Paul Konerko hit his 400th career home run today, in Oakland. I remember when he began his career with the Dodgers. Like most young players, he struggled adjusting to major league pitching. The Dodgers must be kicking themselves to this day that they let that guy go. Konerko took over the reigns from Frank Thomas a few years ago, and his performance has rarely faltered. He leads by example, and by voice.

During spring, I would see him sitting with guys like Gordon Beckham, not counseling, just talking. At 36, Konerko knows what his role is with the Sox. He is there to supply offense, and to teach the young guys how to be big league players, on and off the field.

I know a lot of people are down on GM Ken Williams, but Williams was right on one thing: Konerko would/will make a great manager. Just the way he prepares himself on a daily basis is going to make him a highly successful MLB manager. The way Robin Ventura is going, it won’t be with the Sox.

The most impressive thing about Konerko’s 400th career bomb, was it came n the 9th inning with the Sox down by a run. The man is as clutch as it gets.

After seeing his 11 game hitting streak go by the boards, Alex Rios bounced back on Wednesday with another 3 hits. On April 16th, Rios was hitting .190. He is now hitting .340. Hitting .459 over the past 10 game helped him get over the early season blues. Rios is a type of player where the better he hits, the better he feels—mentally. A prolonged slump shuts him down, so it’s great to see him hitting so well.

So far the MVP of the Sox is hitting coach Jeff Manto.

Can the world get off Adam Dunn’s back? The man had, arguably, the worst season any big name free agent signee has ever had in 2011. I thought everyone was past that aberration. That is until I turned on “Jeopardy”, and saw this question.

You are big time if you make it as a question on “Jeopardy”.

When he’s on, he’s is ON. When Hector Santiago is off, he is awful. Today, the A’s torched the 1st year Sox closer to the tune of 5 hits, and 3 runs in a third of an inning. That inning was the 14th, when he turned in a 2 run lead into a 1 run loss. Young closers, not named Craig Kimbrel, usually struggle a bit before finding their footing. Tough day for the guy.

On a positive note, from the 6th through the 13th inning, 5 Sox pitchers held the A’s to 2 hits, and no runs.

Does anyone even pay attention to Alejandro De Aza? The man has hits in 8 of his past 10 games. He plays a solid center field too.

The Sox head home for 7 games. First off is four against the Boston Red Sox, followed by the Cleveland Indians for 3.

The Sox, Tigers and Indians sit atop the Central Division