Paul Konerko’s omission from the starting lineup Saturday night was attributed more to the struggling first baseman’s 3-for-24 mark against Detroit’s Justin Verlander than his season-long hitting woes.
Furthermore, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen vowed to stick with Konerko despite growing clamor from outside the organization to bench him.
Guillen maintains many of the people who are criticizing Konerko now and calling for him to sit are the same people who were demanding general manager Ken Williams to sign him after the 2005 World Series championship or they wouldn’t come to the ballpark.
“Just be patient with Konerko,” Guillen said. “Hopefully he comes out of this problem, hopefully soon, and we’ll see what we have.”
Guillen said he was concerned more with Konerko’s body language and his tendency to internalize his slump.
“I’m not going to give up on him that easily,” Guillen said of Konerko, who is 11-for-50 (.220) since coming off the disabled list and has only 21 extra-base hits in 279 at-bats this season. “The only way I will sit him is if there’s body language I don’t like.”
Guillen said he planned to talk soon with Konerko “because we need his help on the field and we need his help in the dugout. I’m not going to put up with anybody feeling sorry for himself.”
Williams said he gave his support to Konerko at the team hotel after Friday’s game.
“It’s just getting back to the basics,” Williams said. “Heck, he hit .370 off fastballs last year. He needs to do what he does best. He took some cuts [Friday], actually the last few times out there, where I said, ‘OK, he’s close.'”
Guillen believes Konerko merely needs to quit putting extra pressure on himself.
“Start having fun because he’s not having fun right now,” Guillen said. “It’s only one day. [Sunday], he’ll be back in the lineup.”
