Chicago White Sox: Is Paul Konerko a Hall of Famer?

The Chicago White Sox have to be wondering whether or not #14 will ever be called to get into the Hall of Fame. Let’s decide if he should get the call.

With all of the Hall of Fame stuff going on this weekend, the Chicago White Sox are somewhat involved because of the fact the Harold Baines is one of the inductees. He had a great career, but was it better than the career of former White Sox slugger Paul Konerko?

I believe Paulie should be in the Hall of fame for a few different reasons. For one, he played in an era where most of the best players were caught using some form of performance-enhancing drugs. Konerko never did such a thing, at least it feels apparent that he didn’t. His stats would probably be slightly better had he done something illegal and made himself look like a guy who should be in no problem.

He has 439 career home runs, which is a lot for the steroid era from a guy who simply didn’t. Paul would be well over 500 if he did. He also has 1412 RBIs and a slash line of .279/.354/.486. These are really good numbers from a guy who was just a really good hitter for this team for a long time. He also has a few career accolades to go along with these numbers.

He was a six-time all-star during his 18-year career, a 2005 World Series Champion, and the MVP of the 2005 American League Championship Series. It was a great career for a guy who flew under the radar throughout his career. He retired as the second-leading home run hitter in the history of the Chicago White Sox. Frank Thomas is ahead of him and Harold Baines is right behind him, both are now in the Hall of Fame. They have Paul’s number 14 retired and a statue of him at Guaranteed Rate Field to honor his name forever.

Those who didn’t watch Konerko all that much might not realize how important he is to this organization, but those of us that did watch him know. It would be a true thrill as a White Sox fan to see him be a Hall of Fame first baseman someday.