Gordon Beckham Wants To Protect Paul Konerko And Make Money

This is actually a statue that Paulie keeps in front of his house. So lifelike.

Honestly, in all my life playing baseball, I'm not sure I ever fouled a ball off of my ankle or knee. My foot, yes, but if I ever got anything higher I sure don't remember it. When watching an MLB game, though, it seems to happen at least once in every contest.

Which is why batters seem to have as much armor on them as a tank when they step to the plate. And being the entrepenuer that he is, Gordon Beckham sees an opportunity to make some money off if it.

His first sucker customer is teammate Paul Konerko, who was wearing a special wrap around his ankle this weekend for a custom made ankle guard he'll be getting from a company Beckham owns a stake in.

"Paul is all about fit and is so (thorough) about it," Beckham told the Chicago Tribune. "It has to be perfect. It's a custom molding thing that's really comfortable. He was worried about the protection. The technology disperses energy better than anything else out there, that's why I think he's going to like it, especially once he gets one hit off his ankle or wherever it is."

I love Gordon showing off his physics knowledge and talking about energy dispersing. I'm sure the White Sox clubhouse is a veritable Ivy League school when it comes to discussion amongst the players.

Anyway, Beckham has worn the equipment since 2008 when he was still at Georgia and swears by it.

As for Konerko, whatever it takes to keep him healthy, I'm all for it. He seems to foul the ball off himself more than anybody on the team, and it's cost him games before. On Saturday Paulie fouled a ball off his left knee and spent the rest of the day walking around gingerly.

So if this ankle guard works and can keep him healthy and playing every day, then I hope Gordon becomes a millionaire selling the stuff to everybody on the team.