What’s next for Konerko?

CHICAGO – What a week for Paul Konerko.

He was the MVP of the A.L. Championship Series, became a father for the first time, and Sunday night delivered a grand slam that sent U.S. Cellular Field into delirium.

Now he’s two wins away from celebrating a World Series title with the Chicago White Sox.

“Not too many times are you going to hit a grand slam in the World Series and that would be the second-best thing that happened all week,” Konerko said.

“I had a baby born Tuesday night. That’s first for the week. That one (grand slam) is second.”

His seventh inning bases-loaded shot gave Chicago a 6-4 lead Sunday. Rookie closer Bobby Jenks couldn’t hold it in the ninth, but Scott Podsednik sent the White Sox to Texas with a 2-0 lead with a ninth-inning homer for a 7-6 victory over the Houston Astros.

“He went all season, six months without hitting a home run. Now he’s got two in the postseason, a huge one right there,” Konerko said. “That’s as big a home run as you can ever hit.”

Konerko’s was a big one, too. It was the 18th grand slam in World Series history, the first for a White Sox player.

With the mist falling and their offense misfiring, the White Sox appeared headed to Texas all tied up, trailing by two runs.

Then came the seventh and it all changed. First, a disputed call. Then Konerko’s grand slam.

Jermaine Dye got hit with a pitch – or did he? That was the ruling, one disputed by Houston manager Phil Garner, that loaded the bases and set the stage for Konerko.

Konerko said even he couldn’t tell.

“Not from my angle, as I was on deck,” he said. “They argued that a little bit. It’s such a tough call for the umpire because if you don’t hear the wood sound, it sounds like hand. We’ll take it.”

Trailing 4-2, Juan Uribe’s second double, this one with one out, got it started. With two outs, Tadahito Iguchi worked Dan Wheeler for a walk and the fans at U.S. Cellular Field, many wearing rain slickers on a night more suited for football, began to sense a rally.

It got even louder as No. 3 hitter Dye, who’d homered in Game 1 and singled in the first inning Sunday night, came to the plate. Wheeler’s pitch came inside and the ruling was that Dye was hit with the pitch. Garner thought otherwise, insisting it hit his bat.

“I mean the umpire says you go to first, you are going to go to first,” Dye said. “I’m not going to tell him I fouled it off, so just go to first and hopefully we get a big hit, and we did.”

Astros catcher Brad Ausmus said he thought the ball hit Dye based on Dye’s reaction.

“The ump sees what, 225, 250 pitches a night and gets the great majority of them right,” Ausmus said. “But it’s not like his call scored any runs. They did that on their own.”

With the bases loaded, Garner came to the mound and sent Wheeler to the dugout. In came reliever Chad Qualls and up came Konerko.

One pitch was all it took.

Konerko’s drive to left was his fifth homer of the postseason and he pumped his fists as he rounded the bases, later stepping up in the dugout for a curtain call.

“I wasn’t thinking home run. I was thinking base hit to drive in two runs,” Konerko said. “He’s nasty. I hadn’t taken a swing all night. I took one swing all night and that was on that pitch.”

Konerko had trouble containing his emotions as he rounded the bases.

“Usually I try not to show that kind of stuff, but it just kind of comes on you. It’s one of those things that you never experience anything like it,” he said.