Wednesday June.20/2012

Paul Konerko is having his best season ever so far, can he keep his White Sox in contention all year and challenge for the batting title? Photo courtesy of beyonderstv.com

Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)-  Paul Konerko is a professional hitter.  One day he will have his number retired from the Chicago White Sox at US Cellular Field.  Drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers 13th overall in the Amateur 1994 Draft, the 6 foot 2 slugger had lofty expectations by the time he made the Major Leagues.  For the Albuquerque Isotopes in 1997, he hit .323 with 37 HRs and 127 RBI.  The Dodgers ended up trading Konerko to Cincinnati  for Jeff Shaw in 1998.  The Reds then turned around and traded the man from Rhode Island to the Chicago White Sox for Mike Cameron.

Paul Konerko in his early days with the LA Dodgers, the team decided to trade him because they already had Eric Karros. Photo courtesy of bleacherreport.com

There may be no more underrated player in the MLB over the last 14 years.  All that Konerko has done is hit 402 HRs with the Chicago White Sox in that span and plated 1270 RBI.  He currently sits 2nd all time in both categories on the club for the all time list, trailing only Frank Thomas .   At age 36, Konerko seems to become better at the plate each year.  He has hit .300 and clubbed 30 HRs and 100 RBI in both 2010 and 2011.  If he keeps up this years pace, he will do it again, but this time he may challenge for an average title and possibly an AL MVP.

Paul Konerko enters today’s action with an AL Best .357 AVG and a .431 OBP-in leading the team to a 35-33 start, which trails the Cleveland Indians by just a half game.  The team had started off slow before Konerko went absolutely beserk in May and had raised his average to .399 at one point during his torrid streak.  To date this year, he has hit 13 HRs and added 38 RBI.  In my opinion, he will be selected to his 6th all-time ALL-star game in Kansas City next month when they unveil the roster.  Now Konerko still has a chance to catch Prince Fielder with the fan voting with only being a few hundred thousand votes behind the Tigers 1st baseman.

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