Pier And Stealing In The World Series

White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski has a knack for catching abuse and some of the best pitchers in the game.

By Jon Cooper

A.J. Pierzynski is the kind of player you either love or hate. 

Deciding which side of the fence you’re on, however, isn’t as clear cut as whether he is on your team or not — just ask former Giants pitcher Brett Tomko and any number of guys who played with him in San Francisco in 2004 or on Minnesota Twins teams during the three seasons before that. Most simply love to hate him.

Regardless, there are some things that can not be denied about the 29-year-old former third-round pick of the Twins in the 1994 June Free Agent Draft. He is a superb handler of pitchers — White Sox hurlers had a 3.74 ERA throwing to him and the Twins’ resurgence began when he moved in behind the plate. He also is among the best defensive catchers in the game. Last year, he commited one error in 847 chances and none in his final 119 games. He also is among the most durable, catching 1,117 2/3 innings last season, the third most in the American League and the most by a White Sox catcher since Brian Downing in 1975.

Offensively he’s been one of the most consistent backstops in the game over the last five years. Heading into 2006, he ranked second among all catchers with 145 doubles, was fourth in extra base hits (211), fifth in RBIs (302) and hits (628), sixth in average (.286), and eighth in slugging percentage (.436) since 2001.

He also has a knack for coming up big against his team’s biggest rival. In his one season with San Francisco he hit .404 (23-for-57) against the hated Dodgers. While with Minnesota he hit .347 against the White Sox, which may have contributed to their signing him as a free agent in the first place prior to last season. They have since signed him to a three-year, $15 million deal.

While most players won’t argue about him being offensive they also won’t disagree about him being one of the game’s fiercest competitors. He’ll do whatever he deems necessary to win. He single-handedly turned the tide of last year’s ALCS. With two out in the ninth inning of Game Two, the score tied at 1-1 and the White Sox down one game to Anaheim, he raced down to first on what he felt was a dropped third strike as the Angels walked off the field. Home plate Umpire Doug Eddings would eventually agree with Pierzynski. Three pitches later pinch-runner Pablo Ozuna would score the series-tying run on a Joe Crede double and three games later Chicago was on its way to the World Series. 

More than once, Pierzynski has been accused of leaning into pitches to get hit and get on base. 

He usually doesn’t have to work that hard as most opposing pitchers are more than willing to oblige him. Pierzynski has been hit at least 10 times in each of the last four seasons. Fielders also appear to have carte blanche against him, as Cubs catcher Michael Barrett sucker-punched the Sox catcher after a collision at home plate — a collision in which Barrett was in the wrong, illegally blocking home plate without the ball — and almost a month later still had not been required to serve his 10-game suspension.

For his part, Pierzynski just keeps a stiff upper lip and keeps on keeping on.

He took time to talk to ChinMusic! about his knack of being around winners, his never-ending reputation for stirring up controversy and his favorite place to actually hear and quiet the boo-birds.

CHINMUSIC!: Was there a moment in last year’s World Series that stands out for you?

A.J. PIERZYNSKI: I don’t know. Looking back on it, it was such a blur at the time. Just the whole thing. But I guess the two moments that everyone remembers are when [Geoff] Blum hit the home run in the 14th inning and [Scott] Podsednik’s walk-off homer. But [Juan]  Uribe’s catch in the ninth inning of Game Four, when he went into the stands was one of the best catches I’ve ever seen. One out in the ninth, a guy on second, [Uribe] goes into the stands, and makes a catch like that, it was incredible. He doesn’t get a lot of credit because he’s Juan Uribe and not some other guys. Those are probably the three moments that stand out more than anything.

CHINMUSIC: How were you affected by playing in your first World Series?
A.J.P.: I didn’t feel any extra pressure. For me, that was fun time. It was the most enjoyable time. I wasn’t nervous at all. I was probably more relaxed than some other games during the season. Just because you knew where you stood and you knew what was on the line every night. By the time you get to the World Series after going through the other two rounds, you kind of get over it. The first round is where you see more of the nerves. Once you get deeper in the playoffs the nerves go away and it just becomes more natural.

CM!: What was your most impressive personal feat: going 4-for-4 in your first career playoff game, being the second White Sox player to hit two homers in a playoff game or stealing your first two bases in the World Series after not stealing a base all year?

A.J.P.: (laughs) For me, the 4-for-4 was nice in Minnesota in the first game but we didn’t end up winning the World Series. For me, personally, the two-home run game against Boston in Game One, just because it kind of relaxed everyone. We won the game so big that it relaxed guys and it made our team realize that we can play with, at the time, the defending World Champions and we could beat them. You kind of saw the confidence grow from there in the whole series. [The jitters] were gone in the first inning. You throw a five-spot up in the first with Contreras on the mound, it definitely gives you confidence and you just take it from there.

CM!: Do you enjoy being the “lightning rod”?
A.J.P.: I don’t know about that. I think people have made a big deal out of nothing. For me, I’ve been through it all so I was glad that a lot of the stuff was thrown on me because I knew how to handle it and it didn’t bother me. Whereas if it would have been on top of other guys, it would have given them a little more to think about, a little more to worry about. But with it being on me and my having already experienced everything that there was as far as newspapers and press goes was fine for me.

CM!: You’ve been on four consecutive 90-win teams, 2006 should be No. 5. What does that say about you?

A.J.P.: That I’ve been lucky, that I’ve been put in some good situations with some good teams. It just means that I’ve been in good places at the right time. If you were to look at last year’s team and say we were going to win 90 games, there were people who’d have thought you were crazy. We believed in it. We knew our pitching was a lot better than people were giving us credit for. Hopefully that works out again this year.

CM!: Which meant more: setting a career high in homers or fielding .999?

A.J.P.: Actually, I didn’t think about either one. The most important thing for me was just winning. Winning the World Series, obviously, was No. 1. The home runs, obviously, are nice but the fielding percentage is nice, too, because it means you’re not making mistakes and you’re not hurting the pitchers, which is the most important thing.

CM!: Pitchers seem to reach their potential with you behind the plate. To what do you attribute that?

A.J.P.: I hope they feel comfortable with me. I hope I give them confidence and I hope that they know that I believe in them and hopefully that translates into the fact that they believe in themselves and it helps them make good pitches when they need to. 

CM!: Which stadium’s fans do you most enjoy shutting up?

A.J.P.: (laughs) I wouldn’t say Cleveland. New York’s always fun when you do something there because they’re good. Boston’s always fun to win there just because they’re so intense. Cleveland, obviously, Cleveland and Minnesota, any team in our division is fun. But Boston and New York are kind of special just because their fans are usually the best and they usually have the best hecklers there.

Jon Cooper is a stunning individual who just happens to write for MLB.com's Atlanta Braves pages.