Paul Konerko’s personal farewell video to White Sox fans
By Mike Marteny
Next year is a thing that a lot of teams wait for at this time of year. Heck, some major league teams are waiting for next year by the All Star Break.
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The Chicago White Sox and their fans have not been waiting anxiously for next year. Next year means that Paul Konerko will no longer be on the field.
The longtime White Sox slugger announced his retirement earlier this season, and while he has not had the gifts and notoriety bestowed on him that Derek Jeter has had, he was still a huge part of Chicago Sports history for the last 16 years.
He was at first base for Mark Buehrle‘s perfect game. He was the 2005 ALCS MVP, and hit a homer in the World Series that year.
Konerko did not start with the White Sox. He was drafted 13th overall by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1994. He made his debut with the Dodgers in 1997. In 1998, he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in the deal for Jeff Shaw. After the 1998 season, Konerko was traded to the White Sox for Mike Cameron. And while Cameron was a decent player, Konerko may be a Hall of Famer.
All told, Konerko hit 432 home runs and drove in 1,383 runs with a .281 average in his 16 years in the Windy City, and he is thanking the fans.
Paul Konerko has always had a reputation of being a classy guy. His farewell video is no different.
It perfectly shows the internal struggle that any player walking away from the game he or she loves must feel. As a Twins fan, I have always had some sort of dislike for the Chicago White Sox, but I have always had respect for Paul Konerko. Both for his skills as a player, and for the person he is off the field.
Just because he is not getting lauded and worshipped around the league like Derek Jeter is doesn’t mean that he is any less deserving.
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