White Sox captain receives adulation, gifts and statue in his official celebratory send-off
The White Sox nailed the tribute to Paul Konerko on their first try Saturday night. With a packed house, a strong guest lest only hampered by the air traffic control center sabotage, and video tributes* to cover the rest, Konerko received quite the farewell, and he reciprocated the love when it was his turn to speak.
In the center of it was Jerry Reinsdorf, who capped off the gift-giving portion with a true surprise -- introducing the fan who caught the World Series grand slam ball, who handed it over with no strings attached. The Sox also unveiled a statue of Konerko next to Frank Thomas' behind left field, and Reinsdorf said the Sox were retiring his number, but those were always a matter of "when," not "if.' Waiting to retire the number until next season gives Konerko a reason to come back to the park in 2015.
When Konerko finally took his turn to speak, he showed his trademark poise (didn't even have to collect himself), but he reined in his wordy and overly verbose tendencies while spreading thanks around, starting with the Royals and ending with the fans. The game almost started on time.
While Saturday night was the official goodbye -- with Andy Wilkins replacing him in the field to start the seventh inning -- Konerko will be in the lineup today, batting cleanup and playing first while Jose Abreu sits. I wouldn't mind seeing Konerko stay in the whole game this time, but it does set up a symbolic photo op should Robin Ventura replace Konerko with Abreu before the end of the game.
(*The presence of Juan Uribe drew the biggest visible reaction from Konerko. Uribe couldn't attend the ceremony in person because he's managing the Dodgers today.)
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