Paul Henry Konerko was a first baseman who played in for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds and, for most of his career, the Chicago White Sox. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, to Henry and Elena Konerko, Paul is of Polish and Italian descent.

In the 1993 World Junior Championship, Paul manned third base for the US and hit .387 with a .613 slugging percentage, 9 runs and 11 RBI. He led the Silver Medal winners in RBI and home runs. He was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers with the 13th pick in the first round of the 1994 amateur draft. While at the MiLB level, he was the 1997 Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year of the Pacific Coast League and the 1997 MVP of the Pacific Coast League.

In 2004, he was awarded the Comeback Player of the Year, and in 2005, he was the 2005 ALCS MVP as his five HR and 15 RBI in the White Sox championship run led the team to a Word Series victory, the franchise's first since 1917. From 2006 to 2014 he served as the White Sox captain.

In 2016, Konerko's grand slam in Game 2 of the 2005 World Series was voted the best moment in the US Cellular Park's 25-year history, as it was deemed as an iconic moment in the breaking of the franchise's 88 year championship drought.

(excerpted from Baseball Almanac, BR Bullpen & Wikipedia)