I dont understand why they boo a player who meant so much to their franchise. He brought them division titles, was traded, then signed as a free agent with basically the only team that offered him.

It would be like Sox fans booing Rowand when he returned. It wasnt AJ's fault he was traded, and he actually brought them a hell of a haul. What is their problem?

Yeah. He opened up a spot for Mauer, got them Nathan, Bonser and Liriano.

What's to boo about?

Twins fans throw Griffey Jr. home run balls back.

Stupid people do stupid things.

Because they are morons?
Because they don't sell-out games that decide their season?

I don't know, what's the answer?

They're hypocrites.

It wouldn't surprise if the smallest amount of Ray fan's were to boo AJ. It's this thing that fans have where they feed off of other fans. Not to mention that AJ has built a reputation of being in the middle of a lot of controversial displays.

Stupid Minnesota sheep.

They do it because they see other people doing it.

They should be kissing AJ's ***. He helped them net Liriano and Nathan.

They boo him for the same reason he was traded (discluding the fact he was traded for tons of goodies). He was a clubhouse cancer for the Twinkies. Didn't get along with his team at all. That's why people started booing him to begin with, because he was known as a "bad guy" of baseball. Then after some of the '05 controversy everyone wanted to jump on the AJ hatred train.

MN, is the only place that rightfully should boo him.


But yeah, the guy who threw back Griffey's homer is an idiot. You could see by the look on his face he was hesitant though.

Every time AJ comes up I stand up and applaud. I get told to sit down, but I usually say something along the lines of "Thank him for Nathan, Liriano and Boof"

Where did you get that from?

I have several friends in Minneapolis who are season ticket holders and say that's not true... that he was never a problem in Minny and in fact was a fan favorite. The only reasons the Twins traded him was because he was no longer cheap ($365k in 2003; $3.5M in 2004); and Joe Mauer was getting ready to replace him.

The only place where AJ has ever been that he was perceived as a bad guy was with the Giants... not Minneapolis.

I dont blame the angels for booing him.

You're either misinformed or a liar.

Because he has one more ring in the last 15 years than they do.

They boo him for the same reason everybody else in baseball does, it's the cool thing to do. Twins fans of all people are the last ones that should boo him, but whatever.

I have never heard this!

That's because it simply isn't true.

My understanding was he loved it in MN. One of the big knocks on him in SF was he was always watching Twins games, almost like a jilted lover still lamenting over the rejection from his ex. If he did not get along with his teammates in Minnesota, it is news to me.

The only thing I can think of is AJ's "attempt to injure" Morneau last year, but I'm pretty sure they were booing him before that too.

I don't understand the booing.

A lot of Twins fans are idiots

Hell, they boo every time a Sox pitcher throws over to first base. I just think they are all f***ed in the head from living in Minnesota.

Let me ask my friend in MN who used to tell me this all the time. As I search the internet there doesn't seem to be much Twins hate for him, just Giants.

I've spent some time researching this a couple of years ago because I was trying to figure out where all the AJ hate seemed to be coming from. I posted questions about it on a couple of Twins boards and talked to several people I know who live in Minneapolis. (I spend about 2 months a year in Minneapolis on business working with a big financial services firm downtown... right near the dome.)

It seems like the issue with SF actually started when AJ was with Minnesota... and the Twins were playing the A's in the 2002 playoffs.

The series had been contentious... knockdowns... a couple of near fights, etc.... Then in the deciding game (which the Twins won) AJ hit a homerun and when he crossed home he stopped looked the A's catcher right in the eyes and yelled BOO-YAH... and almost incited a riot. (Minnesota fans enjoyed this btw.)

But it pretty much branded him as public enemy #1 in the bay area.

Then, he got traded out there and it seems that people in the bay area were slow to warm up to him.

And he by no means was blameless. He had significant run-ins with a couple of Giant's pitchers, particularly Brett Tomko, and called out the staff publicly for their lack of focus and heart.

Also, the Giants management side of the story is that they gave AJ a couple of chances to repair the damage to his image in the community and he was not really cooperative... and things got worse... and worse with both the team and the fans.

So... it was a bad marriage that ended in an ugly divorce and the 'AJ as a cancer' story had begun.

This from Joe Cowley on Wednesday, Oct. 1st...

"Why do opposing teams and players dislike A.J. Pierzynski? Because he's smarter than them. He proved that against the Angels in the 2005 playoffs, and he added to his legend this season. Tied up in the 10th against Tampa Bay and facing a sweep, Pierzynski went "Fall Guy'' and drew the charge on third baseman Willy Aybar for the phantom interference call. The Sox go on to win, Tampa Bay hates A.J. ... same old song. Lost on all the boos, however, was that Pierzynski is a winner. Period."

He also had the incident with the medical staff in SF. This did not endear him to the support personnel either.

Also as I've said before they boo him probably because they've met him.

Has that ever been proven? I have heard about it, but I thought I read that nobody ever proved it happened

I've never seen anything that says that incident actually took place.

In fact, I have not been able to find anything that suggests AJ was a real irritant in SF except:
- Brett Tomko and Matt Herges didn't like him
- He refused the Giants offer, took them to arbitration, and won... a move that ticked off Sabean and may have set back their relationship.
- They already had a catcher (Torrealba) and fans didn't like the trade so they didn't warm up to him (not unlike OC with the Sox this year).
- He hit into 20-something double plays and that compounded the fans irritation.

I've read many articles by San Francisco writers and have found no evidence suggesting that AJ did anything else causing him to be disliked. (If anybody does find them, please link them.)

And interestingly, Jason Schmidt had a big year with AJ behind the plate and had nothing bad to say about him. All the 'cancer' talk came from two 'anonymous' sources who started chirping less than a month into AJ's only season there. Those sources were later identified to be Tomko and Herges.

All the other "hate AJ" references I found are from players or fans of other teams.

Did anyone ever notice how "the s***heads" in Minnesota as Buehlre calls them or "the pirranhas" as Ozzie calls them are so unlikeable ?

And, Torii Hunter is a douchebag ? And, A.J. is a jerk ?

Maybe, the White Sox could use some more former Twins on the team ?

I recall an incident a few years ago when AJ was still with the Twins where he yelled asshole or something to that effect when Maggs was at the plate. So Sox fans should boo him too, right?

People boo Pierzynski because he IS an asshole. That's why Twins fans do it too.

Tampa fans boo AJ. Is it just a popular thing to do?

Because his personality demands it. He's the classic guy you want on your team and boo when he ain't.

Remember the baserunning play he made at 2nd during our regular series there? I don't blame them on booing him. There are a couple other teams as well. The rest of the league are just followers who have no reason.

Please refresh my memory.

It did happen. I know the guy involved. It wasn't as blatant or mean spirited as portrayed by the rumors. However, I think that may make it worse, AJ thought it was funny.

My buddy in MN still claims that he used to hear frequently in the news about that AJ did not get along with the Twins when he was up there.

I think he's revising history.

I've never talked to anyone from Minneapolis (and I spend alot of time up there) who said AJ was a problem on his own team. Look at him on the Sox. Leopards don't change their spots. Has he been a cancer here? No. Was there some life changing event that caused him to take on a different personality all of a sudden? No. Bottom line... the 'AJ is a problem' stories are 10% truth - 90% hype.




ptatc... Would you mind telling the story? I think it should be told in this thread and your insights about it would be greatly appreciated.

i just dont understand the loud boos here in tampa for aj.. what has he done to tampa? I understand the man is not very liked throughout baseball.. i guess.. i duno why, but dam, everytime he was up LOUD boo's. I just dont get it

The baserunning phantom interference call this season was against the Rays, wasn't it?

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news/gamed...sp&c_id=cws

Anybody else see the replay in Sunday's game against the Rays where Navarro was throwing to second on a steal with AJ at the plate...

And AJ casually stuck his bat out to make the throw a little more difficult.

LOL.

I think his reputation as a 'jerk' among the players of other teams comes from alot of little stuff like that.

Where's Benchwarmerjim when you need him? Twins fans LOVED AJ up there. They boo him for no reason other than many of them do not know wht the hell is going on. Im sure when Mauer or Morneau leaves they will boo them too. Im pretty sure they booed Mincaskjaskvich as well.

correct. it was a Sunday afternoon and the game was on TBS. I remember watching that play.

===

AJ was loved in Minnesota. Part of it is that Twins fans are sort of stupid, and part of it is that AJ chose to play for the Sox (gotta hate that Sox you know) and part of it is that he spiked Morneau a few year back, and part of it is all the game winning hits AJ seems to hit against the Twins

Maybe on the diamond, wite, but AJ isn't an a**hole off of it.

He happens to be the only guy on the team when I went to KC who interacted with the fans and took several minutes to sign autographs. Wassermann wouldn't even sign a little kid's hat for crying out loud. I've also met him on a few occasions off the field and he was a great guy. He's just your average adult who still likes to have fun in life and act like he's in high school, like a poor man's Manny.

I don't give a s*** what kind of person he is off of it. The question is, why do Twins fans hate Pierzynski? I generalized - why do baseball fans hate Pierzynski? And he's a f***ing asshole on the field, and if you really disagree, I think you need to watch his in-game actions...he's an asshole. And I love him for it. Part of it is that I'm a Sox fan, but the other is that I love people being who they truly are and that they act the way they truly are. AJ does this.

I'm not a fan of 29 other teams. Why is he the most hated player in the MLB? Because he's an asshole. Just because a person is an asshole doesn't mean he can't like people.

He actually gives a ton of money to charity as well and is a pretty good guy in the community.

He was doing a pre-game type work out routine (stretching I believe) with the assistance of a person on the medical staff. He was talking to another player and told a joke and said "it was funny kind of like this" when he hit the guy in the nads while laughing. The guy didn't think that he tried to hit him hard but when AJ did it he didn't apologize or even acknowledge that he did hit the guy hard.

Like I said I don't think it was mean spirited just an a**hole thinking it was funny to do this to another person.

Gee.....it's nice to see that some Twins fans have let go of AJ.....or maybe not...

aj