Bob Cook

Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf views his players in much the same way Jacob viewed Joseph and his other 11 sons in the Biblical book of Genesis. Reinsdorf is fond of them all, but only one gets the coat of many colors.

For 15 years, that favorite son has been Frank Thomas, whose production and loyalty were rewarded with riches and perks other players could never receive. But Wednesday, Thomas lost that favorite-son status to another first baseman, World Series hero Paul Konerko.

Konerko signed a five-year, $60 million deal to stay with the White Sox after taking a look-see at a similar offer from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and an even bigger offer — $65 million over five years — from the Baltimore Orioles of Camden Yards.

In Chicago, Konerko’s return is being celebrated like Joseph’s after his brothers brought him back to the family farm after exile. However, it was clear from the start Konerko, like any good South Side Chicagoan, couldn’t bring himself to leave the area. General manager Kenny Williams’ stated Dec. 8 deadline for a deal wasn’t a threat so much as a gentle paternal reminder. It was the equivalent of a father requesting his son please take out the garbage before going to bed, even though the father knows full well his son always does it without being asked.

Konerko’s contract is one Reinsdorf wouldn’t have awarded to anyone else. Reinsdorf and Williams don’t like deals longer than four years, but they had to kick in an extra year for the 30-year-old (as of Opening Day) Konerko once the Angels and Orioles did.

And breaking the $10 million-a-year barrier is not something the Sox do lightly. The only other White Sox player to break $10 million was slugger (of baseballs and thermostats) Albert Belle in 1997 and 1998, a deal done mainly to give Thomas another big bat to protect him. Thomas would have made $10 million next year, except that the White Sox bought out his contract for $3.5 million to avoid paying such a high salary to an injury-riddled falling star who, overwhelmingly as a designated hitter, could only play in 88 games the past two seasons.

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With the acquisition of Jim Thome from Philadelphia — which is paying $4 million of Thome’s $12.5 million, keeping the Sox share at less than $10 million — there’s a good shot the White Sox don’t even sign Thomas next season. It’s Thomas’ father, not his brothers, taking away his coat and exiling him to baseball Egypt.

It’s not that Reinsdorf has some personal animus toward Thomas. It’s that Konerko delivered what Thomas couldn’t — a World Series title.

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Konerko hit .283 with a team-leading 40 home runs and 100 RBIs in the regular season, then added five home runs and 15 RBIs in the post-season, winning the AL Championship Series MVP, and hitting a seventh-inning grand slam in Game 2 of the World Series against Houston that turned a 4-2 deficit into a 6-4 lead, leading to a 7-6 White Sox victory. In between those events, he was with his wife for the birth of their first child.

If that wasn’t enough to win Reinsdorf’s Jacobian favor, Konerko has very publicly proved himself to be a loving son. Konerko, in front of an estimated 2 million fans cramming the west side of Chicago’s Loop for the White Sox victory celebration, handed Reinsdorf the ball that served as the final out in Chicago’s sweep over Houston. “Getting this ball from Paul Konerko is the most emotional moment of my life,” a teary-eyed Reinsdorf told the cheering crowd.

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