Game 7 kind of a dream, having gone to a playoff game a couple of years ago, but he was up in a luxury box. He just hopes the pace of Wednesday’s Crosstown matchup doesn’t slow down his trip to the United Center.
“Hopefully we don’t do anything stupid like have an extra inning game or any rain delays tomorrow. Let’s keep our fingers crossed there,” said a once again smiling Konerko, who admitted he will be in full fan mode Wednesday night. “Just the way our seasons work out, you never really get a chance for that to happen.
“I’ll definitely take it in. I watch a lot of hockey, I watch tons of games in the offseason. I watch everything I can during the season. It’s something I’ve always been into. So, yeah, I’m looking forward to, I don’t know what to expect. It will be pretty cool.”
Konerko’s NHL connection runs so deep that he said Tuesday that he could name the Stanley Cup champion and the captain who lifted the cup for every year back to his days as a teenager.
“Yeah, I recognize the magnitude of it and how cool it is,” said Konerko of attending a Game 7. “You are always pulling for the guys on the team that had not won one. That’s a big thing in hockey, those guys are animals out there.
“You appreciate that they play hurt. They are really just one of a kind type of guys. You just respect that as a fellow kind of athlete or player in another sport. It doesn’t get lost on me the importance of what it means to those guys, where they come from and all that. It’s a huge deal, probably more than any other sport.”
Game 15: Sale sails through five
GLENDALE, Ariz. – Low-scoring pitchers’ battles are unusual bordering on unlikely in Arizona, but Monday’s 3-1 victory for the White Sox over the Rockies fit into that category. Here’s a look.
HOME RUN: It’s as rare to see a Cactus League complete game as it is to see a torrential downpour in the desert. But Chris Sale was on that pace Monday, needing just 32 pitches to complete three innings and 50 over five. He struck out two, didn’t issue a walk and allowed one run on three hits over five-plus innings and 58 pitches.
“He looked great,” said White Sox manager Robin Ventura of Sale. “He got it going and stretched it out today, going into the sixth. He feels good and looks fine.”
“Every time that I go out there, my goal in mind is throwing strikes and attacking the zone,” Sale said. “I didn’t walk anybody. So, that’s where I want to be.”
TRIPLE: Another Cactus League game, another long home run for Paul Konerko who served as the designated hitter Monday. Konerko now has five long balls and has been making solid contact since Day 1.
DOUBLE: Jared Mitchell finished 0-for-2 with a walk at the plate on Monday but showed off other parts of his skill-set. Mitchell swiped second in the second and then made a nice running catch against the left field wall to start the fourth on a blast by Eric Young. Mitchell won’t break camp with the White Sox but certainly has impressed with his Spring Training play.
SINGLE: Gordon Beckham knocked out two hits. Angel Sanchez, who started at shortstop, tripled, singled and scored a run.
STOLEN BASE: If you arrived late for this particular contest, you potentially missed a good portion of the action. The time of game was 2:13.
CALLED THIRD: Ramon Troncoso turned in another strong outing, with the veteran reliever finishing the victory via a scoreless ninth. It might be tough for the right-hander to crack the White Sox opening bullpen alignment, barring injury, but he gives the team another strong option if needed.
JUST A BIT OUTSIDE: The White Sox could have scored more than one run in the third if not for Jordan Danks getting picked off third by Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba with runners on first and third, nobody out and Adam Dunn at the plate. Dunn then gave Sale a chance for early postgame stretching, when the left-hander had to contort to catch Dunn’s throw on Todd Helton’s inning-ending grounder to first in the fifth.
Game 12: Rough day for the pitchers
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Saturday’s 11-9 victory for the Diamondbacks over the White Sox had the feel of Opening Day in Chicago, if only for that fact that game-time temperature was 50 degrees. Here’s a look at the action.
HOME RUN: Without even asking Paul Konerko, it’s safe to say that the White Sox captain won’t base anything on Cactus League results. But the fact remains that the first baseman has been hitting the ball hard through the first 13 games of action: including the exhibition with Team USA. He singled in his first at-bat Saturday, giving him seven straight at-bats with hits, and then after lining out to center, launched a three-run homer in the fifth. Konerko is hitting .409 to date.
TRIPLE: Jared Mitchell continues to impress this spring, adding a triple and single to his resume in Scottsdale and raising his average to .450. He also showed more signs of his great speed with a stolen base.
DOUBLE: For the White Sox to take off this season, they are going to need better production from Alexei Ramirez. It’s a fact Ramirez has talked about, despite having a pretty good season statistically in 2012, commensurate with his past production. Ramirez showed his run-producing ability with a two-run double in the second among his two hits.
SINGLE: Josh Bell continued his strong spring with a two-run homer off of Brandon McCarthy in the second. Jeff Keppinger added two hits, raising his average to .476.
STOLEN BASE: The “getting in my work” theory applied to Matt Thornton’s afternoon, as he allowed six runs on five hits over two-thirds of an inning. Thornton laughed about being lucky that the White Sox don’t face Arizona this season but even better news for the left-hander is that the game took place just 10 minutes from his family’s new home. After a rough day of work, it was at least a short ride back to the family.
CALLED THIRD: It was a rough day for the pitchers, but Hector Santiago pitched well over two scoreless innings. He struck out two, allowed two hits and walked two. Nestor Molina also had a solid day at the B Game loss to the Indians, throwing three scoreless innings with one strikeout.
JUST A BIT OUTSIDE: John Danks struggled during his second Cactus League start, but as Bill Murray once said in the movie Meatballs, it just doesn’t matter. Well, it matters because as Danks said, he never likes getting hit around. But right now the process is far more important than the results in Danks’ comeback from Aug. 6 arthroscopic shoulder surgery. Danks’ location just wasn’t there on Saturday.
“It just will take time for Johnny to get sharper and get that control you need to do it,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “He’s not happy with today either. You just keep working on it. I think he’s going to get it. Right now it’s just not there.
“He goes out and gets stronger each time. Again, it’s not what he wanted but we’re going to see what it looks like tomorrow and the next day and go from there.”
Game 5: The unbeaten streak continues
GLENDALE, Ariz. – Sure, it’s only Cactus League play, with individuals making major contributions who won’t be part of the Opening Day roster against pitchers who have the same slim chance. But after posting an 8-4 victory over the Rangers on Wednesday at Camelback Ranch, the White Sox are much happier to be unbeaten instead of winless.
“You like the way it is. It doesn’t matter which guys are playing on which day. Even though you mix it up, they kind of keep that flow going,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “And we’re pitching well too.
“For the most part, we’re getting guys going out there and limiting things and playing defense. Guys are going up swinging the bat, being aggressive.”
Here’s a deeper look at Wednesday’s victory.
HOME RUN: As hitting coach Jeff Manto and left fielder Dayan Viciedo told MLB.com, Viciedo’s new leg kick as part of his swing will be a work in progress. Ventura agrees, although he liked the two hits Viciedo knocked out on Wednesday.
“I don’t expect him to get it right away. But I think the timing of it and the things he was having problems with last year, it’ll help that,” said Ventura of Viciedo. “Just balance and seeing pitches. I think last year he got into a mode of he was swinging no matter what.
“The leg kick gives you a little more balance of pushing you back and getting recognition and going after it. It is a work in progress but I think having thrown BP to him and watching him, you see little steps that he has taken. It’s working with two strikes.”
TRIPLE: This much is certain through the early part of Spring Training: Keenyn Walker can run. He tripled among his two hits Wednesday, basically gliding around the bases.
DOUBLE: Let’s put Conor Gillaspie in this spot, since a double is the only hit he’s missing from reaching the cycle over his last two games. Gillaspie went deep off of Collin Balester in the sixth inning, adding to his triple and single from Tuesday. He has six RBIs in two games.
SINGLE: Jeff Keppinger doubled, walked and scored two runs after replacing Adam Dunn at designated hitter. Although he has not yet played the field, Keppinger’s hitting has not suffered from a sore right shoulder. Steve Tolleson had two hits, including a double, and Ramon Troncoso threw two scoreless innings in relief.
STOLEN BASE: No, Paul Konerko doesn’t get many of these. But his home run in the fifth inning against Robbie Ross was his 18th in Cactus League action since 2006.
CALLED THIRD: Simon Castro followed Nestor Molina’s lead on Tuesday, allowing one hit and one walk over three innings.
“I feel good right now with my mechanics and everything we do,” Castro said.
“You’re looking at maturity and just being able to compete at a different level,” said Ventura of Castro. “This year I think he has command and the confidence that comes with being another year into it and control.”
JUST A BIT OUTSIDE: It was a good news, bad news sort of afternoon for veteran reliever Jeff Gray. The good news was that he struck out the side in the sixth. The bad news is he also allowed three runs in the frame.
Game 3: Another Day, Another Tie
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Rick Hahn Cactus League era is starting to look just like the Chicago Blackhawks’ NHL record. Three games for the White Sox with Hahn as the new general manager, one win and two ties.
Monday’s deadlock was almost like a victory for the White Sox, who trailed 9-0 after three against the defending World Series champions from San Francisco. But the White Sox scored two in the sixth and seven in the eighth to forge the 9-9 break-even point. Here’s a look.
HOME RUN: It’s commonly believed that the White Sox will go as far as their pitching staff will take them. That statement means relievers as well as starters.
Late-inning relievers Matt Lindstrom, Jesse Crain and Nate Jones and closer Addison Reed combined to throw four innings and allow one hit while striking out five. Not a bad start.
TRIPLE: Brent Morel came into camp brimming with confidence, buoyed by a healthy back and knowledge of the on-field ability he possesses when he’s healthy. Monday’s effort continued to show that not taking Morel could be the White Sox toughest Spring Training decision. Morel lined a solid single to right off of Madison Bumgarner in the first and made a slick catch on Angel Pagan’s line drive in the bottom of the frame. Morel’s back also survived what has been described as a fairly hard infield at Scottsdale Stadium,
DOUBLE: This comeback was brought to White Sox fans by the organization’s Minor League system, albeit against Giants’ Minor Leaguers. Keenyn Walker and Josh Phegley had big hits in the seven-run eighth, setting up Seth Loman’s game-tying three-run clout off of Brett Bochy.
SINGLE: Paul Konerko knocked out two hits in three at-bats. Jared Mitchell tripled home two runs.
STOLEN BASE: Ok, Loman just turned 27 and has next to no chance to break camp with the White Sox. But give the young first baseman credit for his prodigious power. He has two homers in three games, and they’ve traveled an approximate combined distance of 900 feet. Monday’s blast hit the awning over the fan deck in right, beyond the bullpen.
CALLED THIRD: Neither Hector Santiago nor Andre Rienzo had the afternoon they wanted on the mound. That’s the somewhat bad news because after all, these statistics never make it to the back of baseball cards. It’s all about the work. The good news is they are ready to for their next trip to the mound, which for Rienzo, will be Saturday for Team Brazil in Japan at the World Baseball Classic.
Dunn appreciates praise, respect from Guillen
While Ozzie Guillen was holding court in his return to Chicago at Wrigley Field Tuesday night, Adam Dunn was getting ready to help the White Sox to another victory some 983 miles away at Fenway Park in Boston.
Guillen and Dunn have not spoken directly since Guillen’s White Sox managerial tenure came to an end after the 2011 season, although they have exchanged friendly messages through Austin Kearns, a good friend of the White Sox designated hitter and a current player for the Marlins manager. The two apparently don’t have to talk directly, though, for Guillen to express his profound respect for the affable veteran.
That effusive praise came through loud and clear during Guillen’s comments to the large group of assembled media in Chicago. Guillen spoke of the positive way which Dunn handled his forgettable debut with the White Sox in ’11 and added how happy he was for Dunn to find success in 2012.
Dunn, who is as laid back as a summer Sunday afternoon and seems to be truly enjoying this return to his previous norm as he promised during Spring Training, appreciated Guillen’s kind words.
“Absolutely it means something,” Dunn told MLB.com after singling, walking and stealing a base in the White Sox 7-5 victory over the Red Sox. “I talked to (Guillen) about it all the time. He did everything he could to help me out.
“Everything he did was to help me. He gave me every opportunity in the world. You know, I feel bad. I feel bad for that whole staff that was here. I know they took a whole bunch of (garbage) each and every day about it. You know, it means a lot: (Guillen) has been in baseball a long time.”
This high-profile free agent signing came in to the White Sox on a four-year, $56-million deal, as almost the centerpiece of the team’s “all-in” campaign. So with that scenario in mind, Dunn still puts the previous team’s problems upon his broad shoulders—including, in part, the strained relationship between Guillen and general manager Ken Williams.
“I’ll take it all,” Dunn said. “I feel like I’m responsible for all that more than anybody else. You know, it (stinks) how it went down but everybody now seems to be doing good.”
That 2011 campaign is a distant memory for Dunn, where he has been trying to keep it since the start of the 2012 season. With the Major League lead in homers at 28 and 65 RBIs to go with those homers, not to mention the 2012 season fast approaching the end of July, Dunn has every right to believe such an expectation would be followed.
Comments from Guillen’s Tuesday press conference put a positive spin on that rough year for Dunn. In fact, Dunn was put in the same category as Jim Thome and Paul Konerko by Guillen, which is the highest compliment in player comparison coming from Guillen.
“If there’s one player I have more respect for in the game than Thome, Konerko, I think Dunner is,” said Guillen to the large group of assembled media. “What Dunner went through last year, and he took it like a man. He was the same guy in the clubhouse and dugout every day.
“He just had a bad year. It takes a very strong man mentally to go through what he went through last year. I’m very happy for him and his family for what he’s doing right now, and he knows that.
“I’m not saying this about Dunner because I’m here,” Guillen said. “He knows how I feel about him and I’m very glad he’s having the season he’s having.”
White Sox need Dunn for division run
You know those bad dreams we all have from time to time, the one where someone evil is chasing or the one where college graduation never occurred because of sleeping through a class or two? Well, we all eventually wake up from those nightmares, breathe a sigh of relief or laugh at the absurdity and move on with our lives.
Now, try living those unwanted moments every day for almost four months, and you’ll have a greater understanding of Adam Dunn’s first season with the White Sox.
To Dunn’s credit, he has handled this most trying of situations with great class and dignity. No outbursts or hiding from the media. No sullen avoidances of his supportive teammates.
Dunn has been the same great clubhouse force everyone predicted when he agreed to a four-year, $56-million deal with the White Sox this past offseason. But nobody could have seen this disaster at the plate on the horizon.
Here’s the problem. This prolonged slump continues to cost the White Sox in games they simply can’t afford to lose. Take Monday’s 3-2 setback to the Yankees, as an example.
CC Sabathia struck out Dunn three times, raising his season’s strikeout total to 137. Dunn also slipped to 3-for-77 on the season against southpaws and just 21-for-159 in a home ballpark where it was thought he would flourish.
And with the game on the line in the sixth and the eighth, Dunn struck out both times and Sabathia knew he could get him. In the eighth, with none on, two outs and the Yankees clinging to a one-run lead, third baseman Eric Chavez came up to Sabathia and told him not to give in to Carlos Quentin because Dunn was on-deck, according to the Yankees ace.
“I mean, you know it’s there, and he’s just having a tough year,” said a respectful Sabathia of Dunn. “You don’t want to make mistakes, you don’t want to give in, you don’t want to get lazy and make a pitch that you’ll regret.
“He’s had a tough year. I know he hadn’t hit lefties really good this year, so like I said, I was just trying to make pitches and I ended up getting him in some tough spots.”
Quentin dropped a bloop single to center with two outs, but Dunn struck out on three pitches. As White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski pointed out, Sabathia aced Dunn with a 97 mph fastball, a 98 mph fastball and then an 84 mph slider. Even hitters going at their best have a tough time hitting one of the game’s top starters—especially through that sort of sequence.
With Paul Konerko out of action in this series opener due to a sore left knee/calf after being hit by an Andrew Miller fastball Sunday, Dunn had to face Sabathia. And with Alex Rios hitting fifth, struggling just as much as Dunn, there was no way in Ozzie Guillen’s estimation to drop Dunn from fourth in the order.
“What I have behind him is not better,” said Guillen in his pregame media chat. “Who, A.J.? When you look at A.J., he’s not hit good when we move him up, so we just leave him there where he is. (Gordon) Beckham struggles, (Brent) Morel is OK, but Morel is not a fifth hitter.
“Those guys are right where they are. They have to make it right. I think we set the lineup pretty well. Those guys gotta perform. They gotta do it for them.
“A lot of people say, ‘Well why you guys play this?’ Well, I want somebody else to send me the lineup,” Guillen said. “Send me the lineup, please, anybody, if I’m making the wrong lineup. No, I make the right lineup, we’re just not hitting. I’m going to play (Alejandro) De Aza against Sabathia and against (Jon) Lester? I think our lineup is good, it’s just not hitting.”
Support is there in full-force from Dunn’s teammates, as expressed by Gordon Beckham and Pierzynski following Monday’s loss. Pierzynski reiterated that they all hope Tuesday is the day Dunn takes off and hits 20 homers to carry this team over the final two months.
“I love Adam Dunn, on and off the field,” Pierzynski said. “Everyone’s been there. If you’ve ever played this game, you’ve struggled. This is not an easy game to play. It’s not something that you can go out there and say this or that and it works. It’s not football where you can get yelled and screamed it and it makes you play better.
“There’s only so much you can do. You’ve got to put the work in. He’s done that. He’s put the time in and he’s trying to make adjustments.”
Until those adjustments pay off in consistent offense, the boos will continue to cascade down upon Dunn’s broad shoulders at U.S. Cellular Field. Opposing pitchers will continue to target Dunn in potential game-changing situations, and the baseball nightmare will continue to be reality for the affable slugger.
“You just have to make sure that you’re going to make pitches, especially if you know that you’re going to not pitch around the guy, but not pitch in to him,” Sabathia said. “You better make sure that you make pitches to the guy you want to get out.”
“It’s not easy when people don’t seem like they are behind you, and I know it’s tough on him,” Beckham said. “Obviously he wants to do well, we want him to do well. I definitely wouldn’t be taking it like he’s been able to. He’s been upbeat the whole time but it still hasn’t come for him. There’s still time and I believe there’s still time. If he can just get going for us in any capacity, we have a good chance to win.”
Thomas on Dunn, Rios, Konerko and future
While Frank Thomas was rightfully basking in the glory of his statue being unveiled on Sunday at U.S. Cellular Field, the Big Hurt took the time to touch on a few other White Sox-related matters. Here’s a look at those topics.
ON ADAM DUNN’S STRUGGLES
“I’ve talked to Adam a lot. He’s a good guy, very, very good guy. He’s going through a tremendous slump. It’s part of the game. It won’t be his last slump if he continues to play this game a long time. But he’s never seen anything like it. No one else has. He’s going to come out of it, sooner or later. If it’s not this year, next year he’ll come out of it.”
ADVICE TO DUNN
“Adam is a different type of hitter than me. Adam is a long ball guy; he’s a monster home run guy. With me, I was happy to get a single, so when I was going through those slumps I didn’t mid punching the ball to right field or wherever else just to get a hit.
“I think he’s got to start doing a little bit of that. I told him the other day, ‘It’s OK to punch in a single every now and then. If they want to shift on you, punch the ball through the shortstop. There’s nothing wrong with it.’
“He’s having a lot of fun and he was happy to hear that the other day. I said, ‘You know what? Go up there and think about hitting three doubles and a home run will happen.’ He’s a good guy, he’s handled it well. He’s going to have a good future here.”
ON STRUGGLES OF FORMER BLUE JAYS’ TEAMMATE ALEX RIOS
“I spent a year and a half with Alex and I know what the guy is capable of doing. Right now, he’s fighting himself.
“For me, I would change that stance. We talked about it the other day. There’s nothing wrong with going in the cage and messing around with it.
“We saw one of the most successful players to ever play this game, Cal Ripken, he had a new stance every week. I told Alex, the bottom line is hitting the baseball. Go in the cage and figure something out. Get comfortable, because he’s not comfortable right now.”
ON PAUL KONERKO’S EXCELLENCE
“It’s great. Paulie has had a great last three years here. Some guys find it in their late 20s. Paulie is finding it in his mid-30s. Bottom line is he’s getting it done. He’s having fun and he’s comfortable. More power to him. If he keeps this up, he’s going to be out there on that concourse, too.”
ON THOMAS’ FUTURE IN BASEBALL
“Who knows? I’m not saying what I want to do or would like to do. Right now I’m just happy to be a part of this organization. It’s always great to come down and go into the locker room and see the guys.
“It just brings back so many memories. I can see the look in the guys’ eyes. I can see the guys who are doing well. I can look at the guys and tell who’s struggling. That’s just a part of my life. I like to come in and say hello and help guys out because we had older guys who came in and helped us out throughout my years.”
All things Konerko
Paul Konerko arrived at Camelback Ranch on Tuesday morning, when the full White Sox squad was scheduled to report. And as the elder statesman of the team, a player with good insight into all things baseball, the veteran of 12 years with the White Sox held court with the media for close to 14 minutes. Here’s a look at some of Konerko’s Spring Training commentary.
* On Alex Rios’ statement Monday labeling the White Sox as the team to beat in the American League Central:
“To me, you guys know me, the team to beat is the Twins.
Whoever wins the title from the year before is the champion until they get knocked off. What I think about what’s being said or what anybody thinks is irrelevant. We’ll get an answer 6 months from now. That’s how it is. It’s pretty black and white.
I don’t know how that came up with Alex. Maybe he didn’t mean it like that or maybe he was trying to be confident. But that’s fine. I am too. But it’s pretty simple. You go out and play the games every day and at the end of September there will be a champion in this division. There’s no need to talk about it up until then.
But the Twins deserve the respect. They earned it last year and had a great year. Until someone knocks them off, they are the team.”
* On having played 15 years with the White Sox at the end of this current three-year deal:
“I try not to think about things like that. I’m trying to think about what’s in front of me. You start having thoughts about that kind of stuff and it can kind of slow you down a little bit as far as being hungry. I just can’t do that. There will be a time when I’m done playing when I can sit there and tell everyone about how long I played in one place and how great it was and this and that.
But I feel any time I do that now, I’m taking away from what I’m personally going to do and it’s kind of selfish to my teammates to talk about my own things even if it’s good. It is nice. I’m proud of it.
As much as the World Series, being in the same place for a long time is probably second on the list. It takes a relationship with the team and decisions have to be made on both sides and everyone has to want that to happen in today’s business because it’s so easy to go in the other direction so many times and for them to do the same. I’m proud in that sense. But there will be a time when I’m done playing to talk about the good old days.”
* On what it feels like to be back:
“It feels like I never left, because I didn’t. It was a lot of unknowns and uncertainty with myself and the team a year ago. Now that I’m here it feels like just another normal year and there have been a lot of them in a row here. It feels like home, but yeah, it got a little dicey in the offseason.”
* On the potential of the potent White Sox lineup:
“You break down lineups and you look for some speed, some power, balance. It’s all right there. The bottom of the lineup, whoever we put down there is pretty formidable. We look like we’re probably, in the middle of the lineup, kind of one guy deeper than a lot of teams.
Maybe whoever is going to hit sixth for us would probably hit fifth for a lot of teams. It’s all there but as you know it’s on paper and doesn’t mean anything until you go out and do it. I know that’s clich but it’s true.
You have to go out and it all has to click together. We felt good about our lineup leaving here last year and we didn’t get it going so there is always work and an unknown about how things are going to transpire.
Last year the talk was that there was no big left-handed bat, there was no real DH. There was talk. This year there isn’t anything you can point a finger at and say we’re really deficient in that area so I guess that feels good.”
* On his White Sox tenure being over when the White Sox signed Adam Dunn:
“I wasn’t sure. I didn’t know what that meant because I knew that at that moment I hadn’t talked to the White Sox at all and I thought that this is a business and you have relationships with people and you don’t know how it’s going to end.
You would figure that maybe they would talk to me before, at least to talk about what I’m looking for and if it’s possible to work out a deal. But sometimes when your card is pulled you find out the hard way.
So I didn’t know which one it was. I think that day or the next day they let us know they still wanted to work something out. I felt good about that. It didn’t mean something was going to get done but I felt like there was hope still to come back so that was good.”
More to come from Konerko in today’s Spring Training coverage at whitesox.com.
mlblogsscottmerkin1
Recent Comments