Konerko Wins Final Vote, Selected for 5th Career All-Star Game

The third time was the charm for Chicago White Sox captain Paul Konerko on Thursday, as he was voted into his fifth All-Star game by the fans in MLB's "final vote" after coming up short in 2004 and 2010.

The White Sox organization launched a "PaulStar" promotional campaign between last Sunday's All-Star selection show and the "final vote" deadline Thursday afternoon, hoping to send their first baseman back to his native Arizona for the mid-season classic.

The organization flew a plane over U.S. Cellular Field and the city of Chicago during their pre-game practice on Wednesday which read, "PaulStar. Vote Konerko." The team also made T-shirts bearing the "PaulStar" slogan on them for fans to wear earlier in the week.

"It's nice and I appreciate everybody," said Konerko. "This was kind of cool because I had a bunch of people come out of the woodwork telling me they're voting for me and trying to do me a favor."

Konerko's 8.4 million votes sends him to the All-Star Game over other American League candidates, including Detroit's Victor Martinez, Kansas City's Alex Gordon, Baltimore's Adam Jones, and Tampa Bay's Ben Zobrist.

"My mom's probably a million of them," joked Konerko on Thursday.

He will join National League Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino as the "final vote" representatives on July 12 at Chase Field in Phoenix.