White Sox’s Konerko understands frustration, anger
Chris Sale kept his composure during Wednesday night’s dominant outing against the Houston Astros.
But the White Sox’ ace left-hander often has lost his temper this season, especially in Friday’s start against the Rangers at U.S. Cellular Field.
When he got to the dugout after pitching 7 innings against Texas and allowing 8 runs, Sale continually slammed his glove on the bench and punched a plastic cooler.
Seeing the display took Paul Konerko back to his younger days.
Konerko always used to lose his cool, and he said 17 is his record for smashing bats — in one game.
“When I was done breaking mine against the wall in the bat room (behind the dugout), I started breaking Jeff Abbott’s bats,” Konerko said. “Losing it, I’ve been guilty of that many times, and I know (Sale) has as well. It’s just a matter of trying to keep under control.”
Joe Nossek was on the Sox’ staff when Konerko came over in a trade from the Cincinnati Reds before the 1999 season, and the laid-back bench coach immediately noticed the anger issue.
“I remember Joe telling me you can play angry but you can’t play frustrated,” Konerko said. “I think that’s kind of the balance you’re looking for. Sometimes you are in a fit and it’s more of a frustration, and if you play with the frustration, that doesn’t fly.
“Sometimes being angry is a good thing out there. That’s the balance.
“Sometimes you don’t know which one you’re in. It’s better to be angry because you can’t play the game frustrated. You get frustrated in this game a lot.
“If you kind of turn that to being angry and doing it right, that’s OK. But when you lose it in the dugout, you’re frustrated. I’ve been there a million times; I’ve done it a million times. I’ve done it this week.”
If Sale can convert his frequent frustration into anger, he’s going to be really tough to beat.
“That’s what makes him great; he’s intense, and when a guy gets a hit off him or he gives up a couple runs he gets angry and a lot of times that leads to him shutting the other team down,” Konerko said.
Take a break:After starting the first 131 games of the season, Alexei Ramirez took a seat in the dugout Wednesday night.Leury Garcia played shortstop in place of Ramirez and was 0-for-2 with 2 walks, 2 runs scored, a stolen base and a sacrifice fly out of the leadoff spot.Garcia, acquired from the Rangers in the Alex Rios trade, gives the Sox their first legitimate backup shortstop since Angel Sanchez, who went down with a lower-back strain in early April before being outrighted in May.Gordon Beckham was a shortstop in college, but he doesn#146;t have the range to play the position at the major-league level.Ventura was asked if Ramirez would have gotten a day off earlier in the season if the White Sox had a backup shortstop.#147;I would say he would have gotten one,#148; Ventura said. #147;There are times where you could see he could use a day, where he was fatigued. The way he#146;s playing you give him a day, and with the day off (Thursday) it turns into two, so he can recharge.#148;