Omission from ESPN poll irritates Konerko, White Sox.

Byline: Mark Gonzales

BALTIMORE _ Less than two years after winning a World Series title, the White Sox aren't even considered among the top four teams in Chicago included in an ESPN poll.

The Sox were omitted from an ESPN SportsNation poll that asked: "Which sports team do you most associate with Chicago?

Listed were the Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls and the rival Cubs.

First baseman Paul Konerko took exception to the Sox's omission during an interview Friday on ESPNews. When asked which team he would vote for, Konerko answered "Bears."

Any ESPN spokesman said there was no specific reason for leaving the Sox off the poll, adding the network asked Konerko for a guest interview. The poll conducted in each city, was limited to one team from the NBA, NHL, NFL and Major League Baseball.

The spokesman for the Bristol, Conn., based-company contended this wasn't a slight to the Sox and that the other cities face the same limitations in the poll.

It will be interesting to see how the Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Nets, Jets, Giants, Rangers and Islanders will react, to say nothing of the Dodgers, Angels, Lakers, Clippers, Ducks and Kings.

"I know they weren't happy when we swept the Red Sox in the (American League) Division Series in 2005, but this seems like a crazy way to get back at us," smiled Scott Reifert, the Sox's vice president of communications.

One is enough

Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was careful not to be overly critical of the relievers' inability to maintain leads for closer Bobby Jenks.

But Guillen maintained his reluctance to use Jenks before the ninth inning. Jenks blew a save and was saddled with a 5-4 loss in which he gave up the tying and go-ahead runs in the eighth in relief of Jon Garland on June 20.

"Hopefully, somebody out of the bullpen will help Bobby to get to the point," Guillen said. "That's been our problem all year, to get to Bobby."

Extra innings

Aaron Poreda, the Sox's first pick in the 2007 draft, is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Saturday and stay in the bullpen until he regains full strength.

Poreda was clocked at 97 m.p.h. in his last start for Advanced-Rookie Great Falls on June 28 but experienced tenderness in his left arm. He has struck out 10 in nine innings. ... Left-hander Andrew Sisco allowed eight runs on nine hits in one-third of an inning in Triple-A Charlotte's 11-3 loss at Columbus. ... The Sox have signed their first eight picks from the June amateur draft and are making a strong effort to sign 10th-round pick Brian Guinn, a shortstop from Berkeley (Calif.) High School who signed a letter-of-intent to play at Cal.

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(c) 2007, Chicago Tribune.

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