Little League dad Konerko loving life after White Sox

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GLENDALE, Ariz. — The White Sox have Paul Konerko’s number. If they want to pair the Sox great and fan favorite with one of Konerko’s favorites, broadcasting great Ken Harrelson, he will drop what he’s doing and go to Chicago.

“I’m in, so when my phone rings, I’ll get on a plane and go out there for sure,’’ Konerko said Sunday. “I’m all in for it.’’

“Like everyone else, I am a big fan of the Hawk.”

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Harrelson, in his role as ambassador, will do about 20 TV games this season, including one with former Konerko teammate and friend A.J. Pierzynski. If Konerko’s day — should it happen — falls on a day when the Arizona youth baseball team coached by him and J.J. Putz has a game, Putz might have to run the club of 9-year-olds by himself.

Enjoying retirement after getting out of baseball following the 2014 season and having his

No. 14 retired in 2015, Konerko also is all-in as a coach alongside former teammate Putz, who plays “bad cop” to Konerko’s “good cop” as coaches of their boys’ team. Both were good cops at the Sox’ spring-training facility Sunday, showing a rambunctious bunch around the place. While taking a group picture with prized pitching prospect Michael Kopech, one shouted, “This is the greatest day of my life!”

The best part of Konerko’s life now, he said, is having more time for his kids, which is where the enjoyment of coaching comes in. He sounded like a thousand other coach/dads talking about his kid’s team.

“We’ve had some of them since they were 7 and have moved it over to a more competitive atmosphere,’’ he said. “Just seeing these kids where they were at 7 or 8 years old, just the light bulb is starting to go on. They’re getting to that age where I can talk some hitting with them and talk good baseball with them.’’

Konerko has always been fond of baseball’s old-school managers, and when asked who’s style he is taking after, he offered up, “Earl Weaver?” with a smile.

Is there a “Manager’s Corner” show in his future?

“Down the line maybe, but I don’t know,’’ he said. “All those years that I had coaches, you take for granted how much work coaches do. The equipment, the scheduling all that stuff is not easy — it’s almost a full-time job running these kids around.’’

As for the Sox, Konerko said he is high on Matt Davidson, noting that 40 homers and an All-Star season isn’t out of the question. He likes what he sees of the rebuilding program, especially with the state of the American League Central, and isn’t ruling out the Sox sneaking up on teams.

“I wouldn’t concede anything but you can see the pieces are there to build for the long term,’’ he said. “With the ages of these guys, where they’re at with the contracts, you don’t have to be a genius to see it’s all moving in the right direction. At some point they have to do it. They have everything. It will happen and will probably be a good team for a decent number of years. I know it’s painful, but it’s past that painful part. We’ll see what happens.’’

A 2005 Sox World Series hero who hit 439 career homers, Konerko, who turns 42 on Monday, looks fit enough to be playing but said he only misses the people he built relationships with in baseball, not the game itself.

“I played a long time and there was not much left I wanted to do, really nothing,’’ he said. “When you exit the game like that, I don’t ever look at a game on TV and say I wish I was out there. I got everything I wanted out of it and did what I wanted to do.’’

Follow me on Twitter @CST_soxvan.

Email: dvanschouwen@suntimes.com


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