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Pierzynski all good news for White Sox

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greasywheels121 Grand Master

greasywheels121

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http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/8569874/1

 

Insider: Pierzynski all good news for White Sox

By Scott Miller

CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer

 

Some players carry baggage. A.J. Pierzynski arrived in Chicago this season with an entire luggage set, plus a couple of carry-ons.

 

Not that this had become an issue for Pierzynski during his one-and-done season with the San Francisco Giants in 2004, but some Samsonite stores stock fewer suitcases than the left-handed-hitting catcher was lugging by the time some anonymous Giants quotes made the rounds, and by the time his feud with Brett Tomko was upgraded from tropical storm to hurricane status.

 

Ooooh, don't touch A.J. Pierzynski; that was the word on the baseball streets last winter. Guy is bad news. He won't spend time with pitchers before games to plan a strategy for the opposing lineup. He's unapproachable, more interested in watching television than in game preparations. And if you're an opponent, he's liable to push your buttons as easily as those on a cell phone.

 

Well, guess what?

 

That the White Sox have raced out of the blocks to baseball's best record, that their pitching staff ranked fourth among American League clubs with a 3.66 ERA at midweek (last season the Sox staff finished tied for 11th) and that Pierzynski has played a hand in contributing to each -- and have his critics looking misguided and shallow right about now.

 

That the Minnesota Twins won consecutive AL Central titles with him behind the plate, that the Giants took things down to the final day of 2004 before being eliminated and that the White Sox are whitewashing their schedule daily -- all have Pierzynski looking like a winner right about now.

 

"I hope so," he said during a wide-ranging conversation one day last week. "That's the No. 1 thing in this game. Yeah, numbers are good, but winning brings money. Winning brings fans. Winning brings fun.

 

"If you win, it makes everybody look better."

 

Meanwhile, as for the place he left behind ... a Giants staff that was 11th in the NL with a 4.29 ERA a year ago has dropped to 14th with a 5.03 ERA despite adding a highly respected catcher, Mike Matheny, who arrived with a Gold Glove and a sterling reputation for calling pitches. And overall, the Giants -- certainly a much different team without Barry Bonds -- were nine games under .500 at midweek (26-37) and nine games out of first place in the NL West.

 

"The stuff (Tomko) said definitely had an effect on my career this offseason," said Pierzynski, 28. "Teams were interested, but not to the level you would think. I put up numbers (.272, 11 homers and a career-high 77 RBI last season for the Giants), but some teams were very cautious -- the White Sox included.

 

"It's a shame he could say that, that some guy with a personal vendetta talks, a reporter reports it ... and then you look at how they're doing this year with almost the same staff ... that's the way it is, though."

 

Said White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper: "Whatever was in the past is in the past. I heard things in spring training, but there hasn't been one glimpse of them.

 

"He's the kind of guy who you hate when he's on the other team, but you sure love him when he's on your team."

 

Pierzynski can be equal parts acerbic, entertaining, smug and controversial, sort of a baseball version of Bill Laimbeer, the center on the Detroit Pistons NBA title clubs in the late 1980s. Pierzynski goaded former Oakland closer Billy Koch into a tirade following the Twins-A's 2002 playoff series, and it became an issue Koch couldn't let go of.

 

"I'm an easy target," Pierzynski admitted. "I'm very excitable. I play hard, and I don't back down.

 

"I don't go and hug people on the field before games, like, 'Hey buddy, how ya doing?' If I want to see somebody, we'll go out and have a nice dinner somewhere after.

 

"I don't believe in hugging guys on the field. You're there to do a job. You're there to win."

 

Many opponents have muttered many things about him. But ever since an anonymous Giant dropped the "C" word on Pierzynski last April -- rhymes with dancer, and it sure wasn't "Captain" -- Pierzynski has been almost as wary of others as they've been of him.

 

"Last year taught me a lot," Pierzynski said. "It taught me not to be friends with anybody because they can always get you in the back when you don't expect it. I was always giving (Tomko) rides in spring training. We'd go out to dinner. He would come to my house during spring training, and he'd bring his dog over and his dog would play with my dog.

 

"I never expected that. You've got to watch what you say."

 

But ... not to be friends with anybody?

 

"Not 'not to be friends,' but to be careful of what you say and do around guys because you never know," Pierzynski said. "But this team has been great."

 

Before signing Pierzynski as a free agent, the White Sox went all Hardy Boys on him, conducting a full-blown investigation. General manager Kenny Williams, tired of clubhouse sniping in recent years and determined to change the "culture" of the Sox den, spoke with several players and encouraged them to gather information about Pierzynski from players they knew -- some from the Twins -- before he made his decision. Cooper did background work by speaking with San Francisco pitching coach Dave Righetti.

 

"I had more information on him than any player I've ever brought in," Williams said.

 

Said Cooper: "I played with Rags (Righetti), I know Rags good. He said he can rub people the wrong way but, hey, he's out there to win every day. Even if there was something, I can live with the little stuff if we know a guy is out to win."

 

Pierzynski was well aware of the investigation that was going on around him. He had several phone conversations with Williams that were conducted more like prosecuting attorney/defendant than a job interview. Let's just say the New York Mets throwing rose petals at the feet of Carlos Beltran and Pedro Martinez, this wasn't.

 

"It was bizarro world," Pierzynski said. "Teams were interested, but I'd have to call and talk to the GM, or to the GM and manager. They'd ask me about this and that, what was true and what wasn't true."

 

Regarding his conversations with Williams, Pierzynski said: "I understood. Look at what was written. If you were a GM, you'd want to look into it, too."

 

Yes, the catcher has had more relaxing winters.

 

"I knew I'd find a job," Pierzynski said. "But was it going to be as a backup guy who's got to go and prove himself again? Was it going to be on a team that wasn't going to be as good?"

 

The Sox ended up signing Pierzynski to a one-year, $2.25 million deal in early January, one in a string of moves that now have Williams as the front-runner for AL executive of the year. So far, Pierzynski is batting .256 with nine homers -- including seven during a hot May -- and 23 RBI.

 

"A.J. doesn't like to lose, he doesn't want to lose and he doesn't want to fail," said outfielder Jacque Jones, a former teammate of Pierzynski's in Minnesota. "I'd much rather have a player like that than one who is comfortable and accepts failure."

 

The first guy is who the White Sox have seen so far this season. Unlike the Giants', the Sox pitching staff appears to have no problems with the catcher. Ace Mark Buehrle speaks glowingly, noting that he hasn't shaken off one of the catcher's signs all season. Buehrle also credits Pierzynski with some of the breakout success right-hander Jon Garland (11-2, 3.61) has enjoyed this season.

 

"A.J. makes guys throw inside," Buehrle said. "That's part of what's happened with Garland -- he didn't throw inside."

 

"All of that stuff with A.J. needs to go away," Williams said. "He's just a big kid. He's as goofy as the rest of us around here."

 

The stuff with Tomko, though, probably never will go away. Rarely has a feud between one-time teammates turned this toxic. When the White Sox faced the Giants in a Cactus League game this spring, Pierzynski put word out before the game that there was $100 in it for anybody who homered against Tomko, and sure enough, Sox outfielder Joe Borchard found $100 in his locker after taking Tomko deep.

 

Tomko's memorable response: "Once an ass, always an ass."

 

Nevertheless, Pierzynski still doesn't regret the bounty.

 

"Not one bit," he said. "It was meant to be a little fun. I said it to loosen the guys up. It was said when we were stretching, goofing around, and it was meant as a joke."

 

That's the way it is with Pierzynski. He's just one of those guys. Serious or joking, it's delivered in a way that amuses some and angers others. So be it. He loves his new home, he and the Sox pitching staff are clicking -- and, with backup catcher Chris Widger, they're not missing any tricks -- and, imagine this, Pierzynski actually has the respect of his teammates. All of them.

 

"Big-league etiquette gets in the way sometimes," Williams said, smiling. "We just have to remind him sometimes, 'Hey, A.J., this is the big leagues. Don't make fun of hitters after they strike out.'

 

"He's just having fun. If someone takes it the wrong way, I really don't give a damn now. He's on our side."

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Dam8610 Grand Master

Dam8610

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A.J. is the reason the Sox have such a good pitching staff IMO.

 

"Big-league etiquette gets in the way sometimes," Williams said, smiling. "We just have to remind him sometimes, 'Hey, A.J., this is the big leagues. Don't make fun of hitters after they strike out.'

 

:lol: Why stop him? It's only going to get into their heads and maybe make them strike out the next time they get up. I say go for it, but I guess that's why I'm a fan.

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YASNY Grand Master

YASNY

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QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jun 17, 2005 -> 08:50 AM)
There is no doubt in my mind, there isn't a more important guy to get locked up long term on this team right now.  Forget Frank and Konerko, AJ holds the keys right now.

 

Earlier I felt that we should wait on AJ just to see how things go. Well, I'm convinced. AJ is an asset to this club and they need to lock him up longer. That said, now is not the time to do it. We are in a pennant race and all is going well. If they start negotiating and it turm nasty, that could cause problems at the worst possible time. We hold a club option for next year, so he can't bolt. Let's sve this for the offseason.

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tonyho7476 Grand Master

tonyho7476

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QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jun 17, 2005 -> 08:50 AM)
There is no doubt in my mind, there isn't a more important guy to get locked up long term on this team right now.  Forget Frank and Konerko, AJ holds the keys right now.

 

I agree...get him long term. Love AJ! :cheers

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CanOfCorn Grand Master

CanOfCorn

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QUOTE(YASNY @ Jun 17, 2005 -> 01:57 PM)
Earlier I felt that we should wait on AJ just to see how things go.  Well, I'm convinced.  AJ is an asset to this club and they need to lock him up longer.  That said, now is not the time to do it.  We are in a pennant race and all is going well.  If they start negotiating and it turm nasty, that could cause problems at the worst possible time.  We hold a club option for next year, so he can't bolt.  Let's sve this for the offseason.

 

Is it a club option? Or another arbitration year? I can't remember.

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whitesox91403 Experienced

whitesox91403

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QUOTE(YASNY @ Jun 17, 2005 -> 07:57 AM)
Earlier I felt that we should wait on AJ just to see how things go.  Well, I'm convinced.  AJ is an asset to this club and they need to lock him up longer.  That said, now is not the time to do it.  We are in a pennant race and all is going well.  If they start negotiating and it turm nasty, that could cause problems at the worst possible time.  We hold a club option for next year, so he can't bolt.  Let's sve this for the offseason.

 

Totally agree Yas. The Sox like to avoid arbitration, AJ wants to stay and The Sox want him. This will get done in late October after The World Series Parade :gosox1:

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Texsox Grand Master

Texsox

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It's tough to sign a catcher to a long term deal. You never know when the legs will give out. Here is an idea, maybe he can play left field.

 

I wouldn't do a thing until the off season. There is plenty more baseball to be played. It is easy to look good when the team is winning. Let's play through a couple tough stretches and see what happens.

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