Konerko Delivers Speech; White Sox Deliver a Win

September 28, 2014 @ admin → No Comments

Sunday smorgasbord: The Paul Konerko era with the Chicago White Sox ends Sunday. It was celebrated Saturday. A sellout crowd at U.S. Cellular Field witnessed the slugging first baseman/designated hitter being honored by the ballclub that unveiled a statue and announced it would retire his No. 14. Konerko delivered — at the microphone with a pregame speech. At the plate? Not so much. He went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts as his batting average dropped to .210. As he no doubt would tell you, more important was the Sox winning 5-4 over the Kansas City Royals. Guess he is saving his farewell hit in his final at-bat for Sunday.

Video below of Marloes Horst, who has nothing to do with Paul Konerko.

* Speaking of Konerko’s final hit, rather than a homer, it ought to be an infield hit — just for fun and sense of irony for one of baseball’s slowest runners. During his career, Konerko did speed to the top of the list of ballplayers who were venerated for being a decent human being. Comforting to know how low the bar is for lauding people for behaving the way we expect most folks to.

* Speaking of Sunday, the Sox will be playing a meaningful game on the last day of the regular season. Its outcome, however, could affect the Royals, who still harbor hopes of winning the American League Central. A Royals victory and a Detroit loss to Minnesota would mean a tie for first in the American League Central and a playoff game Monday. A Royals victory also would mean the Sox finish 73-89. Meaning at worst, the Sox’ record will be no worse than the Cubs’. What an accomplishment. Or not.

* Speaking of won-lost records, the Cubs can finish 72-90 with a loss at Milwaukee. And this is what improvement looks like, Cubs fans. On the bright (?) side, the Cubs and Sox will combine to lose fewer than 200 games. Fewer than 190! How great is that?!! Uh, not very.

* Cubs rookie shortstop Javier Baez struck out only once in four at-bats in the team’s 2-1 loss at Milwaukee. Meaning he has 92 in 208 at-bats. and is batting .168. He strikes out 44 percent of the time. But look at all the great experience he has had with the big-league club. Experience is one thing; learning, it would seem, is quite another.

* Speaking of Cubs rookies, outfielder/infielder Arismendy Alcantara went 1-for-4 with three strikeouts to raise his batting average to .204 and his strikeout total in 90 in 274 at-bats (33 percent). Compared to Baez, Alcantara is a regular Rod Carew (for those old enough to recall one of the game’s great contact hitters). Different times, different demands. OK.

* You have to give credit to the Cubs regarding Baez and Alcantara. If the team had brought them up a few games earlier, each player might be in triple digits in strikeouts. Sheer genius.

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