Playing favorites not a good move for White Sox
Veteran first baseman Paul Konerko may return to the Chicago White Sox to play another season.
It’s a nice story, and I think he’s fortunate that he’s even being asked back, but in my mind playing favorites is the type of move that losing organizations make.
It also denies someone else a roster spot.
There are rumblings that Adam Dunn, who was signed by former GM Kenny Williams, may be moved, which would free up the DH position for Konerko and give him more of a part-time role.
Remember when the White Sox had no problem letting pitcher Mark Buehrle walk away two years ago? This year Buehrle was 12-10 with a 4.15 ERA in 203.2 innings. (He has gone 25-23 since he left the White Sox, pitching 200-plus innings each season.)
The worst move Williams has made in a long time was to let Pierzynski go. The Sox had to play Tyler Flowers, who hit a whopping .195 with 10 home runs and 24 RBIs while A.J. hit .272 with 17 home runs and 70 RBI for Texas.
Konerko was only kept because owner Jerry Reinsdorf loves him. (You know, the World Series ball and admittedly Konerko is a great guy.)
If I polled the fans they would probably have said keep all three players, but at the very least Konerko would have been the easiest of the three to let go.
The fans were told the White Sox would rebuild. Well, if you’re rebuilding then do it all the way, and Konerko and others should find new homes.
But the White Sox play favorites, and that’s never a good thing.
NIU deserves BCS Bowl gameSo Northern Illinois is 10-0 and maybe on its way to a BCS bowl. They beat Ball State on Wednesday, 48-27, to remain undefeated at 10-0 and 6-0 in the MAC. With the new four-team playoff format coming next year, this is NIU#146;s last chance to let the nation know that its program is as good as any. But even with a win on national TV, they probably will never get the chance to play for the national championship, even if the NCAA goes to eight teams. Who knows if the 15th-ranked team would even get the chance down the line? To me, that is wrong from a thousand different ways. For this season, though, NIU quarterback Jordan Lynch and his guys just have to win every game and hope they get to a BCS bowl. The system has flaws; NIU is undefeated but Stanford is ranked ahead of them even with a loss to Utah because of the perception about the Pac-12 Conference. No matter what system we have, there will always be misconceptions about teams and conferences. Go get done it done NIU so you guys won#146;t be ignored.Program notes:I#146;ll be filling in today (Friday) from 6-9 p.m. on Fox Sports radio along with my regular schedule of 6-9 p.m. Saturdays and 9 p.m.-midnight Sundays on iHeart radio or Fox Sports radio. Follow me on Twitter @north2north.Listen to The Mike North Pregame Show from 10 a.m.-noon Sundays on WIND 560-AM The Answer.Ÿ Mike North#146;s column appears each Tuesday and Friday in the Daily Herald, and his video commentary can be found Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at dailyherald.com. For more, visit northtonorth.com.