Paul Henry Konerko ( kə-NAIR-koh; born March 5, 1976) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a first baseman from 1997 to 2014, most prominently as a member of the Chicago White Sox, where he was a six-time American League All-Star and team captain for the 2005 World Series winning team. Konerko began his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds. In 2014, Konerko was named the recipient of the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award.
Born in Providence, Rhode Island, to Henry ("Hank") and Elena Konerko, Konerko is of Polish and Italian descent. At Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona, Konerko was named the Arizona Republic/Phoenix Gazette Player of the Year as a senior, after leading his team to a Class 4-A state championship. Konerko hit .558 in 1994, the school season record until Ike Davis, who later became a Major League first baseman, hit .559 in 2003. Konerko also held the school season record in doubles, with 18, until Davis hit 23 doubles in 2003. He also held the school career record in doubles (44), until Davis passed him with 48 doubles. As of 2014, he was the school's all-time leader in home runs and RBI. Konerko was ranked the #1 catcher in the nation during his senior year in high school.
He signed a letter of intent to play college baseball at Arizona State.
Los Angeles Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds
Konerko was drafted in the first round (13th overall) of the 1994 MLB draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Konerko had been on the radar of Eddie Bane, the special assistant to Dodgers general manager Fred Claire, since he was 13 years old.
On May 13, 1995, with the Single-A San Bernardino Spirit, he drove in the only run of a 21-inning game. It was the longest shutout in California League history.
Konerko played for the Triple-A Albuquerque Dukes for the majority of the 1997 season, batting .323 with 37 home runs and 127 RBI in 130 games. He is one of four Dodgers position players to have been twice selected for the Dodgers organization's "Minor League Player of the Year" award, along with Billy Ashley, Joc Pederson, and Gavin Lux.
On September 8, 1997, Konerko made his major league debut with the Dodgers against the Florida Marlins as a pinch hitter, hitting a single off Marlins pitcher Dennis Cook for his first career hit. He would finish with one hits in six at-bats with a walk in six major league games with the Dodgers to close out the season. In 1998, Konerko played in 49 games with the Dodgers, batting .215 with four home runs and 16 RBI.
On July 4, 1998, Konerko was traded along with left-handed pitcher Dennys Reyes to the Cincinnati Reds for All-Star closer Jeff Shaw. Konerko played 26 games with the Reds, batting .219 with three home runs and 13 RBI.
1999–2005: early years, World Series champion
On November 11, 1998, Konerko was traded by the Reds to the White Sox for Mike Cameron. Konerko became a consistent hitter and power threat upon his arrival to the White Sox, hitting for a .294 average with 24 home runs and 81 RBI in 142 games during his first season with Chicago in 1999.
In 2000, Konerko finished the season batting .298 with 21 home runs and 97 RBI in 143 games. The White Sox finished with a 95–67 record, and made the playoffs for the first time since 1993. Konerko made his first postseason appearance that year, when the White Sox lost to the Seattle Mariners in the 2000 American League Division Series (ALDS). The Mariners swept the series in three games, and in nine at-bats, Konerko did not record a hit. He got on base once via a walk.
Konerko continued to hit consistently in 2001, hitting .282 with 32 home runs and 99 RBI in 156 games, reaching the 30-homer plateau for the first time in his career. The next season, he reached 100 RBI for the first time, finishing with a .304 average, 27 home runs and 104 RBI in 151 games. This culminated in his first All-Star appearance at Miller Park, where he also participated in the Home Run Derby, hitting 12 home runs in the two rounds he appeared in. In the 2002 All-Star Game, Konerko hit a two-run double for the American League in the top of the seventh inning to grab the lead. Broadcasters Tim McCarver and Joe Buck stated that if the American League had won the game, Konerko would have been the MVP; however, the game ended in a tie and the MVP was not awarded.
Konerko suffered a thumb injury in 2003 that reduced his playing time to 137 games and resulted in a drop in offensive production. He finished the season batting just .234 with 18 home runs and 65 RBI.
In 2004, Konerko bounced back in a big way, eclipsing the 40 home run mark for the first time in his career. In 155 games, he hit .277 while setting career highs with 41 home runs and 117 RBI. Konerko finished 16th in the MVP voting that year as the White Sox finished second in the division to the Minnesota Twins.
In 2005, Konerko and the White Sox got off to a hot start with a 17–7 record at the end of April and never looked back. They became only the fifth team in Major League history to go wire-to-wire, staying in first place every day of the season, and the first team since the 1990 Cincinnati Reds to do so. Konerko finished the season batting .283 with 40 home runs, his second time hitting the mark, and 100 RBI in 158 games as the White Sox won the division for the first time since 2000.
Konerko continued hitting hot into the playoffs with a home run in Games 1 and 3 of the ALDS against the Boston Red Sox. With Konerko's help, the White Sox swept the defending champions in three games to move on to their first ALCS since 1993. The White Sox defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the American League Championship Series (ALCS). After going 0-for-4 in Game 1 and 1-for-4 in Game 2, Konerko went 3-for-4 with three RBI in the Game 3 against the Angels. Two of the RBIs came from a home run in the first inning. In Game 4, Konerko was 1-for-4 with 3 RBI on another first inning home run, the second in as many nights. His Game 4 home run set a franchise record for most home runs in a postseason and all-time with his fourth career postseason home run, passing Ted Kluszewski's three home runs in the 1959 World Series. In Game 5, Konerko went 1-for-5 with another RBI. He was named the ALCS MVP on the strength of a .268 batting average, two home runs and seven RBI, becoming the first, and as of the 2025 season, only White Sox player to receive the award. He said, "I think you could split this four ways," referring to his feeling that the MVP should be awarded to the White Sox starting pitchers who pitched four consecutive complete games in the ALCS.
In Game 2 of the 2005 World Series, Konerko hit the first grand slam in White Sox World Series history to put the White Sox ahead 6–4. It was also the first grand slam in postseason history to give a team the lead when trailing in the seventh inning or later. He became the 18th player in Major League history to hit a grand slam in the World Series and the first since Tino Martinez in 1998. Those were Konerko's only RBIs of the World Series, but they were critical in giving the White Sox the momentum to complete a four-game sweep of the Houston Astros. His RBI total was also the highest on the White Sox during the series. Konerko caught the final out for every one of the series-clinching games throughout the playoffs. Konerko hit .265 with five home runs and 15 RBI during the White Sox' championship run, all White Sox postseason records.