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A.J. Pierzynski

Anthony John Pierzynski

Position: Catcher
Bats: Left, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 3", Weight: 225 lb.

Born: December 30, 1976 in Bridgehampton, NY
High School: Dr. Phillips (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 1998-2011
2012 Contract Status: Free Agent, 2 yrs/$8M (11-12) (details) [*]
Service Time (01/2012): 11.100, Free Agent: 2013 [*], Agents: Steve Hilliard [*]
    About biographical information


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All-Star

Fan EloRater

Fine Details  · Last Updated Feb 9, 2012, 12:17AM
All-Time Rank (among Batters): #702. Shin-Soo Choo… #703. Chone Figgins… #704. Mike Napoli… #705. A.J. PIERZYNSKI… #706. Alvin Davis… #707. Stan Spence… #708. Jake Stenzel… 

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 114 405 381 51 110 33 2 7 55 1 7 16 57 .289 .322 .441 .763 97 168 7 4 1 3 4 *2
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 95 222 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 88 222 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 94 214 18 1 3 3 6 *2
2010 33 CHW AL 128 503 474 43 128 29 0 9 56 3 4 15 39 .270 .300 .388 .688 85 184 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 97 188 19 5 2 6 6 *2/D
14 Seasons 1494 5707 5316 613 1512 314 17 128 653 13 19 230 621 .284 .324 .422 .746 94 2244 174 97 26 38 56
162 Game Avg. 162 619 576 66 164 34 2 14 71 1 2 25 67 .284 .324 .422 .746 94 243 19 11 3 4 6
CHW (7 yrs) 933 3657 3417 384 954 180 3 91 383 7 8 151 401 .279 .317 .414 .730 90 1413 112 48 19 22 35
MIN (6 yrs) 430 1540 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 (13 yrs) 1363 5197 4845 568 1384 286 15 117 576 13 18 211 594 .286 .324 .423 .748 95 2051 147 82 24 35 52
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: 8+ MVP, 5+ A-S, 2+ Strtr, 0-2 Sub, < 0 Repl.
Year Age Tm Lg PA Rbat Rbaser Rroe Rdp Rfield Rpos Rrep RAR WAR oRAR oWAR dWAR Salary Pos Awards
1998 21 MIN AL 13 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 -1 -0.1 0 0.0 -0.1 $170,000 /2
1999 22 MIN AL 24 -1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0.1 1 0.1 0.0 $200,000 /2
2000 23 MIN AL 96 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 5 0.5 5 0.5 0.0 $202,500 2
2001 24 MIN AL 407 -5 0 -2 1 1 7 14 16 1.6 15 1.5 0.1 $210,000 *2
2002 25 MIN AL 469 0 -2 0 0 -1 8 16 21 2.1 22 2.2 -0.1 $250,000 *2 AS
2003 26 MIN AL 533 9 0 1 1 -1 9 19 38 3.7 39 3.9 -0.2 $365,000 *2
2004 27 SFG NL 510 -7 -4 -3 -4 -4 8 15 1 0.0 5 0.5 -0.5 $3,500,000 *2
2005 28 CHW AL 497 -7 0 2 -1 -5 8 17 14 1.4 19 1.9 -0.5 $2,250,000 *2
2006 29 CHW AL 543 -6 0 -1 1 -5 8 19 16 1.6 21 2.1 -0.5 $4,000,000 *2 AS,MVP-30
2007 30 CHW AL 509 -12 -2 -2 -2 -1 8 18 7 0.7 8 0.8 -0.1 $5,500,000 *2
2008 31 CHW AL 570 -10 -1 -3 1 -8 8 19 6 0.6 14 1.4 -0.8 $5,850,000 *2
2009 32 CHW AL 535 -5 -1 -1 -1 -4 8 19 15 1.4 19 1.8 -0.4 $6,250,000 *2
2010 33 CHW AL 503 -12 -3 -4 -0 1 8 17 7 0.7 6 0.6 0.1 $6,750,000 *2
2011 34 CHW AL 500 -2 -1 -4 -2 -5 7 17 9 0.9 14 1.4 -0.5 $2,000,000 *2/D
14 Seasons 5709 -59 -13 -17 -6 -33 89 194 155 15.2 188 18.7 -3.5 $37,497,500
CHW (7 yrs) 3657 -55 -7 -14 -4 -27 55 126 74 7.3 101 10.0 -2.7 $32,600,000
MIN (6 yrs) 1542 3 -2 0 2 -2 26 53 80 7.9 82 8.2 -0.3 $1,397,500
SFG (1 yr) 510 -7 -4 -3 -4 -4 8 15 1 0.0 5 0.5 -0.5 $3,500,000

Postseason Batting

Postseason Gamelog
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 Seasons (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% PO Awards
1998 MIN AL 21 C 6 35 33 2 0 1 1.000 -1 5.83 .990 7.05 0 4 1 20%
1999 MIN AL 22 C 9 37 35 2 0 1 1.000 0 4.11 .991 6.87 1 1 1 50%
2000 MIN AL 23 C 32 170 160 10 0 3 1.000 0 5.31 .991 6.85 2 10 6 38%
2001 MIN AL 24 C 110 665 611 44 10 7 .985 1 5.95 .990 7.11 4 44 21 32%
2001 MIN AL 24 DH 1 1
2002 MIN AL 25 C 124 801 757 41 3 3 .996 -1 6.44 .993 6.89 2 45 19 30% AS
2003 MIN AL 26 C 135 894 843 45 6 6 .993 -1 5 6.58 .991 6.72 5 46 20 30%
2004 SFG NL 27 C 118 754 697 56 1 6 .999 -4 -1 6.38 .993 7.40 9 51 15 23%
2005 CHW AL 28 C 128 852 803 48 1 8 .999 -5 -5 6.65 .992 6.72 7 79 23 23%
2006 CHW AL 29 C 132 860 795 62 3 4 .997 -5 3 6.49 .992 6.99 10 90 25 22% AS,MVP-30
2007 CHW AL 30 C 130 844 796 46 2 6 .998 -1 7 6.48 .991 7.20 14 62 20 24%
2008 CHW AL 31 C 131 976 913 54 9 8 .991 -8 -8 7.38 .991 7.19 5 96 21 18%
2009 CHW AL 32 C 131 934 879 50 5 8 .995 -4 2 7.09 .992 7.39 7 99 30 23%
2009 CHW AL 32 DH 1 1
2010 CHW AL 33 C 127 931 865 61 5 5 .995 1 6 7.29 .990 7.37 3 75 27 26%
2011 CHW AL 34 C 120 112 107 1008.0 886 817 65 4 4 .995 -5 -5 -6 -6 7.88 7.35 .992 7.61 7.57 4 45 94 24 20% 0
2011 CHW AL 34 DH 7 7
14 Seasons C 1433 112 107 1008.0 9639 9004 586 49 70 .995 -33 4 -39 4 7.88 6.69 .992 7.61 7.13 73 45 796 253 24% 0
14 Seasons TOT 1433 112 107 1008.0 9639 9004 586 49 70 .995 -33 4 -39 4 7.88 6.69 .992 7.61 7.13 73 45 796 253 24% 0
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% 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-1950 SB & CS data for catchers is estimated from catcher assists, games started and opposition stolen bases.
  • From 1950 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 1950 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 1919 on.
  • Innings played (like SB and CS) come from the retrosheet play-by-play data and should be considered mostly complete from 1950 to 1973 and complete from then on.
  • Stats (PO,A,G, etc) for LF-CF-RF positions (since 1919) 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 1950 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

All-Star Games
2002 *
2006

MVP (yr lg (rk, shr))
2006 AL (30, 0%)
0.00 Career Shares (1713th)

Batting Average s c a p y
2003 AL  .312 (8th)
Active  .284 (44th)

Games Played s c a p y
Active  1,494 (50th)

At Bats s c a p y
Active  5,316 (47th)

Hits s c a p y
Active  1,512 (44th)

Doubles s c a p y
Active  314 (44th)

Triples s c a p y
2002 AL  6 (6th)

Singles s c a p y
Active  1,053 (37th)

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  97 (12th)
Career  97 (75th)

Intentional Bases on Balls s c a p y
2003 AL  12 (5th)
Active  56 (39th)

Double Plays Grounded Into s c a p y
2004 NL  27 (1st)
2007 AL  21 (7th)
2011 AL  19 (8th)
Active  174 (23rd)
Career  174 (166th)

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  8.6 (16th)

Outs Made s c a p y
Active  4,061 (48th)

Putouts† s c a p y
Active  9,004 (13th)

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)
Active  1,433 (4th)
Career  1,433 (36th)

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)
Active  9,004 (4th)
Career  9,004 (17th)

Assists as C s c a p y
2006 AL  62 (3rd)
2008 AL  54 (4th)
2009 AL  50 (5th)
2010 AL  61 (2nd)
Active  586 (4th)

Errors Committed as C s c a p y
2001 AL  10 (3rd)
2008 AL  9 (2nd)
Active  49 (8th)

Passed Balls s c a p y
2004 NL  9 (3rd)
2005 AL  7 (4th)
2006 AL  10 (5th)
2007 AL  14 (1st)
Active  73 (6th)

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)
Active  796 (3rd)
Career  796 (60th)

Caught Stealing as C s c a p y
2009 AL  30 (3rd)
2010 AL  27 (4th)
Active  253 (6th)

Range Factor/9Inn as C† s c a p y
2005 AL  6.85 (5th)
2011 AL  7.88 (4th)
Active  7.88 (14th)
Career  7.88 (15th)

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)
Active  6.69 (14th)
Career  6.69 (34th)

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)
Active  .995 (3rd)
Career  .995 (5th)

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 (1764), Average HOFer ≈ 144
Hall of Fame MonitorBatting - 56 (346), Likely HOFer ≈ 100
Hall of Fame StandardsBatting - 26 (450), Average HOFer ≈ 50

Similarity Scores

Explanation of Similarity Scores
Similar Batters 
 View Similar Player Links in Pop-up
 Compare Stats to Similars
  1. Thurman Munson (907)
  2. Terry Steinbach (907)
  3. Sandy Alomar (903)
  4. Bengie Molina (898)
  5. Ramon Hernandez (898)
  6. Smoky Burgess (893)
  7. Walker Cooper (888)
  8. Terry Kennedy (885)
  9. Sherm Lollar (883)
  10. Mike Lieberthal (882)
Similar Batters through 34 
 View Similar Player Links in Pop-up
 Compare Stats to Similars
  1. Benito Santiago (897)
  2. Tony Pena (892)
  3. Ramon Hernandez (887)
  4. Bengie Molina (886)
  5. Mike Lieberthal (876)
  6. Terry Kennedy (874)
  7. Ernie Lombardi (873) *
  8. Jack Clements (872)
  9. Sherm Lollar (870)
  10. Del Crandall (867)
* - Signifies Hall of Famer
Most Similar by Ages 
 View Similar Player Links in Pop-up
 Hold mouse over #'s to see names
  1. Ken O'Dea (970)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  2. Ernie Lombardi (980) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  3. Ernie Lombardi (969) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  4. Tony Pena (965)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  5. Tony Pena (966)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  6. Tony Pena (957)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  7. Earl Battey (940)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  8. Terry Kennedy (924)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  9. Ramon Hernandez (907)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  10. Benito Santiago (906)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  11. Benito Santiago (897)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
* - Signifies Hall of Famer

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$6,000,000
Career to date (may be incomplete)$37,497,500Does not include future salaries
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     The Baseball Page     WhatIfSports: A.J. Pierzynski    

Viewed 31,680 times through February 8, 2012.
Name and misspellings: A. Anthony A.J. AJ J. John pierzinski Pierzynski

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