Paul Konerko: One Of Many Underrated Players In The Majors

   Paul konerko

AVG	HR	RBI	OBP
.305	25	76	.384

Paul Konerko, the name has been on the back of a Whitesox jersey for years  now. Is there any respect  for this man outside of Chicago?

      Those numbers are from the 2011 season alone, but are his career stats any different? Paul Konerko has quietly been one of the most consistent players in baseball for the last 12 years. Yet struggles to make all-star games with a .300 average and 25 HR at the break. 

     This blog could be about Paul Konerko or could be about how favored and unfair those east coast teams truly are. This guy is a career .280 hitter with nearly 400 HR, but instead of ESPN talking about him, they choose to talk about B.J Upton a guy who is hitting .225 at the moment. Why do guys like that get time on the air and players like Konerko get unseen? Paul Konerko lead the Whitesox to a World series in 2005 but it was quickly forgotten 6 months later at the start of the next season. 

     I am a Whitesox fan but this makes no difference in the matter that Paul Konerko is a great player and goes unseen throughout the majors. Konerko has been in the league for over 10 seasons and is still barely recognized, which in my mind is just unacceptable. The man has been the anchor in this Whitesox lineup and is just a real class-act. Class-acts such as Konerko just deserve so much more respect, like Jeter on the Yankees. Jeter is a Yankee yes, but he is a like-able guy. I respected the 3000 hits because as a fan of the game, you have to appreciate as a Yankee what Jeter accomplished. He day in and day out played on the biggest stage in baseball at a level that some players simply could not handle in pinstripes.

  

     I could just be fed up with the Bias approach to baseball in general with AL East, but something tells me that this is a very viable blog about a player who is not respected as he should be.

    

   

.305

25

76

.384

Clayton Kershaw: One Of Many Underrated Players In The Majors

Clayton Kershaw    

ERA	W-L	SO	WHIP
2.68	13-4	177	1.03

Los Angeles Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw works against the San Diego Padres in the first inning of a baseball game Monday, Aug. 1, 2011, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

        When a player has a stat line as impressive as Kershaw's, it is mind boggling that he doesn't get the same coverage as other pitchers such as Roy Halladay and CC Sabathia. 

      
       His arsenal consists of a 96 MPH fastball, 80 MPH curve with literally 12 inches of break downward and a slider that is rarely used but is still effective. The fastball and curve account for nearly 85% of his Pitch Count.

       After Monday's start Kershaw now has 4 complete games. Despite striking out a season low of 4 in Monday's start; Kershaw was able to pitch a complete game, and Maintain his National League's best 9.87 strikeout per 9 ratio. This season he has become my favorite pitcher to watch as well as the most exciting.