Konerko gets relief for ailing hand
Paul Konerko can deal with all of the talk about his eroding skills and decline as a premier hitter.
"That's just part of being a big-leaguer,'' he said.
Konerko could no longer deal with the excruciating pain in his right hand and thumb, so the White Sox' first baseman had a cortisone shot Friday.
"It's one of those things where, when you get jammed, every hitter has to deal with pain, almost every hitter,'' Konerko said. "But the difference on this one is, if I have a bad at-bat where it gets in there, it's affecting future at-bats in that game. I'm scrambling the rest of the game. That's the way it's been.''
Konerko said he started feeling more pain than usual during an April 28 home game against Baltimore, when he was jammed three times by Orioles starter Daniel Cabrera.
The Sox' captain sat out a game two days later, but the pain resumed once he returned to the lineup. Konerko tried playing through it, but he clearly hasn't been the same.
"You always try to just be brave and go out of play, and I've been doing that,'' Konerko said. "I've had this before; every hitter has some sort of nagging bone bruise. But over the last three weeks it's been a situation where it's affecting the decisions I make at the plate. It's affecting my work.
"It's been affecting me every day. So it's at the point now where, let's just get it right. There's a lot of season left.''
Konerko is batting .212 overall, and he has no home runs and 4 RBI over his last 22 games. Konerko wasn't in the lineup Friday night against the Angels.
"His hand is starting to bother him a little bit more and it's starting to bother him mentally, too,'' manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Hopefully, with a couple of days off -- not off; I might use him as a pinch hitter -- but hopefully he gets better.''
Konerko is shooting for a Sunday or Monday return, but he's not going to push it.
"Basically, since the Baltimore game, it's been a struggle every day,'' Konerko said. "I'm at the point right now where I'm going to take as much time as I need to get it right because the team's doing good. We've got a good team.
"I can keep going out and playing, but I don't know if I can keep up what I've been doing the last three weeks for 115 more games. I just want to get this out of there enough; it's never going to go away, I understand that.
"I just need to get it to where when I get jammed or hit one off the end of the bat or hit one badly, it hurts but it's not affecting your subsequent at-bats. It's been at a point where it's actually affected my bad speed, or if I'm just taking dry swings, not even hitting a baseball, I'm feeling it.''