South Side celebration: Sox retire Konerko's No. 14

The gate in center field swung open and Paul Konerko came strolling in Saturday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field.

It was a classic entrance, even if it felt a little awkward.

"I thought during the walk, how many times can I wave?" Konerko said. "I wanted to try to look natural, but that's like the least natural thing."

Konerko also wasn't crazy about being decked out in a dark suit, but all in all it was a fitting farewell ceremony on the South Side.

"I just want to thank everybody one last time," Konerko said after his retired uniform No. 14 was unveiled behind home plate.

Konerko - a White Sox legend for 16 seasons - did just that.

With the standing-room-only crowd chanting "Paulie, Paulie," Konerko thanked his family, former teammates, managers, hitting coaches, front-office personnel and chairman Jerry Reinsdorf. He also credited former bench coach Joe Nossek for teaching him that you can't play baseball frustrated but you can play it angry.

There was nothing but love from and for Konerko on a near perfect day at the Cell.

Parking lots at the Cell were packed four hours before the Sox played the Twins, and after some quality tailgating, the largest crowd of the season (38,714) crammed in for the retirement ceremony hosted by longtime broadcaster Ken "Hawk" Harrelson.

Before heading over to the Blackhawks-Ducks playoff game at the United Center, Konerko popped in on Harrelson and TV partner Steve Stone, he hit the radio booth, and he made it to the press box.

"I've never been on this (press) level," Konerko said. "I'm seeing all these things as a civilian now. You don't realize when you're playing how many people you're touching and how much it matters.

"This is a game; nothing happens on a baseball field that's going to cure people of diseases or cancer or anything, but there are times that you touch people with what you do out there and it really matters in their life and that helps them and it really matters in a human way.

"When you see that, that's when it hits home a lot more and it makes you understand, especially being out of the game now. I just had my head down playing for 20 years and I'm lifting it up for seven months and you realize, I affected people in a lot of ways, not all for the good, but a lot for the good, and it feels good."

Never one to seek the spotlight during his playing days, a relaxed Konerko seemed to enjoy every minute of his big day at the Cell. So did the many special guests who came to the ceremony.

"It means a lot," said Ozzie Guillen, who managed Konerko from 2004-11. "I think to be here, the reason I am who I am is because of No. 14. That guy he was outstanding; he made everybody around him play better. He made everybody around him better. This is a special day, not just for him but for me and my family also.

"This guy, he made our life very happy. He made our life very comfortable. He made me look good. That was the most important thing."

Greg Walker and Fremd High School graduate Mike Gellinger were Konerko's most influential hitting coaches, even if he wasn't the easiest pupil to deal with.

"I leaned on people more than the average guy that had a number retired," Konerko said. "It didn't come easy to me. At times I just used those guys a lot. I say used, that's synonymous with putting them through hell.

"They helped me to get to where I wanted to get, but I showed up for work every day and worked hard and they were there for me. Those guys figured stuff out for me."

Walker was the Sox' hitting coach from 2003-11.

"People have no idea how hard this guy worked," Walker said. "This cage right behind the dugout here, I've seen him take a million swings in there. People will watch the game and they don't realize what's going on back there during the game.

"I've seen him go back there during the game and change everything he's been doing up until that point and go out and hit a home run to win a game.

"He's a perfectionist in a tough game to be a perfectionist. He's brilliant. I've been a hitting coach for a long time up until this year and I never ran into anybody that could process information at gamespeed the way he could. If anybody else tried to copy that, they had no chance."

Without a doubt, the game is not the same without Konerko in uniform.

"It was nice to see your name up there," Konerko said. "You know it's going up there, and I had known it's been going up there for a while.

"But when you actually see it, a lot of things flash across your mind. A lot of work, a lot of things back when you're young in high school, in the minor leagues, you have those thoughts about stuff, a lot of the struggles to get to that. It was meaningful."