WHY I THINK A.J. PIERZYNSKI SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN
By- Damien
A.J. Pierzynski’s Hall of Fame case rests on a lot of principles upon which Bob Boone’s lies: on the value of a good, durable catcher. Catchers have by far the toughest job of any player on a baseball team, and while this point is important and needs to be stressed, I won’t get into any of the details as I have several times before. Catchers have an insane amount of work to get done, and it is reflected in their lack of big hitting statistics compared with players from other positions. Pierzynski, however, was a superb hitter for his entire career, batting .300 or better in four full seasons and .280 for his career. He collected over 2,000 hits (13th among MLB catchers), including 407 doubles (fourth). He hit 188 homers (21st), including 27 in 2012, his age 35 season. Some may knock his defense, citing a relatively low caught stealing percentage of .245, which is almost Piazza-esque, but he backed it up with a nifty .995 career fielding percentage - 12th in history among MLB catchers (minimum 500 games caught). Pierzynski also ranks high in games caught (ninth) and putouts (fifth), and led the AL in double plays three times. He also caught two no-hitters in his career, including Phil Humber’s perfect game on April 21, 2012. This probably offsets a low caught stealing percentage. Pierzynski also had remarkable longevity (19 seasons), and a head for the game, which mostly went unnoticed but showed itself infamously in the 2005 ALCS. In Game 2, the score was 1-1 going into the bottom of the ninth, when Angels pitcher Kelvim Escobar retired the first two hitters and struck Pierzynski out. However, Pierzynski thought the ball might have skipped in the dirt, and ran to first base after Angels catcher Josh Paul rolled the ball back to the mound. Home plate umpire Doug Eddings let him stay, which caused a minor rhubarb. In the end, Pierzynski was called safe, replaced by a pinch runner, and the White Sox won the game when the pinch runner scored on a Joe Crede double. While the White Sox beat the Angels in five games, it was still a significant occurrence, and who knows if any other batter would have thought to do it. It’s just things like that. Pierzynski may not have peppered stat lines like, say, Johnny Bench did, but he was very good at baseball. He was a heady receiver, a talented hitter, and a complete player. To put A.J. Pierzynski in the Hall of Fame shows that the Hall really knows what it’s talking about.
LIFETIME STATISTICS
Games career: 2,059 season high: 140 in 2006
At Bats career: 7,290 season high: 534 in 2008
Hits career: 2,043 season high: 152 in 2003
Doubles career: 407 season high: 35 in 2003
Triples career: 24 season high: 6 in 2002
Home Runs career: 188 season high: 27 in 2012
Runs career: 807 season high: 68 in 2012
Runs Batted In career: 909 season high: 77 in 2004 and 2012
Stolen Bases career: 15 season high: 3 in 2003 and 2010
Walks career: 308 season high: 28 in 2012
Strikeouts career: 895 season high: 78 in 2012
Batting Average career: .280 season high: .312 in 2003
On Base Percentage career: .319 season high: .360 in 2003
Slugging Percentage career: .420 season high: .501 in 2012
Total Bases career: 3,062 season high: 240 in 2012
Sacrifice Hits career: 28 season high: 6 in 2010
Fielding Percentage career: .995 season high: .999 in 2004 and 2005 led AL C: .999 in 2005, .995 in 2011, .998 in 2013
Double Plays career: 101 season high: 8 in 2005, 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2013 led AL C: 8 in 2005, 2012, and 2013
Putouts career: 12,600 season high: 913 in 2008 led AL C: 865 in 2010
Assists career: 823 season high: 71 in 2012 led AL C: 71 in 2012
Caught Stealing Percentage career: .245 season high: .329 in 2013
Pickoffs career: 9 season high: 2 in 2001 and 2010
DID YOU KNOW?
-finished 30th in the AL MVP Award voting in 2006
-was a two time all-star (in 2002 and 2006)
-won a Silver Slugger award in 2012
-was named AL Player of the Week on April 6, 2008
-handled 962 consecutive errorless chances across two seasons, establishing the AL record at any position
-went 1-for-3 in his final MLB game
-batted .292/.367/.500 with five homers and 18 RBI’s in 32 career postseason games, and helped the White Sox to their first World Series victory in 88 years in 2005
-became the sixth player in history to homer in five consecutive games in 2012
-ranks 43rd in career hit by pitch (129)
-also played 32 games as a DH and 165 as a pinch hitter
-has been a full time MLB broadcaster since 2017, and called postseason games while still active in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2015
We've talked about this before. NO. I'm sorry, it's just that he's not even close.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe we've really discussed him at length yet. What's on your mind?
DeleteHis bat was mediocre. The stats look decent because of the period, but his career OPS+ was 94, and he had an OPS+ above 100 only four times. His glove wasn't particularly impressive either. My objection: He wasn't very good at anything. That's not a hall of famer.
DeleteIn my mind, he was very good.
DeleteLet's go through the five tools for a player, which apply differently for a catcher:
Hitting for average - Pierzynski hit .280 for his career of over 2,000 games, one of the finest marks ever for a catcher.
Hitting for power - He hit nearly 200 homers, ranking 21st among catchers, and had good individual power years. I need to fact check this, but I believe he's the only catcher to hit 25+ homers at age 35 or older and bat .300 or better past age 38.
Fielding - No brainer.
Throwing - In terms of assists, he did fairly well. However, in terms of caught stealing, he was barely better than Piazza.
Running - Not very good at all, but Jason Kendall is probably the only catcher with decent speed since Carlton Fisk.
All of this adds up to one of the finest catchers in history.