A. J. Pierzynski

Hi!

Long time Angels fan here. I saw A. J. Pierzynski announcing and I had this instinct in and I was thinking, "I don't like that guy,"

Weird, I know.

Did he do something to the beloved Angels that I have simply forgotten or blocked out of my memory?

Thanks!

Lefty hitting catcher. Fan favorite, of sorts lol.

Maybe not a 99 but he did win a silver slugger award and is a 2x all star.

What say you?

Did you know that has a podcast? Because I absolutely did not, until asked me to be on it a few weeks ago. Anywho, if you want to hear me talk about the series you're reading right now, you 100% can! Just go .

Honestly, it's shit like that (and...I guess this?) that make me love subreddits like so damn much. It's just a bunch of chuckleheads who love a thing, sitting around their computer and making content they find interesting, in the hopes that some other well-meaning chuckleheads will find it interesting too. The things that bring us together in this big, stupid world are pretty cool. So you're all pretty cool too, is I guess what I'm saying here.

ENOUGH OF THAT, let's talk about...

A.J. Pierzynski

Bill James Hall of Fame Monitor: 108

Career bWAR: 23.8 (19 seasons)

Stats: .280/.319/.420, 188 HR, 407 2B, 807 R, 909 RBI, 94 OPS+

League Leading Stats: GIDP (27, 2004)

Awards: All-Star x2 (2002, 2006), Silver Slugger (Catcher, 2012), 2005 World Champion

Teams played for: Twins (1998-2003), Giants (2004), White Sox (2005-2012), Rangers (2013), Red Sox (2014), Cardinals (2014), Braves (2015-16)

“If you play against him, you hate him. If you play with him, you hate him a little less.”

There are few, if any, quotes in baseball’s recent history that have been as memorable—as persistent and resonant—as that quote, spoken by Ozzie Guillen, in reference to one Anthony John Pierzynski.

Pierzynski was a smart player, of that there’s little doubt. The fact that his intelligence for the game often led him to play a little dirty to get inside his opponents heads is, as far as Pierzynski is concerned, of little importance. But while Pierzynski could, at his very best, be an incredibly effective weapon on a baseball diamond—made all the more valuable by playing a premium position—it never seemed to overcome the fact that he was largely viewed as a massive dick. When he was at his best, you put up with him on your team because he made your pitchers better and probably stole you as many wins in a season as he was worth in WAR. But the minute he stopped being peak Pierzynski, it became incredibly difficult to warrant carrying the rest of his baggage. Opposing teams hated Pierzynski. Opposing fan bases loathed him. Managers put up with him. Even some of the teams he played for couldn’t stand him. If you list A.J. Pierzynski as one of your favorite players, there’s a 100% chance you’ve posted a meme about ideal relationships featuring The Joker and Harley Quinn to your Facebook page at some point.

But credit where it’s due: while I don’t think it really needs pointing out that Pierzynski is not a Hall of Famer, there does need to be some attention paid to what he actually managed to accomplish in his career. Since the dawn of time, do you know how many players have been both good enough and durable enough to play more than 1500 games at catcher? It’s a rhetorical question, because I’m about to tell you: 33.

Of those 33, Pierzynski is just the 10th to have surpassed 2000 games caught, putting him ahead of guys like Gabby Hartnet, Al Lopez and Mike Piazza, and just behind Yogi, Yadi and Johnny Bench. He’s also 13th among that group in runs, 10th in hits, 10th in homers and fourth in doubles. So no, he’s not a hall of famer. But if you’re making a list of the 50 greatest catchers in MLB history…you kind of have to start looking in Pierzynski’s direction at some point.

Pierzynski made his debut with the Twins back in 1998, getting 13 PAs that year and collecting his first MLB RBI. He would remain a little used option through the ‘99 and ‘00 seasons, spending the bulk of both years at AAA before getting cups of coffee. AJ’s (I’m done typing Pierzynski) first full season in the majors would be his age 24 season in 2001 and he would immediately prove his worth, posting a 98 OPS+, 1.8 bWAR season over 407 PAs, with seven homers and 55 RBI. He’d kick things up a notch as a 25 year old, slashing .300/.334/.439 with a 104 OPS+ and 2.4 bWAR, getting named to his first All-Star game.

And with those seasons, you suddenly knew everything you needed to about AJ’s game. He would have some aberrations here and there—a 4.5 bWAR, .312/.360/.464 season in 2003; a resurgent, 3.3 bWAR, 27 homer, 120 OPS+ season as a 35 year old in 2012—but for the most part, those first two seasons are who AJ was as a player. Year in, year out, he was good for 1 to 2 bWAR, with an OPS+ that would always hover within 10 points of league average. But the two most important aspects of AJ’s game that don’t show up in any of the stat lines, are how well AJ got into people’s heads, and how much he loved doing it.

“AJ’s worth the work, because he always shows up for you,” is another quote from Guillen that get less press, but is every bit as telling when it comes to AJ as a player. He showed up to the office every day ready to get dirty and make his team win, but he was absolutely not going to whistle while he worked.

After sending a pirate’s ransom worth of players to the Twins in a trade to get him, the Giants released AJ after a lone season. Sure, he regressed a bit; his .277/.319/.410 slash were all career lows and he led the league in double plays hit into. But he’d matched his previous year’s total with 11 homers, and set a career high with 77 RBI. In short, it had been a down year, but was hardly worth cutting a guy over, especially when your Plan B was a 34 year old Mike Matheny. But when AJ signed with the White Sox the following January after being cut, the rumor started circulating that AJ had kicked Giants trainer Stan Conte in the dick. Then came more rumors, that AJ was more interested in playing cards than in going over hitters and helping the Giants win.

In 2007, in a game against the Twins, AJ twice ran up the inside of the first base line, nipping Justin Morneau with his spikes each time. The Twins protested and wanted him ejected, but the game carried on with AJ behind the plate.

From his point of view, AJ denies all of the “clubhouse cancer” allegations made against him, but at this point, who cares? It’s like said when the Donald Trump pee tape allegations were happening: it might be bullshit, but the fact that it’s plausible bullshit is what’s so distressing.

When AJ’s agent first reached out to the White Sox about a potential contract, Sox GM Kenny Williams laughed and told him no. AJ’s agent called back. This time Williams asked Guillen his thoughts and Guillen told him fuck no. But AJ was convinced that he was a good fit for that White Sox clubhouse. He thought he could help that team win. So he told his agent to be persistent; that the South Side was where he wanted to be. He got his wish and won a ring because of it.

However, dick kicks and bloody spikes aside, the two most memorable events of AJ’s career rather fittingly happened at home plate but, ironically, were not with him squatting behind it.

First, we have to go back to 2005. The White Sox have made the playoffs and AJ hit .444 in three games against the Red Sox. Now facing the Angels in the ALCS and down 0-1 in the series, AJ comes to bat with the score tied in the bottom of the ninth. Kelvim Escobar absolutely, 100%, definitely strikes AJ out to complete the inning. Escobar knows it, Angels catcher Josh Paul knows it, home plate umpire Doug Eddings knows it. Hell, AJ probably knows it. But that’s also not going to stop him if he thinks he can steal a base here. Sensing that the pitch was close enough to the dirt to be a judgment call, AJ sprints to first instead of heading to the dugout. Where he is called safe. Replays show Paul catching the ball cleanly, but no matter. AJ is safe at first and the inning must go on. AJ is replaced with a pinch runner who steals second in the next breath, then Joe Crede singles home the winning run and the White Sox go on to take the series. For the rest of his career, Angels fans would boo AJ every chance they got; a situation AJ would reply to by saying “I just ran to first. Be mad at Crede: he drove in the run.”

The following May, the Cubs came down to the south side for a series, which is always an adventure. On a short fly ball into left field, AJ stood on third base and watched Matt Murton make the catch. AJ tagged up and . Murton, never blessed with the best arm, hung his catcher out to dry and issued a throw home that was to the third base side of the plate and bounced about 20 feet up the line, forcing Barrett to take a couple steps in that direction to catch the ball between hops. That put him right in the path of the charging AJ, who bowled Barrett over like he was a sack of potatoes. Called safe as the ball skidded away, AJ slapped home plate in triumph, then lowered a shoulder as he tried to walk past the now upright Barrett. Incensed, Barret bear hugged AJ, some words were exchanged, and Barrett clocked AJ with the best punch seen on a baseball diamond this side of Rougned Odor. Benches cleared and players were ejected before the White Sox went on to pummel the Cubs in retaliation. Barrett was suspended, while AJ was fined.

And that’s what AJ’s career was: an above average catcher who would win games while alienating everyone he ever touched. He played on a one year contract in Texas and gave them a typical AJ Pierzynski year at the plate, but they didn’t offer him another contract, and he moved on. He started the next season in Boston but they couldn’t get rid of him fast enough, with players openly blaming him for the team’s poor start. The Red Sox kept right on losing that season, but that didn’t change the narrative. He went to St Louis for the last half of that season, but everyone knew that was going to be a one-year situation, since nobody—not even AJ—thought he did things The Cardinal Way.

He signed a two year deal with Atlanta and gave them one last pretty decent season: a .300/.336/.430, 112 OPS+, 1.4 bWAR effort in 2015 that also saw him fuck the Cubs one last time, breaking up a Jon Lester no-hit bid with a single in the eighth. The following season, AJ collected his 2,000th big league hit, spent an extended period on the DL, and announced his retirement the following March.

Since retiring, AJ has become a pretty effective broadcaster for Fox Sports. A job where, to the best of my knowledge, nobody’s tried to punch him.

AJ Pierzynski played 19 seasons in the big leags, mostly with the Twins and White Sox. He goes into the Hypothetical Hall as a south sider, where he hit .279/.318/.424, won a Silver Slugger and picked up his World Series ring.

Chances of making the Hall: Better than getting a christmas card from Michael Barrett

Chances of leaving the Ballot after one year: 100%

I've been following baseball for all of his career and I've heard vague stories about him being "difficult". I heard a story about him being kneeing a Giant's trainer in the groin after how he asked what is was like to get pegged in the dick by a baseball but nothing else. Does anyone have any specific stories or is he just really short with people?

A.J. was on the White Sox Talk Podcast Tuesday and told some pretty funny stories about Mark Buehrle. Towards the end of the interview though, Chuck asked him if he'd be attending Buehrle Day on Saturday and A.J. said he wasn't invited. Chuck said something to the effect of, oh, that's weird they didn't invite you, to which A.J. replied, "Not if you know the White Sox."

Is there bad blood between him and the organization?