Paul Konerko

Paul Henry Konerko was born on March 5, 1976, in Providence, Rhode Island, to Henry “Hank” and Elena Konerko. Elena, who worked in the medical field, was the first nursing director for Mission of Mercy (MOM), a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization “dedicated to bring healing and wholeness to individuals in need through the practice of medicine.”1 Hank, who served as Paul’s agent when he signed his first professional baseball contract, was a business executive who served as CEO of MOM after previously working in the mining industry.2

Paul grew up in Connecticut in a hockey household. His father played hockey in high school and a little bit in college. Paul said, “When I moved to Arizona when I was 11, I was a far better hockey player than a baseball player. Out there [Connecticut] you’re playing hockey all year and you only get like three months for baseball and half of those games get rained out. When I got out here to Arizona it started to change because you play so much more out here.”3

“I got to go to spring training things. I didn’t have a favorite team, but I could go and my dad would take me. My brother played at a junior college in Arizona where the A’s were on the back field, and you could get right up close and see guys.”4

As a catcher for Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Konerko hit .556 with 18 doubles, 4 triples, 12 home runs, and 51 RBIs in just 94 at-bats while leading his team to the state championship.5 He was the 1994 Arizona High School Player of the Year and ranked the number-two high-school player by Baseball America.6 Konerko signed a letter of intent with Arizona State University, but when he was drafted in the first round of the 1994 amateur draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers, he opted to forgo college and turn pro. He signed for $900,0007 and was assigned to the Class-A short-season Yakima (Washington) Bears. In 67 games with the Bears, he hit .288 with six home runs to lead the team and he had 58 RBIs, which led the Northwest League.8

Konerko played for the San Bernardino (California) Spirit in 1995, helping them to their first playoff berth since their inaugural season in 1987.9 He hit four home runs in nine at-bats during the championship series and led the Spirit to the first-ever California League championship when they swept the San Jose Giants in three games.10 For the season, he hit .277 with 19 home runs and 77 RBIs. “I think I could have done a lot better,” Konerko said. “I didn’t really swing the bat that well overall.”11

The Dodgers moved Konerko to first base at the start of spring training in 1996. “The switch was purely for a medical reason,” catching coach Mike Scioscia said. “He showed a lot of problems with his hip flexibility, and we thought that long-range, it might be beneficial to move him to first.”12

“At first it was kind of a shock,” Konerko said. “You put so much time and effort into catching, and you think it’s all been wasted. I always loved catching. But if they say it’s my best chance of making it, that’s what I’ll do. They’ve been around a long time and know more about it than me.”13

Konerko started the 1996 season at Double-A San Antonio as the youngest player on the team. He got off to a strong start. By the middle of May he had eight home runs while the rest of the team combined for 14.14 As a result, he was named a starter in the Texas League All-Star game.15 He was reportedly “considered the best power-hitting prospect in the organization” and “putting on a show that scouts say defies belief.”16 For the season he hit 30 home runs.

Promoted to Triple-A Albuquerque for the 1997 season, Konerko spent time at third base and first base. He had a good first half and was named as a starter at third base for the Triple-A All-Star Game held in Des Moines, Iowa17 and a participant in the home run derby.18 In his 130 games at Albuquerque, Konerko hit .323 with 31 doubles, 97 runs, 37 home runs, and 127 RBIs. He was called up to the majors when rosters expanded on September 1. He was sent to the on-deck circle twice and called back twice before he finally pinch-hit in the eighth inning on September 8. He lined an opposite-field single off Dennis Cook of the Florida Marlins for his first hit and was happy that his mother was there to see it.19

Konerko was named the Pacific Coast League MVP20 and the 1997 Minor League Player of the Year by both Baseball America and Baseball Weekly.21 He was also named the Dodgers’ Minor League Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.22

Going into spring training in 1998, Konerko was 21 years old and considered the best hitting prospect in the organization, but he was a man without a position. The Dodgers had played him at first and third base while trying to keep his bat in the lineup, and during spring training they started to play him in the outfield. That spring he was named the number-2 overall prospect by Baseball America23 and the Dodgers decided he would start in the big leagues to bolster the bench that was miserable the previous season.

“Let’s face it, he can hit,” Dodgers manager Bill Russell said. “We’ll try to use him a lot as a pinch-hitter, get him some spot starts and use him as much as we can. If he’s just going to sit the bench then he would probably be better off going back down.”24 Konerko was 2-for-4 on Opening Day, but struggled and after 40 games was batting just .198 with three homers as late as June 23.

On July 4 Konerko was traded with Dennys Reyes to the Cincinnati Reds for reliever Jeff Shaw. Interim general manager Tommy Lasorda said the Dodgers had lost too many games because they did not have a quality closer. He said it was tough to trade Konerko, but the Reds insisted that they would not make the trade unless they received the rookie infielder. “I turned down seven teams asking for Konerko,” Lasorda said. “The one guy I wanted, I had to give up Konerko to get him.”25

Konerko had a slow start in Cincinnati and was sent down to Triple-A Indianapolis on July 29. Called back up in September, in 26 games for the Reds, he hit .219. On November 11, he was traded to the White Sox for Mike Cameron.26

In 1999 Konerko was the Opening Day designated hitter for the White Sox. He hit a two-run home run in the White Sox win. Konerko recalled that he was very tightly wound up all the time. He had a coach, Joe Nossek, who called him “Slash.” He asked, “Coach, why do you call me slash?’ Joe said, ‘Because you’re going to slash your wrists!’ He said, ‘Listen, I’m going to give you some advice,’ and this is probably the best advice with the game of baseball that I ever got, and he said, ‘This is a game you cannot play frustrated, but you can play it angry.’ From that point forward I found a reason to be angry every night.”27 One day manager Jerry Manuel came to him and asked him how he was doing. He said he was fine, and Manuel told him to ‘relax, you’re going to be here all year.’ Konerko said, “I was like OK it’s not going to be the end of the world if I go 0-for-4 and I started to relax.”

That season, Konerko hit his first career grand slam, on June 17 off reliever Jesse Orosco of the Baltimore Orioles, and had his first multi-homer game, against the New York Yankees.28 He finished the season hitting .294 with 24 home runs (second on the team) and 81 RBIs (third on the team).

In spring training 2000, Konerko was the starting first baseman but spent most of his time at third so they wouldn’t lose his bat during interleague games. One of his most memorable moments occurred on April 11 when he hit an inside-the-park home run in Tampa Bay. Upon sliding across home plate he dramatically smacked the plate while lying on the ground.29 The White Sox upset the Indians that season to win the division and stop Cleveland’s streak of five consecutive division titles. Konerko said, “The game is played on the field and not on paper. You can’t measure some things. You can’t measure how guys will gel or how they will pull for one another. Some things you can’t scout, and money has nothing to do with all that.”30 The White Sox were swept by Seattle in the Division Series with Konerko going hitless in all three games.

In 2001 Konerko had a strong season, leading the White Sox in home runs with 32 and finishing second in RBIs with 99. However, with several injuries, including losing Frank Thomas for almost the entire season, the White Sox struggled and ended up in third place.

The next season Konerko had a very good year and made his first All-Star team. He competed in the Home Run Derby, where he fell 7-6 in the semifinals to Jason Giambi. He went 2-for-2 in the game, tying an All-Star Game record with two doubles.31

The White Sox finished .500, good enough for second place in the division, but they missed the playoffs again. Konerko again finished the season second on the team (to Magglio Ordóñe) in home runs (27) and RBIs (104, the first of six seasons he drove in 100 or more runs). During the offseason, the White Sox and Konerko agreed to a three-year, $23 million contract extension.

In 2003 spring training began with questions about Konerko’s earlier criticism of Frank Thomas and team chemistry. In July 2002, when Thomas was benched because he wasn’t supporting his teammates, Konerko said, “It’s all about showing up for your teammates, being there whether you’re playing or you’re not playing, if you’re doing good or not doing good. That’s the one constant that has to be there every day.” He followed up by saying, “He’s probably mad at me. But it’s no big deal. We’ll be fine on Thursday.”32 Konerko was surprised that it was still being discussed. After Thomas sat down for a lengthy meeting with manager Jerry Manuel, it was reported that all of the issues were addressed.33

Konerko said that when it came to his career, it really comprised two halves, pre-May 2003 and after. He said he was hitting so poorly to start 2003 that he unfortunately got hitting coach Gary Ward fired. The White Sox then hired Greg Walker. Konerko said Walker looked at him hitting and told him, “I know what you got going on and I can fix it, but you have to 100 percent buy in and it may get worse before it gets better.”

Konerko responded, “Let’s do it, what do I have to lose?”34 He ended up batting .234, his worst batting average until his final season with the White Sox, and the team struggled into another second-place finish.

Konerko’s hitting improved in 2004. His batting average went up over 40 points to .277 and he finished tied for second in the league in home runs (41) and sixth in RBIs (a team-leading 117). He won The Sporting News’ Comeback Player of the Year, and received MVP votes for the first time in his career. The White Sox ended the season four games over .500, finished in second place, and missed the playoffs again.

The 2005 season started out strong with timely hitting and good pitching, leading the team to its best start since the 1959 “Go-Go” White Sox. The strong start was fueled by the other pieces of the team as both Konerko and Jermaine Dye were hitting under .200 and Frank Thomas missed the start of the season with an ankle injury. By mid-May, Dye and Konerko were hitting well and Thomas returned to the lineup. Konerko told reporters he liked hitting behind Thomas in the lineup – “no matter how he’s going – good or bad – the other team focuses on him a lot. Sometimes I get a good pitch to hit because it seems so much energy is (devoted) to him.”35 He was named a reserve to the All-Star team and with teammate Scott Podsednik winning the extra-man vote and pitchers Mark Buehrle and Jon Garland selected, the White Sox sent four to the All-Star Game for the first time since 1975.

In mid-August, Konerko had to sit out with a strained lower back. His first game back, he hit a home run off Randy Johnson. On September 24 the Cleveland Indians closed within 1½ games of the White Sox, who had led the division all season but had struggled lately. During the next day’s game, the crowd at US Cellular Field roared when the scoreboard posted that the Indians had lost their game. The White Sox responded by winning and clinched the division title four days later. The team finished the regular season with a 35-19 record in one-run games. Konerko hit 40 homers and drove in 100 runs, leading the White Sox with 13 more RBIs than the second-best Carl Everett.

In an interview in 2022, Konerko reflected on that year: “The team really came together as an eclectic group of characters. I just love that team from the standpoint of I was a power hitter but my mind is that of small ball really the historic, classic way to play the game. Moving guys over, hit-and-runs, bunts, I really dig that stuff, and that team was really good defensively and it always felt like any game [that was close] we felt like we were going to win that game.”36

The White Sox swept the defending champion Red Sox in the Division Series. They lost the first game of the Championship Series, 3-2, but bounced back to win the series four games to one over the Angels. Konerko hit two home runs, had seven RBIs, and was named the ALCS MVP. He said that with the great pitching they’d had, “really you can split that thing five ways. Those guys were unbelievable.”37

In Game Two of the World Series, Konerko had his signature moment as a player. With the White Sox trailing the Astros, 4-2, in the bottom of the seventh inning, he came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. He hit the first pitch from Chad Qualls over the left-field fence for a grand slam. “It’s the second-best feeling I had all week. I had a baby born Tuesday night. That’s first for the week,” Konerko said. “[The grand slam] is second. I wasn’t thinking home run. I was thinking base hit to drive in two runs. [Qualls is] nasty. I hadn’t taken a swing all night. I took one swing, and it was on that pitch.”38

When Orlando Palmiero hit a grounder to shortstop Juan Uribe and first baseman Konerko caught the throw in the ninth inning of Game Four, the White Sox won their first World Series since 1917. At the subsequent victory parade and rally in downtown Chicago, Konerko proudly declared, “Chicago, Second City no more,” and then he presented the ball from the final out to owner Jerry Reinsdorf.39

In multiple interviews, Konerko has stated, “I think about the World Series every day. It comes into my mind at some point every day, whether I bump into somebody on the golf course, or a song comes on the radio and it’s a big deal. It’s a life changing event.”40 “I felt like I was on my way to having a good career, but I don’t even know if I’m with the White Sox after [the season if there’s no Series win] and then if I finish out the same career statistically speaking, it never would have been the whole package if there was no World Series.”41 Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated named Konerko his choice for Sportsman of the Year, noting that he was “a grinder who plays every game as if he’s still trying to prove himself in the big leagues.”42

At the conclusion of the season, Konerko was a free agent. He was reportedly offered more money by both the Orioles and the Angels, but after the White Sox added a fifth year, he re-signed for $60 million. “He had a hard time turning down the chance to go back and try to win another championship in Chicago,” said his agent, Craig Landis. “He has loyalty to his teammates and to the fans there and feels very wanted, not just by the White Sox organization but by the whole city of Chicago. He felt that that could not be matched by other cities.”43

Konerko was named team captain in 2006 and had a strong start to the season. He was again named a reserve on the All-Star team and went 2-for-2 in the game before he was lifted for a pinch-runner. At the break, the White Sox were 26 games over .500 but still trailed Detroit by two games for the division lead. Konerko continued his strong performance in the second half and had a memorable game on August 8 when he hit a home run off closer Mariano Rivera to lead a comeback over the Yankees. The White Sox slumped in September and were passed by Minnesota for the wild card. On the final day of the season, the White Sox lost to Minnesota, which secured the division title. The White Sox finished 90-72 but ended up third in the division and missed the playoffs. Konerko finished the season with 35 home runs, 113 RBIs, and a career-best .313 batting average. In November the Arlington Heights Daily Herald of suburban Chicago said that he had struggled with back pain throughout the season and was focusing on new workouts during the offseason to try to help.44

Konerko had a slow start to 2007 although he picked it up in June. The White Sox struggled all season and finished in fourth place. Konerko finished hitting .259 with 31 home runs and 90 RBIs. During an interview in 2008 spring training, he said the 2007 team was the first truly bad team he had been on with the White Sox. However, with the offseason additions, he felt that the 2008 team was “solid and veteran like. We’re built right and we have the right people in the right spots.”45

Konerko battled with injuries throughout 2008, playing in his fewest games with the White Sox before his final season. A sore right hand kept him out of the lineup on May 1 and he struggled with it the entire season. It eventually got so sore that it was treated with a cortisone shot.46 On June 4 he hit a walk-off home run against the Royals in the 15th inning and said he felt like a rookie again, but on June 15 he strained a rib muscle during batting practice and had to go to the disabled list for the first time in his career. Teammate Nick Swisher said, “Losing him is a big hole for us to fill. Not only all the things that he’s capable of doing on the field, but all the things he brings to us in the locker room. He’s the king. He’s our leader. But I know regardless of whether he’s on the field, he’s going to help lead as best as he can.”47

After a rehab stint in early July, Konerko was reactivated on July 8. He was part of the record-tying back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs in a game on August 14 with Jim Thome, Alexei Ramirez, and Juan Uribe. However, he again missed time after he injured his knee on September 9. He came back a week later and got two hits in a win over the Yankees.

Despite Konerko’s struggles with injuries and .240 batting average, the White Sox finished the season tied for the division lead. In a one-game tiebreaker to decide the Central Division winner, they beat the Twins 1-0 and faced Tampa Bay in the Division Series. Konerko hit two solo home runs in the series against the Tampa Bay Rays but the White Sox lost three games to one.

The 2009 season was one of several milestones. On April 13 Konerko and Jermaine Dye hit back-to-back home runs. They were the 300th career home runs for both Dye and Konerko, the first time two players reached that milestone in the same game. On July 7 against the Indians, Konerko hit three home runs, including a grand slam, in a 10-6 win. He became only the 12th White Sox player with a three-home-run game.48 Then on August 19, he doubled in a run in the first inning and joined Frank Thomas and Luke Appling as the only White Sox with 1,000 RBIs. The team struggled during the season and at the end of August traded one of its best hitters, Jim Thome, and pitcher José Contreras, leaving Konerko as part of a rebuilding effort. The White Sox finished third. Konerko led the team with 28 home runs and 88 RBIs.

Konerko started 2010 strong and was leading the American League in home runs in May, but the team started slow and was in fourth place. He had to sit out a couple of games in early May because of his sore back. By June the team had climbed to third place but was almost 10 games back. On June 9 the White Sox started a run of 15 wins in 16 games. In a June 25 interview Konerko said, “A few weeks ago … it just wasn’t very fun around here. We’ve got smiles on our faces now. It’s fun again which is nice. The longer you can keep baseball from becoming a job, the better.”49 He was named to his fourth All-Star team.

On September 12 Konerko hit two home runs against Kansas City, giving him 362 for his career and moving him ahead of Joe DiMaggio. On the 16th, in the bottom of the first inning, he was hit in the face by Carl Pavano of the Twins. He refused to leave the game and in his next at-bat, in the third inning, he hit a home run – his third home run off Pavano in a two-month span. The White Sox missed the playoffs again, ending in second place, six games behind Minnesota. Konerko hit .312 with 39 home runs (second in the American League) and was sixth with 111 RBIs.

During the offseason Konerko heard that the White Sox had signed Adam Dunn and thought that they might not be re-signing him, but he received a three-year, $37 million extension. He expressed an optimistic outlook for 2011: “We certainly have what we need in every area, starters, bullpen, lineup […] It’s just a matter of coming together as a team and executing.”50 He had another good start to the season but the White Sox were struggling in fourth place. He made his fifth All-Star team and at the break had moved to the top four in the American League in batting average, home runs, and RBIs while the White Sox moved up to third place. After the break, Konerko struggled with floating bone fragments in his wrist and a knee injury after Andrew Miller hit him in the knee with a pitch at the end of July. The White Sox struggled without their captain and finished in third place.

On October 22, 2011, Konerko became the 27th member, and first local product, of the Arizona Fall League Hall of Fame and the number that he wore for the 1996 Sun City Solar Sox was retired. He said, “I’m probably also the first member of the Hall of Fame that came to games here as a kid.”51

After offseason wrist surgery, 2012 proved to be another very good year for Konerko. “The Chicago White Sox first baseman is in a hitting ‘zone,’” a newspaper commented.”52 In early June he was leading the American League with a .371 batting average. He was named to his sixth All-Star team; he had one at-bat and was hit by a pitch. After the break, he again had to deal with injuries and returned to the disabled list for the second time in his career. The White Sox played well that season and spent most of the year in first place although never more than 3½ games ahead. A late-season slump in which they lost 11 of their last 15 games put them in second place and they missed the playoffs again. Konerko finished with a .298 average.

In 2022 Konerko said, “The thing I’m probably most proud of in my career is 2010-2012. [The 2004 season] may have been my best year in terms of just being dangerous the whole year, I was right in the middle of my prime so you should be, but those last years – 2010-12 – I was an older player [….} I take most pride in those years because it was complete mental control. When you start waking up and you can’t get out of bed and your back aches you have to be mentally superior.”53

In 2013 Konerko struggled with a nagging back injury and ended up on the disabled list for the third time. In 2022 he said, “I got really good there in my mid-30s and had a resurgence for a while and it’s like shoot, am I one of those guys who plays until he’s 42 because it was becoming easier to me to play the game at 35-36 than 26 because I was better at what I was doing and I understood it better, but then right there in 2013 it just kind of hit a wall and then you just try to make do and do the best you can.”54

Konerko considered retiring after the season (his 15th with the White Sox) but decided to come back for one final season, knowing that he would have a limited role with José Abreu and Adam Dunn on the roster. He signed a one-year contract and told his teammates it would be his last. “In the arc of your career, if you want to be a great big leaguer, it includes a lot of things, like how to conduct yourself, after you’re there for a few years, how do you treat the young guys?” he said in 2022. “There are all these boxes along the way that the guys who do it right have to check off and one of those things is at the end, you have to let it go. You know that the whole time I was there the position of first base for the White Sox was just on loan to me, you know it wasn’t mine, I was just keeping it warm for the next guy.”55

Konerko ended up playing 81 games in that final season. On his last visit to each ballpark, that team would present him with a retirement gift. During the final homestand in Chicago, the White Sox unveiled a statue depicting his celebration after hitting the grand slam in the World Series. On his final day, there was a retirement ceremony on the field before the game started, and after the game he walked around the entire field waving and shaking hands with the fans who were still gathered to celebrate his career. Konerko finished with a career average of .279, 439 home runs, and 1,412 RBIs. After the season he was named the 2014 Roberto Clemente Award winner, recognizing his charitable work.

After retiring, Konerko went home to Arizona, where as of 2025 he lived with his wife, Jennifer, and three children, Nicholas, Owen, and Amelia. He became the assistant coach for his son’s baseball team where his friend and former teammate, JJ Putz, is the head coach.56

In 2015 the White Sox retired Konerko’s number 14. He said, “I always just wanted to be a good producing baseball player. I was not out after all the other stuff that came with it. It probably never even crossed my mind until the second half of the last year that, you know, I could get my number retired. I was always thinking that what I was doing was not enough.”57

In 2020 Konerko was on the ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame for the first time. “I was a big fan of the game growing up in terms of being a fan of the players and living on the East Coast, a Yankees fan and you just don’t think you’re in that group no matter what the numbers say.” He only received 2.5 percent of the vote and fell off the ballot after the first year. His former teammate Sean Casey summed it up after having Konerko on his podcast: “We talk to players who are friends and in the same community as him and everyone said [Konerko] thinks about baseball differently and at an advanced level. The word they used was he’s an artist in the batter’s box and in the batting cage. Paulie is probably the second-best hitter in White Sox history and 2.5 percent of the vote is a shame. The Veterans Committee needs to be calling.”58

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com. Thanks to Jeff Findley for helping shepherd this biography along.

Notes

1 https://www.amissionofmercy.org/about-us/#history, accessed December 24, 2024.

2 “Big Bear Mining Corp Announces the Addition of New Board Member, Hank Konerko, and the Addition of New CFO, Mike Schifsky,” https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/big-bear-mining-corp-announces-the-addition-of-new-board-member-hank-konerko-and-the-addition-of-new-cfo-mike-schifsky-112243529.html, accessed December 24, 2024.

3 Sean Casey and Rich Ciancimino, “Episode 53 Paul Konerko How I See the Game,” The Mayor’s Office with Sean Casey [Video Podcast]. February 2022.

4 Casey and Ciancimino.

5 Ken Daley, “Dodgers Draft Potential Power Hitter with Catcher,” Los Angeles Daily News, June 3, 1994.

6 James Curran, “Spirit’s Konerko Keeping Spirit Up Despite Slow Start,” San Bernardino County (California) Sun, April 19, 1995.

7 Ken Daley, “Myers Gives Dodgers Reason to Regret Their Choice in ’92,” Los Angeles Daily News, June 12, 1994.

8 Doug Padilla, “S.B. Will See Club’s Top Prospects,” San Bernardino County Sun, September 23, 1994. Curran, “Spirit’s Konerko Keeping Spirit Up Despite Slow Start.”

9 Lisa Renfro, “Konerko Can’t See His No. 1 Season,” San Bernardino County Sun, September 13, 1995.

10 James Curran, “Spirit Sweeps San Jose to Win Title,” San Bernardino County Sun, September 16, 1995.

11 Renfro.

12 Steve Dilbeck, “Dodgers’ Konerko Can Get to 1st Base,” San Bernardino County Sun, February 24, 1996.

13 Dilbeck, “Dodgers’ Konerko Can Get to 1st Base.”

14 Steve Dilbeck, “Alou Is the Glue That Binds Expos,” San Bernardino County Sun, May 16, 1996.

15 Danny Summers, “Stampede routed, faces elimination,” San Bernardino County Sun, June 13, 1996.

16 Bob Nightengale, “Piazza Works with Scioscia on Delivery,” Los Angeles Times, July 14, 1976: 14.

17 “Record Book, Minor Leagues,” Greenville (Ohio) Daily Advocate, June 28, 1997.

18 “Helton Wins Triple-A Homer Contest,” Logansport (Indiana) Pharos Tribune, July 9, 1997.

19 Andrew Baggarly, “Dodgers Pull Switcheroo on Marlins,” San Bernardino County Sun, September 9, 1997.

20 Jason Reid, “Konerko Ready for Rah-Rah Deal,” Los Angeles Times, September 5, 1997: 11.

21 Steve Springer, “Konerko to Wait, but Not Patiently,” Los Angeles Times, September 13,1997: 9.

22 Steve Dilbeck, “Next Up, Konerko,” San Bernardino County Sun, March 10, 1998.

23 Cary Osborne, “The Dodgers’ History in Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects List,” dodgers.mlblogs.com, February 21, 2015. https://dodgers.mlblogs.com/the-dodgers-history-in-baseball-america-s-top-100-prospects-list-6b34026d3a21.

24 Steve Dilbeck, “Konerko Gets His Shot,” San Bernardino County Sun, March 7, 1998.

25 “Dodgers Get Closer Shaw,” Annapolis Capital, July 5, 1998.

26 Teddy Greenstein, “Sox Ship Cameron to Reds; Konerko, 22, to Get Shot at First Base Job,” Chicago Tribune, November 12, 1988: 1.

27 Casey and Ciancimino, “Episode 53 Paul Konerko How I See the Game.”

28 David Ginsburg (Associated Press), “Morgan Makes 400th Start Memorable,” Tyrone (Pennsylvania) Daily Herald, July 30, 1999.

29 Associated Press, “Tigers Christen New Park with 5-2 Win,” Santa Cruz (California) Sentinel, April 12, 2000.

30 Associated Press, “October Calling: Who Will Answer?” Greenwood (South Carolina) Index Journal October 3, 2000.

31 “Baseball Today Stars,” Hays (Kansas) Daily News, July 10, 2002. Because the game ended in a tie, no MVP was named. See Fred Mitchell, “Konerko the Almost MVP,” Chicago Tribune, July10, 2002: 5.

32 Fred Mitchell, “Konerko Fires Away at Thomas,” Chicago Tribune, July 9, 2002.

33 Associated Press. “Thomas Hurting Opponents Again, Slugs Two More Homers,” Tyrone Daily Herald, March 12, 2003.

34 Casey and Ciancimino.

35 “White Sox Outlast the Royals,” Iola (Kansas) Register, June 21, 2005.

36 Casey and Ciancimino.

37 Rick Gano (Associated Press), “White Sox Armed for Success,” Indiana (Pennsylvania) Gazette, October 17, 2005.

38 Rick Gano, “Konerko’s Slam Sparks Chicago,” Indiana Gazette, October 24, 2005.

39 Tara Burghart, “Second City No More: Chicago Hails Sox,” Salina (Kansas) Journal, October 29, 2005.

40 Jenna Duddleston (host), “Episode 105 “White Sox Legend Paul Konerko,” Bar Talk with Jenna [Video Podcast], November 2022.

41 Jason Benetti and Len Kasper (hosts), “Season 2 Episode 2 Paul Konerko,” Sox Degrees, April 2022.

42 Tom Verducci, “Konerko True Team Player,” Chicago Tribune, November 9, 2005:10.

43 Rick Gano (Associated Press), “Konerko Stays with White Sox,” Indiana Gazette, December 1, 2005.

44 Scot Gregor, “Sox Trainer Schneider Having Busy Off-Season Healing Players for 2007,” Arlington Heights Daily Herald (Chicago), November 10, 2006.

45 Scot Gregor, “Konerko on 2007: Not Good, Not Fun,” Arlington Heights Daily Herald, March 6, 2008.

46 Scot Gregor, “A First for Konerko: Trip to Disabled List,” Arlington Heights Daily Herald, June 18, 2008.

47 Scot Gregor, “Sox (19 hits) Take Big Bite Out of Pirates’ Pitching,” Arlington Heights Daily Herald, June 18, 2008.

48 Harold Baines accomplished this twice.

49 Associated Press, “Konerko HR Lifts White Sox to Series Sweep over N.L. East-Leading Braves,” Greenwood Index Journal, June 25, 2010.

50 Associated Press. “Red or White? Pair of Sox Seem Set to Go,” Iola (Kansas) Daily American Republic, March 30, 2011.

51 “First Basemen Ryan Howard & Paul Konerko Elected to Arizona Fall League Hall of Fame,” Arizona Fall League News Release, August 12, 2011. https://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/first-basemen-ryan-howard-&-paul-konerko-elected-to-arizona-fall-league-hall-of-fame/n-4273401.

52 Gus Goodsport, “Supersport: Paul Konerko,” Greenwood Index Journal, July 9, 2012.

53 Casey and Ciancimino, “Episode 53 Paul Konerko How I See the Game.”

54 Duddleston, “Episode 105 “White Sox Legend Paul Konerko.”

55 Duddleston.

56 Daryl Van Schouwen, “Little League Dad Konerko Loving Life after White Sox,” Chicago Sun-Times, March 4, 2018. https://chicago.suntimes.com/2018/3/4/18367957/little-league-dad-konerko-loving-life-after-white-sox.

57 Duddleston.

58 Casey and Ciancimino.