Sox united in admiration of Thome
The White Sox were collectively happy Jim Thome hit his 600th career home run Monday night in the Twins’ win over the Tigers.
On the flip side, there was some sadness that Thome didn’t hit the milestone homer when the Sox played in Minnesota the first weekend of August.
“I think deep down a lot of guys in here were hoping he’d do it against us in a game that didn’t matter just so we could be there to see it,” Paul Konerko said.
Thome played for the White Sox from 2006 through August of 2009 and had 134 home runs. He also hit his 500th career homer with the Sox on Sept. 16, 2007.
“I was happy for Jim,” A.J. Pierzynski said. “He’s one of the best teammates, one of the best guys, I’ve ever played with. It’s great. He’s a first ballot Hall of Fame guy and I wish him nothing but the best.
“I wish he would have done it against us; it would have been cool to congratulate him in person. But to see him do it in a place like Detroit where it’s hard to hit home runs, and hit them in back-to-back at-bats and to see his family come out was pretty darn cool.”
Thome is only the eighth player in major-league history to hit 600 home runs.
“This guy is a very special man in baseball,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “When you’re good at something people hate you, for whatever reason. Or somebody out there hates you or doesn’t like you or gets jealous. I think Jim Thome is one of the few people, few athletes, that everybody loves.”
Konerko still DH:Paul Konerko took some groundballs during batting practice Tuesday for the first time since being hit by a pitch on the side of the left knee during a July 31 game against the Red Sox.Konerko was the White Sox#146; designated hitter for the 12th straight game, with Adam Dunn returning to the lineup and playing first.While he wants to get back to playing defense, Konerko said his left leg is still not 100 percent.#147;It happened over two weeks ago, I would have hoped to be better by now,#148; Konerko said before extending his hitting streak to 12 games with a single in the first inning. #147;The more I pound on it, it hurts, yeah, but it gets weak quick. That#146;s the nerve kind of shutting down, from what I understand. It#146;s just a matter of trying to calm everything else around it. Obviously there#146;s a bone bruise and they#146;re just trying to get that out of there. The doctor told me the other day, when you have a nerve hit like that in those areas, it#146;s a full three-week process after the first three or four days of the swelling for it to kind of feel somewhat normal.#148;Zambrano to Sox?Carlos Zambrano#146;s future with the Cubs is in serious doubt after he landed on the disqualified list for his most recent discretion.Is a future trade in the works, possibly to the White Sox? General manager Kenny Williams is aware of tampering with a player under contract, but he didn#146;t completely rule out a future deal.#147;I can only speak for ourselves and right now, as I sit here, I don#146;t see a fit if that were to occur,#148; Williams said. #147;But I#146;m not allowed to speak on it anyway.#148;