A. J. Pierzynski Marquee

b. December 30, 1976 · Minnesota Twins 1998–2003, San Francisco Giants 2004, Chicago White Sox 2005–2012, Texas Rangers 2013, Boston Red Sox 2014, St. Louis Cardinals 2014, Atlanta Braves 2015–2016

In the second game of the 2005 Championship Series, with two out in the ninth and the count full, he swung and missed at a pitch the catcher appeared to catch, and ran to first base. The umpire ruled the ball had touched the ground. Chicago won that game and the next three and then the World Series, its first since 1917.

Nineteen seasons gave him 2,043 hits, 188 home runs, 909 runs batted in, 407 doubles and a .280 average, with two All-Star selections and a Silver Slugger. He walked 308 times in 7,290 at bats, a rate almost no regular has matched, and swung at nearly everything.

A poll of players in 2012 named him the most hated man in the game and he framed the result. Minnesota traded him to San Francisco for Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser, one of the worst trades the Giants have made. The 2022 ballot gave him two votes of 394.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	2	2002, 2006
Player of the Week	1	2008
Silver Slugger	1	2012

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1998	MIN	7	10	1	3	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	.300
1999	MIN	9	22	3	6	2	0	0	3	1	4	0	.273
2000	MIN	33	88	12	27	5	1	2	11	5	14	1	.307
2001	MIN	114	381	51	110	33	2	7	55	16	57	1	.289
2002	MIN	130	440	54	132	31	6	6	49	13	61	1	.300
2003	MIN	137	487	63	152	35	3	11	74	24	55	3	.312
2004	SFG	131	471	45	128	28	2	11	77	19	27	0	.272
2005	CHW	128	460	61	118	21	0	18	56	23	68	0	.257
2006	CHW	140	509	65	150	24	0	16	64	22	72	1	.295
2007	CHW	136	472	54	124	24	0	14	50	25	66	1	.263
2008	CHW	134	534	66	150	31	1	13	60	19	71	1	.281
2009	CHW	138	504	57	151	22	1	13	49	24	52	1	.300
2010	CHW	128	474	43	128	29	0	9	56	15	39	3	.270
2011	CHW	129	464	38	133	29	1	8	48	23	33	0	.287
2012	CHW	135	479	68	133	18	4	27	77	28	78	0	.278
2013	TEX	134	503	48	137	24	1	17	70	11	76	1	.272
2014	BOS/STL	102	338	25	85	12	1	5	37	14	54	0	.251
2015	ATL	113	407	38	122	24	1	9	49	19	37	0	.300
2016	ATL	81	247	15	54	15	0	2	23	6	29	1	.219
Career	—	2059	7290	807	2043	407	24	188	909	308	895	15	.280

On this day & linked events

1976

Born December 30, 1976

Bridgehampton, NY, USA

1998

Major-league debut: A. J. Pierzynski

A. J. Pierzynski made a major-league debut on September 9, 1998.

2016

Final major-league game: A. J. Pierzynski

A. J. Pierzynski played a final major-league game on September 10, 2016.

Image: Keith Allison, CC BY-SA 2.0