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A.J. Pierzynski

Anthony John Pierzynski

Position: Catcher
Bats: Left, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 3", Weight: 235 lb.

Born: December 30, 1976 in Bridgehampton, NY
High School: Dr. Phillips HS (Orlando, FL)
Drafted
by the Minnesota Twins in the 3rd round of the 1994 amateur draft.
Signed June 9, 1994. (All Transactions)
Debut: September 9, 1998
Teams (by GP): WhiteSox/Twins/Giants 1998-2012
2013 Contract Status: Free Agent (details) [*]
Service Time (01/2013): 12.100, Free Agent: 2013 [*], Agents: Steve Hilliard [*]
    About biographical information

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Fine Details  · Last updated Dec 13, 2012 4:17PM
All-Time Rank (among batters): #507. Andre Thornton… #508. Marty Marion… #509. Ron Fairly… #510. A.J. PIERZYNSKI… #511. Adam Dunn… #512. Earl Torgeson… #513. Willie Horton… 

Standard Batting

More Stats

Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards
1998 21 MIN AL 7 13 10 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 .300 .385 .300 .685 82 3 0 1 0 1 0 /2
1999 22 MIN AL 9 24 22 3 6 2 0 0 3 0 0 1 4 .273 .333 .364 .697 76 8 0 1 0 0 0 /2
2000 23 MIN AL 33 96 88 12 27 5 1 2 11 1 0 5 14 .307 .354 .455 .809 100 40 1 2 0 1 0 2
2001 24 MIN AL 114 407 381 51 110 33 2 7 55 1 7 16 57 .289 .322 .441 .763 98 168 7 4 1 3 4 *2/D
2002 25 MIN AL 130 469 440 54 132 31 6 6 49 1 2 13 61 .300 .334 .439 .773 104 193 14 11 2 3 1 *2 AS
2003 26 MIN AL 137 533 487 63 152 35 3 11 74 3 1 24 55 .312 .360 .464 .824 115 226 13 15 2 5 12 *2
2004 27 SFG NL 131 510 471 45 128 28 2 11 77 0 1 19 27 .272 .319 .410 .729 86 193 27 15 2 3 4 *2
2005 28 CHW AL 128 497 460 61 118 21 0 18 56 0 2 23 68 .257 .308 .420 .728 90 193 13 12 1 1 5 *2
2006 29 CHW AL 140 543 509 65 150 24 0 16 64 1 0 22 72 .295 .333 .436 .769 94 222 10 8 3 1 6 *2 AS,MVP-30
2007 30 CHW AL 136 509 472 54 124 24 0 14 50 1 1 25 66 .263 .309 .403 .712 83 190 21 8 1 3 5 *2
2008 31 CHW AL 134 570 534 66 150 31 1 13 60 1 0 19 71 .281 .312 .416 .728 89 222 14 8 3 6 5 *2
2009 32 CHW AL 138 535 504 57 151 22 1 13 49 1 1 24 52 .300 .331 .425 .755 93 214 18 1 3 3 6 *2/D
2010 33 CHW AL 128 503 474 43 128 29 0 9 56 3 4 15 39 .270 .300 .388 .688 84 184 17 6 6 2 2 *2
2011 34 CHW AL 129 500 464 38 133 29 1 8 48 0 0 23 33 .287 .323 .405 .728 94 188 19 5 2 6 6 *2/D
2012 35 CHW AL 135 520 479 68 133 18 4 27 77 0 0 28 78 .278 .326 .501 .827 118 240 8 8 1 4 5 *2/D SS
15 Yrs 1629 6229 5795 681 1645 332 21 155 730 13 19 258 699 .284 .324 .429 .753 96 2484 182 105 27 42 61
162 Game Avg. 162 619 576 68 164 33 2 15 73 1 2 26 70 .284 .324 .429 .753 96 247 18 10 3 4 6
CHW (8 yrs) 1068 4177 3896 452 1087 198 7 118 460 7 8 179 479 .279 .318 .424 .742 93 1653 120 56 20 26 40
MIN (6 yrs) 430 1542 1428 184 430 106 12 26 193 6 10 60 193 .301 .341 .447 .788 105 638 35 34 5 13 17
SFG (1 yr) 131 510 471 45 128 28 2 11 77 0 1 19 27 .272 .319 .410 .729 86 193 27 15 2 3 4
AL (14 yrs) 1498 5719 5324 636 1517 304 19 144 653 13 18 239 672 .285 .324 .430 .755 96 2291 155 90 25 39 57
NL (1 yr) 131 510 471 45 128 28 2 11 77 0 1 19 27 .272 .319 .410 .729 86 193 27 15 2 3 4

Player Value--Batters

WAR Explained (v2.1): 8+ MVP, 5+ A-S, 2+ Starter, 0-2 Sub, < 0 Repl
Year Age Tm Lg G PA Rbat Rbaser Rdp Rfield Rpos RAA WAA Rrep RAR WAR waaWL% 162WL% oWAR dWAR oRAR Salary Pos Awards
1998 21 MIN AL 7 13 -0 0 0 -1 0 -1 -0.1 0 -1 -0.1 .485 .499 0.0 -0.1 0 $170,000 /2
1999 22 MIN AL 9 24 1 0 0 0 0 1 0.1 1 2 0.2 .514 .501 0.2 0.1 2 $200,000 /2
2000 23 MIN AL 33 96 1 0 0 0 2 3 0.3 3 6 0.6 .508 .502 0.6 0.2 6 $202,500 2
2001 24 MIN AL 114 407 -4 -0 1 1 6 3 0.4 14 16 1.6 .502 .502 1.5 0.8 15 $210,000 *2/D
2002 25 MIN AL 130 469 3 -2 -0 -1 6 6 0.7 16 21 2.1 .504 .503 2.2 0.6 22 $250,000 *2 AS
2003 26 MIN AL 137 533 10 1 1 6 8 26 2.6 18 43 4.2 .518 .515 3.7 1.5 37 $365,000 *2
2004 27 SFG NL 131 510 -10 -4 -4 -2 7 -12 -1.3 14 1 0.1 .490 .492 0.3 0.5 3 $3,500,000 *2
2005 28 CHW AL 128 497 -6 -0 -1 3 8 4 0.5 17 21 2.0 .503 .502 1.7 1.1 18 $2,250,000 *2
2006 29 CHW AL 140 543 -5 -0 1 -3 8 -0 0.2 19 18 1.8 .500 .500 2.1 0.5 22 $4,000,000 *2 AS,MVP-30
2007 30 CHW AL 136 509 -14 -2 -2 4 7 -7 -0.5 17 10 1.0 .495 .496 0.6 1.2 6 $5,500,000 *2
2008 31 CHW AL 134 570 -13 -1 1 -9 8 -14 -1.2 19 5 0.6 .489 .491 1.4 0.0 14 $5,850,000 *2
2009 32 CHW AL 138 535 -7 -0 -1 -5 7 -6 -0.4 18 12 1.2 .496 .497 1.7 0.3 17 $6,250,000 *2/D
2010 33 CHW AL 128 503 -14 -3 0 0 7 -10 -0.8 17 8 0.7 .492 .494 0.7 0.9 8 $6,750,000 *2
2011 34 CHW AL 129 500 -7 -1 -2 -9 6 -13 -1.2 17 4 0.3 .490 .492 1.4 -0.2 13 $2,000,000 *2/D
2012 35 CHW AL 135 520 8 -2 1 -5 7 9 1.0 18 27 2.6 .507 .506 3.3 0.2 32 $6,000,000 *2/D SS
15 Seasons 1629 6229 -57 -15 -4 -21 86 -11 0.3 207 196 18.9 .499 .499 21.4 7.7 217 $43,497,500
CHW (8 yrs) 1068 4177 -57 -9 -3 -24 58 -36 -2.4 142 106 10.2 .497 .497 12.9 4.2 130 $38,600,000
MIN (6 yrs) 430 1542 9 -2 2 5 22 37 4.0 51 88 8.6 .508 .504 8.2 3.0 83 $1,397,500
SFG (1 yr) 131 510 -10 -4 -4 -2 7 -12 -1.3 14 1 0.1 .490 .492 0.3 0.5 3 $3,500,000

Postseason Batting

Year Age Tm Lg Series Opp Rslt G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB
2002 25 MIN AL ALDS OAK W 5 18 16 4 7 0 1 1 4 0 0 2 2 .438 .500 .750 1.250 12 0 0 0 0 0
2002 25 MIN AL ALCS ANA L 5 17 16 1 4 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 2 .250 .235 .250 .485 4 0 0 0 1 0
2003 26 MIN AL ALDS NYY L 4 15 13 1 3 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 .231 .333 .462 .795 6 1 0 0 0 1
2005 28 CHW AL ALDS BOS W 3 11 9 5 4 2 0 2 4 1 0 1 0 .444 .545 1.333 1.879 12 0 1 0 0 0
2005 28 CHW AL ALCS LAA W 5 20 18 1 3 0 0 1 2 0 1 1 6 .167 .211 .333 .544 6 0 0 1 0 0
2005 28 CHW AL WS HOU W 4 17 15 3 4 2 0 0 3 1 0 2 2 .267 .353 .400 .753 6 1 0 0 0 0
2008 31 CHW AL ALDS TBR L 4 16 13 1 5 1 0 0 1 0 1 2 1 .385 .500 .462 .962 6 0 1 0 0 0
4 Yrs (7 Series) 30 114 100 16 30 5 1 5 17 2 3 10 13 .300 .372 .520 .892 52 2 2 1 1 1
4 ALDS 16 60 51 11 19 3 1 4 10 1 1 7 3 .373 .467 .706 1.173 36 1 2 0 0 1
2 ALCS 10 37 34 2 7 0 0 1 4 0 2 1 8 .206 .222 .294 .516 10 0 0 1 1 0
1 WS 4 17 15 3 4 2 0 0 3 1 0 2 2 .267 .353 .400 .753 6 1 0 0 0 0

Standard Fielding

More Stats

Adv Fielding w/ run summary
Year Tm Lg Age Pos G GS CG Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% Rtot Rdrs Rtot/yr Rdrs/yr RF/9 RF/G lgFld% lgRF9 lgRFG PB WP SB CS CS% lgCS% PO Awards
1998 MIN AL 21 C 6 4 2 37.0 35 33 2 0 1 1.000 -1 -32 8.51 5.83 .990 7.13 7.05 0 4 4 1 20% 31% 0
1999 MIN AL 22 C 9 6 5 58.0 37 35 2 0 1 1.000 0 0 5.74 4.11 .991 6.98 6.87 1 3 1 1 50% 33% 0
2000 MIN AL 23 C 32 27 18 236.2 170 160 10 0 3 1.000 0 0 6.46 5.31 .991 6.93 6.85 2 10 10 6 38% 30% 0
2001 MIN AL 24 C 110 102 95 901.2 665 611 44 10 7 .985 1 1 6.54 5.95 .990 7.17 7.11 4 35 44 21 32% 29% 2
2001 MIN AL 24 DH 1 1
2002 MIN AL 25 C 124 118 103 1035.2 801 757 41 3 3 .996 -1 -1 6.93 6.44 .993 6.96 6.89 2 49 45 19 30% 32% 0 AS
2003 MIN AL 26 C 135 131 120 1165.2 894 843 45 6 6 .993 -1 6 -1 6 6.86 6.58 .991 6.79 6.72 5 48 46 20 30% 30% 0
2004 SFG NL 27 C 118 117 102 1022.0 754 697 56 1 6 .999 -4 -2 -5 -2 6.63 6.38 .993 7.45 7.40 9 36 51 15 23% 28% 0
2005 CHW AL 28 C 128 124 115 1117.2 852 803 48 1 8 .999 -5 3 -5 3 6.85 6.65 .992 6.79 6.72 7 45 79 23 23% 30% 1
2006 CHW AL 29 C 132 126 119 1125.0 860 795 62 3 4 .997 -5 -3 -5 -3 6.86 6.49 .992 7.09 6.99 10 44 90 25 22% 30% 0 AS,MVP-30
2007 CHW AL 30 C 130 116 111 1058.0 844 796 46 2 6 .998 -1 4 -1 5 7.16 6.48 .991 7.28 7.20 14 32 62 20 24% 27% 0
2008 CHW AL 31 C 131 127 122 1134.1 976 913 54 9 8 .991 -8 -9 -8 -10 7.67 7.38 .991 7.26 7.19 5 38 96 21 18% 27% 0
2009 CHW AL 32 C 131 124 117 1104.0 934 879 50 5 8 .995 -4 -5 -4 -5 7.57 7.09 .992 7.48 7.39 7 44 99 30 23% 26% 1
2009 CHW AL 32 DH 1 1
2010 CHW AL 33 C 127 123 114 1092.2 931 865 61 5 5 .995 1 0 1 0 7.63 7.29 .990 7.44 7.37 3 49 75 27 26% 26% 2
2011 CHW AL 34 C 120 112 107 1008.0 886 817 65 4 4 .995 -5 -9 -6 -11 7.88 7.35 .992 7.61 7.57 4 45 94 24 20% 28% 0
2011 CHW AL 34 DH 7 7
2012 CHW AL 35 C 126 121 111 1071.1 976 899 71 6 8 .994 3 -5 3 -6 8.15 7.70 .993 7.99 7.94 8 54 76 27 26% 25% 1 SS
2012 CHW AL 35 DH 5 5 SS
15 Seasons C 1559 1478 1361 13167.2 10615 9903 657 55 78 .995 -30 -20 -3 -2 7.22 6.77 .992 7.26 7.19 81 536 872 280 24% 28% 7
15 Seasons TOT 1559 1478 1361 13167.2 10615 9903 657 55 78 .995 -30 -20 -3 -2 7.22 6.77 .992 7.26 7.19 81 536 872 280 24% 28% 7
Lg Pos G GS CG Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% Rtot Rdrs Rtot/yr Rdrs/yr RF/9 RF/G lgFld% lgRF9 lgRFG PB WP SB CS CS% lgCS% PO Awards
Note: Fielding stats are a combination of official records and RetroSheet records. Both are likely to have substantial errors and will not match perfectly.
View Complete Notes on Fielding Data
Leagues historically made no effort to balance team, league, and player fielding stats. Since 1990 or so, computers have made this feasible, but prior to that there are hundreds or thousands of discrepancies each year in games played (even whether a player played a position), putouts, assists, double plays and errors.
  • Pre-1948 SB & CS data for catchers is estimated from catcher assists, games started and opposition stolen bases.
  • From 1948 on SB, CS, Pickoff, & WP data for catchers and pitchers is taken from play-by-play accounts in the retrosheet files. There are several hundred games without pbp from 1948 to 1973 and for those we may not have any data.
  • CG & GS come from the retrosheet data and should be complete and pretty accurate from 1918 on.
  • Innings played (like SB and CS) come from the retrosheet play-by-play data and should be considered mostly complete from 1948 to 1973 and complete from then on.
  • Stats (PO,A,G, etc) for LF-CF-RF positions (since 1918) is taken from play-by-play or box score data as available.
  • Stats (PO,A,G,etc) for C,P,1B,2B,3B,SS,OF positions is taken from the official reported totals and may have been corrected at various times since their publication.
  • For detailed information on which games retrosheet is missing play-by-play from 1948 to 1973, please see their most wanted games list
  • For detailed information on the availability of data on this site by year, see our data coverage page

Appearances on Leader Boards, Awards, and Honors

Stats are Year-Value-Rank · Glossary

MVP (yr lg (rk, shr))
2006 AL (30, 0%)
0.00 Career Shares (1736th)

Silver Sluggers
2012 AL (C)

Defensive WARs c a p y
2003 AL  1.5 (7th)
Active  7.7 (36th)

Batting Average s c a p y
2003 AL  .312 (8th)
Active  .284 (47th)

Games Played s c a p y
Active  1,629 (36th)

At Bats s c a p y
Active  5,795 (37th)

Plate Appearances s c a p y
Active  6,229 (39th)

Hits s c a p y
Active  1,645 (37th)

Total Bases s c a p y
Active  2,484 (40th)

Doubles s c a p y
Active  332 (38th)

Triples s c a p y
2002 AL  6 (6th)

Runs Batted In s c a p y
Active  730 (47th)

Singles s c a p y
Active  1,137 (30th)

Extra Base Hits s c a p y
Active  508 (41st)

Times On Base s c a p y
Active  2,008 (42nd)

Hit By Pitch s c a p y
2002 AL  11 (9th)
2003 AL  15 (6th)
2004 NL  15 (5th)
2005 AL  12 (10th)
Active  105 (12th)
Career  105 (67th)

Intentional Bases on Balls s c a p y
2003 AL  12 (5th)
Active  61 (33rd)

Double Plays Grounded Into s c a p y
2004 NL  27 (1st)
2007 AL  21 (7th)
2011 AL  19 (8th)
Active  182 (18th)
Career  182 (144th)

AB per SO s c a p y
2003 AL  8.9 (9th)
2004 NL  17.4 (2nd)
2009 AL  9.7 (6th)
2010 AL  12.2 (3rd)
2011 AL  14.1 (2nd)**
Active  8.3 (16th)

Outs Made s c a p y
Active  4,420 (38th)

Putoutss c a p y
Active  9,903 (9th)

Def. Games as C s c a p y
2002 AL  124 (5th)
2003 AL  135 (4th)
2007 AL  130 (3rd)
2008 AL  131 (3rd)
2009 AL  131 (3rd)
2010 AL  127 (1st)
2012 AL  126 (3rd)
Active  1,559 (2nd)
Career  1,559 (27th)

Putouts as C s c a p y
2002 AL  757 (4th)
2003 AL  843 (4th)
2005 AL  803 (3rd)
2006 AL  795 (4th)
2008 AL  913 (2nd)
2009 AL  879 (2nd)
2010 AL  865 (1st)
2012 AL  899 (3rd)
Active  9,903 (2nd)
Career  9,903 (13th)

Assists as C s c a p y
2006 AL  62 (3rd)
2008 AL  54 (4th)
2009 AL  50 (5th)
2010 AL  61 (2nd)
2012 AL  71 (1st)
Active  657 (2nd)

Errors Committed as C s c a p y
2001 AL  10 (3rd)
2008 AL  9 (2nd)
2012 AL  6 (4th)
Active  55 (6th)

Passed Balls s c a p y
2004 NL  9 (3rd)
2005 AL  7 (4th)
2006 AL  10 (5th)
2007 AL  14 (1st)
2012 AL  8 (5th)
Active  81 (3rd)

Stolen Bases Allowed as C s c a p y
2005 AL  79 (4th)
2006 AL  90 (2nd)
2008 AL  96 (2nd)
2009 AL  99 (2nd)
2010 AL  75 (3rd)
2011 AL  94 (3rd)
2012 AL  76 (3rd)
Active  872 (2nd)
Career  872 (50th)

Caught Stealing as C s c a p y
2009 AL  30 (3rd)
2010 AL  27 (4th)
2012 AL  27 (3rd)
Active  280 (3rd)

Range Factor/9Inn as Cs c a p y
2005 AL  6.85 (5th)
2011 AL  7.88 (4th)
2012 AL  8.15 (4th)
Active  7.22 (21st)
Career  7.22 (47th)

Range Factor/Game as C s c a p y
2003 AL  6.58 (4th)
2005 AL  6.65 (3rd)
2008 AL  7.38 (2nd)
2009 AL  7.09 (5th)
2010 AL  7.29 (2nd)
2011 AL  7.35 (5th)
2012 AL  7.70 (3rd)
Active  6.77 (15th)
Career  6.77 (31st)

Fielding % as C s c a p y
2002 AL  .996 (4th)
2004 NL  .999 (3rd)
2005 AL  .999 (1st)
2006 AL  .997 (3rd)
2007 AL  .998 (3rd)
2009 AL  .995 (5th)
2010 AL  .995 (2nd)
2011 AL  .995 (1st)
2012 AL  .994 (4th)
Active  .995 (4th)
Career  .995 (6th)

Youngest s c a p y
1998 AL  born 1976-12-30 (6th)

                                         
A ** by the stat's value indicates the player had fewer than the required number of at bats or plate appearances for the BA, OBP, SLG or OPS title that year. In order to rank the player, the necessary number of hitless at bats were added to the player's season total. The value printed here is their actual value and not the value used to rank them, therefore some numbers may appear out of order. Requirements to qualify for rate stats.

Hall Of Fame Statistics

Player rank in (·)

Gray InkBatting - 5 (1778), Average HOFer ≈ 144
Hall of Fame MonitorBatting - 72 (268), Likely HOFer ≈ 100
Hall of Fame StandardsBatting - 28 (383), Average HOFer ≈ 50
JAWS Catcher (78th), 18.9 career WAR/15.5 7yr-peak WAR/17.2 JAWS
Average HOF C (out of 14) = 49.3 career WAR/32.0 7yr-peak WAR/40.7 JAWS

Transactions

The transaction information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. We attempt to update transactions throughout the season.

Salaries

Salaries may not be complete (especially pre-1985) and may not include some earned bonuses
Year Age Team Salary Sources Notes
199821Minnesota Twins$170,0002001 Joint Exhibit 1
199922Minnesota Twins$200,0002001 Joint Exhibit 1
200023Minnesota Twins$202,5002001 Joint Exhibit 1
200124Minnesota Twins$210,0004/6/01 USA Today
200225Minnesota Twins$250,0004/3/02 AP
200326Minnesota Twins$365,0004/3/03 AP
200427San Francisco Giants$3,500,0004/7/04 AP
200528Chicago White Sox$2,250,000
200629Chicago White Sox$4,000,000
200730Chicago White Sox$5,500,000
200831Chicago White Sox$5,850,000
200932Chicago White Sox$6,250,000
201033Chicago White Sox$6,750,000
201134Chicago White Sox$2,000,000
201235Chicago White Sox$6,000,000contracts
2013 StatusSigned thru 2012, Earliest Free Agent: 2013
Career to date (may be incomplete)$43,497,500
Salary Data (about) courtesy Doug Pappas, and the Society for American Baseball Research.
Salaries for mid-season call-ups or traded players may not be shown.

Other Resources & Links

Error?     Compare     Search SABR's Baseball Index     Other Links@google.com     Baseball Library     Baseball-Almanac.com     CNN/SI     ESPN     Retrosheet     WahooSam.com     WhatIfSports: A.J. Pierzynski    

Viewed 31,680 times through December 13, 2012.
Name and misspellings: A. Anthony A.J. AJ J. John pierzinski Pierzynski

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