A. J. Pierzynski
FameRank: 5

"Anthony John "A. J." Pierzynski" is an American professional baseball catcher for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). Pierzynski previously played with the Minnesota Twins (1998–2003), San Francisco Giants (2004), Chicago White Sox (2005–2012), Texas Rangers (baseball)/Texas Rangers (2013), Boston Red Sox (2014) and St. Louis Cardinals (2014).

Pierzynski 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 me." Former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen summed up the situation as, "If you play against him, you hate him. If you play with him, you hate him a little less." Guillen 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."

More A. J. Pierzynski on Wikipedia.

The rings are great. We can now put last year behind us and move on. After tomorrow hopefully all this stuff goes away and we can focus on the season.... It had nothing to do with the rings. We fell behind early and [Jake ] Westbrook is tough.

He hits them a long way. I wish I could, just one time, know how that feels like. He hits them as far as anyone I've ever seen.