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Monday, March 31, 2014

Paul Konerko- Team Leader

How does a player earn the respect of his teammates as a leader? Simple- he puts the team first!!

Paul Konerko will not start for the White Sox on Monday. It will break a string of 15 straight opening day starts for Konerko, who is headed into his last season.

It seems pretty harsh-- but it is Konerko's idea.

"I just think it's the way it should be," Konerko said. "It's just not part of the blueprint of what we're going to do here. So, no emotion. Just what's right is right, and that's the way I see it. I mean, if there was a lefty throwing (Monday), I would probably play."



Chris Sale, who will get the opening-day start, said Konerko should be in the starting lineup Monday.
"I figured he would be out there," Sale said. "He's probably the only person in Chicago, maybe the country or the world that thinks he shouldn't be out there. I don't want to step on anyone's toes, but I think he should be out there. ... He has kind of earned that. But what he says goes."

"It's not an easy decision, but when you go over how you are going to do this and make this work ... (Konerko) made it very clear that this is what he signed up to do," manager Robin Ventura said before the team's light workout Sunday at U.S. Cellular Field.
"It's more of respect to him that you're not just going to put him out there to put him out there. He respects the game, he respects his teammates. ... He wanted this to happen this way ... because if he wasn't going to start 10 games in against the same guy (right-hander Ricky Nolasco), then he didn't want to do it on opening day."

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