We've seen a lot of farewell tours around baseball the last few years, so much so that the New York Post's Ken Davidoff learned enough to formulate a gift guide of what works and what doesn't.
He put that together with Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera in mind, and Paul Konerko doesn't quite rise to that level. His last circuit has been a modest affair, which makes it more meaningful, pound for pound. If teams like the Cubs and Yankees want to salute Konerko, that's really cool, but the other clubs with no connection to him didn't have to manufacture one for the sake of fitting in.
Now that we're getting to the final month of the season, however, we're going to see ceremonies on a more regular basis. It started with the Minnesota Twins, as Joe Mauer, Glen Perkins and Ron Gardenhire joined Konerko on the field before Wednesday's game for a salute...
... and that carries plenty of significance. As Konerko put it:
"The Central means a lot more," Konerko said. "That’s not to take away from the other places, but I’ll always be an American League guy and an American League Central guy. There have been a lot of battles against the Twins over the years and a lot of games against Joe and Perk, so it was nice those two guys were out there.
The imbalanced schedule has its flaws, especially with the expanded playoff format, but one of the benefits is a familiarity with longtime foes. That usually translates into contempt -- especially when it comes to undercard players like your Ryan Raburns or your Jason Kubels -- but the more enduring figures can usually reshape some of that into grudging respect.
Konerko just might be the quintessential divisional rival, mixing staying power (16 seasons) with a Hall of Very Good career (439 homers, 2,338 hits). He's not exciting enough to make waves nationally outside of the World Series, but the teams who see him 18 or 19 times a year know exactly what he's done.
Minnesota is loaded with meaning, because Konerko has played in 256 games against the Twins, which is the most of any opponent. That number is split down the middle between home and road, which means Konerko can qualify for a single-season batting title with his playing time in Minnesota alone.
Split | G | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Metrodome | 91 | 362 | 84 | 9 | 1 | 16 | 36 | 24 | 49 | .254 | .307 | .432 | .739 |
Target Field | 37 | 150 | 43 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 23 | 15 | 17 | .326 | .400 | .500 | .900 |
Total | 128 | 512 | 127 | 14 | 1 | 22 | 59 | 39 | 66 | .274 | .334 | .451 | .785 |
It makes sense that the Twins would honor him before his last game in Minnesota, and they knew who they were dealing with:
"We had to recognize him," Mauer said. "We talked about it this year. We wanted to do something special for him. I know (Derek) Jeter, it’s his last year and he’s getting a lot of recognition across the league, but I think Paul Konerko is as much deserving as Jeter. We wanted to show him that he’s doing things the right way and he’s had a great career and we definitely appreciate what he has done for the game."
They didn't go nuts with it -- a bottle of wine and a check for Konerko's charity -- but it fit the occasion, as did the inscription:
.@Twins Thanks for the awesome tribute! #class #PK14 pic.twitter.com/yrkb2znuRW
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) September 4, 2014
That's an AL Central move for an AL Central guy. And as luck would have it, the Sox play the other three Central teams on the road in September:
- Cleveland: Sept. 5-7
- Kansas City: Sept. 15-17
- Detroit: Sept. 22-24
It hasn't been a lot of fun watching Konerko the last two years, his return made it difficult to shape an effective roster, and I've griped about it as much as anybody. But now that rosters have expanded and the Sox cleared out other players who aren't in their long-term plans, it's easier to appreciate the closing of an important career. And it's nice to see fierce rivals tip their caps as well.
Speaking of Konerko, the White Sox set their tribute for Sept. 27, with what figures to be a whopper of a pregame ceremony prior to the 6:10 p.m. start. That's the culmination of a month full of Konerko-devoted events and promotions, which are listed on whitesox.com.