A. J. Pierzynski

Anthony John Pierzynski (born December 30, 1976) is an American former professional baseball player and current television sports presenter.

Pierzynski was born on December 30, 1976, in Bridgehampton, New York.

He attended Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Florida, where he won All-State honors in baseball.

Future Major Leaguer Johnny Damon was one of Pierzynski's high school teammates.

The National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame held its 48th Annual Induction Banquet in September 2021, inducting Pierzynski.

Pierzynski graduated from high school in 1994 and signed a letter of intent to play baseball at the University of Tennessee.

He was also selected by the Minnesota Twins in the third round (71st overall) of the 1994 Major League Baseball draft and chose to sign with the ballclub on June 9.

He began his minor league career with the Gulf Coast League Twins and spent the next four years playing for the minor-league Elizabethton Twins, Fort Wayne Wizards, Fort Myers Miracle, New Britain Rock Cats, and Salt Lake Buzz.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher with the Minnesota Twins (1998–2003), San Francisco Giants (2004), Chicago White Sox (2005–2012), Texas Rangers (2013), Boston Red Sox (2014), St. Louis Cardinals (2014) and Atlanta Braves (2015–2016).

Pierzynski is one of only thirteen catchers in Major League history to reach 2,000 hits in his career.

After four years in the Twins organization, Pierzynski was called up to the major league team, and made his debut on September 9, 1998 against the Anaheim Angels at the age of 21.

Two days later, he singled off Oakland Athletics pitcher Billy Taylor for his first major league hit.

From 1998 to 2000, Pierzynski appeared in just 49 games for the Twins.

In 2002, he made the American League All-Star Team as a reserve catcher.

In the 2002 American League Division Series, Pierzynski hit an important home run in the ninth inning of Game 5 against the Athletics, helping the Twins clinch the series.

He then spent the next five seasons, through the 2003 season, with Minnesota, though he was not a regular starter until 2001.

In 2003, Pierzynski batted a career-high .312 with 11 home runs and 74 RBI in 137 games.

On November 14, 2003, the Twins traded Pierzynski to the San Francisco Giants for Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano, and Boof Bonser.

With the Giants, he hit .272 with 11 home runs and 77 RBI in 131 games.

He spent one season in San Francisco before being non-tendered on December 15, 2004.

When he signed with the White Sox, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a story claiming that the catcher had kneed Giants trainer Stan Conte in the groin during a spring training game in 2004.

Although the incident allegedly happened during the game, it went unreported for nearly a year in the press.

Pierzynski has disputed the allegations publicly.

"Don't you think if something like that happened, in spring training, you would have heard about it? I would have gotten in some sort of trouble?"

A two-time All-Star player and a Silver Slugger Award winner, Pierzynski was a member of the 2005 World Series winning White Sox team.

He is known for having a strong and colorful personality, a fact he acknowledges.

During his turn at the microphone following the White Sox victory parade in 2005, he thanked team personnel for "putting up" with him.

Former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén summed up the situation by saying, "If you play against him, you hate him. If you play with him, you hate him a little less."

Guillén also acknowledged Pierzynski's value to the club despite being relatively high-maintenance: "A.J.'s been great for me. He's worth the work because he always shows up for you."

Pierzynski was signed as a free agent to a one-year, $2.25 million contract by the Chicago White Sox on January 6, 2005.

Pierzynski would hit 18 home runs, a new career high, with his most memorable home run of the regular season coming on June 18, 2005 against the Los Angeles Dodgers (with both teams wearing their 1959 throwback jerseys to commemorate their meeting in the 1959 World Series) in the bottom of the ninth to walk-off a 5–3 win.

He would also set the single-season AL records for consecutive errorless games (117) and chances (777) by a catcher.

The White Sox would go wire-to-wire in Pierzynski's first season with the team, winning the AL Central on September 29, 2005 over the Detroit Tigers.

However, Pierzynski's biggest contributions would come during the White Sox' 2005 playoff run.

In the 2005 playoffs, Pierzynski was a major player for the White Sox.

In Game 1 of the ALDS against the defending champion Red Sox, Pierzynski would start the White Sox off strong with a three-run homer in the first inning off Matt Clement.

He would add a second home run in the bottom of the eighth off Bronson Arroyo to help lead the White Sox to a 14–2 win.

Pierzynski finished the game 3-for-3 with 4 RBIs.

Pierzynski also hit a double and scored an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning as the White Sox defeated the Red Sox 5–3 to clinch the series and move on to the ALCS.

Perhaps Pierzynski's biggest and most well-known play came in Game 2 of the ALCS against the then Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.