Rozner: For Konerko, farewell just about perfect

There are a lot of ways to leave a city in which an athlete is beloved.

But few go out on top, many depart with acrimony and some have to be tossed kicking and screaming.

Derek Jeter is one of the greatest Yankees of all time, and now both he and the club have been criticized for everything from his spot in the batting order to his spot on billboards.

There seems to be almost nothing that will satisfy the masses — or the critics.

Then, there is Paul Konerko, the man who asked for nothing but a chance to say goodbye to a few friends.

He didn't ask for money. He didn't ask for playing time. He didn't ask for a rocking chair. All he wanted was to be with his teammates one last time.

Last season, while all assumed it was the end, Konerko wasn't so sure. Turns out, he decided one more baseball season would give him the chance to say so long to a game that has been so good to him.

The same should be said of Konerko.

Arriving in Chicago with less-than-great expectations, Konerko has merely been one of the best hitters in the history of Chicago, and easily a top two or three in the history of the White Sox.

He will retire fourth in franchise rankings in runs, third in hits, second in games played, second in RBI, second in home runs, first in total bases and first in World Series grand slams that fans will never forget.

Konerko has been one of the game's best and most consistent hitters for the last 15 years, and yet mostly ignored by the national media and highlight shows.

“I never cared about any of that,” Konerko says. “I'm grateful for my career and the chance to play. I love to play. I love the clubhouse. I love all of it, the getting ready for a game, being with teammates and the battles with pitchers. That's what I cared about.”

So simple, so thoughtful.

Actually, thoughtful doesn't begin to describe a conversation with Konerko. Sure, he was great for the media before and after games, but if you wanted a real discussion with Konerko about anything, he was engaged from the start.

Want to talk hitting? Approach? Preparation? Then be prepared for an answer you probably wouldn't get from another major-league player.

We once had a conversation comparing the arc and impact point of a baseball swing vs. a golf swing and shooting a hockey puck. Well, after 15 minutes, it wasn't so much a conversation as a lecture about skipping rocks.

Jake Peavy called him the smartest player he'd ever been around.

“Hitters and pitchers kind of speak a different language,” Peavy said. “But Paul helps you see things through the eyes of a hitter. There's so much knowledge there. There's no doubt in my mind he could coach or manage and be great.”

That's unlikely as Konerko will focus on his family and new adventures, and his clubhouse presence will leave a massive hole. He was a genius at sending messages through words to teammates or comments to the media, constantly looking for a way to communicate.

Always fascinating was his attempt to lend perspective to a game or a series, a week or a month, even though his sound bite was not ideal for those doing a drive-by at his locker in a postgame scrum.

Even now, he downplays the end of his career.

“Players come and go and they're always replaced, just as I replaced someone and I will be replaced,” Konerko said. “I'm really glad I got to play here and I got to win here.”

Konerko will be remembered most for his grand slam or saving the World Series-winning ball and handing it to Jerry Reinsdorf at the parade, but he could just as easily be remembered as the consummate professional, a class act who cared about representing his uniform and his game at all times, a brilliant hitter who sought perfection at the plate, knowing it was at best fleeting and at worst impossible.

He has four games remaining at home beginning Thursday, and a ceremony Saturday night when the Sox will honor their captain. It won't be the stuff of Derek Jeter, but Konerko would never sit long enough for that anyway.

He's not the greatest player ever and he's not going to the Hall of Fame, but so much about him is what's great about baseball, and the way he has gone about it would make your mother proud.

So Konerko leaves the way he came in, quietly and without fanfare. He leaves respecting the game and being treated with the respect he earned through hard work and dedication to being the best he could possibly be.

And as he rides off into the sunset, he leaves knowing he got the most of the gifts he was given, having left nothing on the table and all of it on the field.

He leaves with his dignity, nearly ignored by baseball but entirely loved by White Sox fans.

Except for the chance to finish on a baseball field in October, it's just the way he wanted it.

For Paul Konerko, as it's been for precious few others, it's a nearly perfect ending.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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