A. J. Pierzynski

Did You Know?

• Pierzynski attended Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Florida, where future Major Leaguer Johnny Damon was a teammate.
• He was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in September 2021.
• Fox hired him as an analyst for the 2011 MLB postseason pregame and postgame show, and he became a full-time analyst in 2017.

Professional career

Pierzynski was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the third round of the 1994 MLB draft and signed on June 9, bypassing a letter of intent to play at the University of Tennessee. He spent four years in the minor leagues with the Gulf Coast League Twins, Elizabethton Twins, Fort Wayne Wizards, Fort Myers Miracle, New Britain Rock Cats, and Salt Lake Buzz before making his MLB debut on September 9, 1998, against the Anaheim Angels. Two days later, he singled off Oakland Athletics pitcher Billy Taylor for his first major league hit. Through 2000, he appeared in only 49 games for the Twins, becoming a regular starter in 2001. In 2002, he was named to the American League All-Star Team as a reserve catcher and hit a crucial ninth-inning home run in Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the Athletics. In 2003, he batted a career-high .312 with 11 home runs and 74 RBI in 137 games. On November 14, 2003, the Twins traded him to the San Francisco Giants for Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano, and Boof Bonser. With the Giants, he hit .272 with 11 home runs and 77 RBI in 131 games, then was non-tendered on December 15, 2004. He signed a one-year, $2.25 million contract with the Chicago White Sox on January 6, 2005. After signing, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Pierzynski had kneed Giants trainer Stan Conte in the groin during a 2004 spring training game, an incident that went unreported for nearly a year. Pierzynski disputed the allegations, questioning why no trouble resulted if such an event occurred.

Professional wrestling

On December 8, 2005, Pierzynski appeared on TNA Impact! accompanied by White Sox strength trainer Dale Torborg, presenting wrestlers A.J. Styles, Chris Sabin, and Sonjay Dutt with 2005 World Series memorabilia in a staged incident. He made his professional wrestling managerial debut at TNA Turning Point 2005 on December 11, 2005, accompanying Torborg, Sabin, and Dutt to ringside. On October 10, 2006, he appeared on ESPN2's Cold Pizza wearing the X-Division Championship belt and challenged WWE Champion John Cena to a title match; Cena responded by asking if Pierzynski got his belt from a gumball machine. He returned to TNA in January 2007, confronting Lance Hoyt with Torborg, and at TNA Against All Odds (2007) was in Torborg's corner when Hoyt defeated him. On the September 7, 2009, edition of WWE Raw, Pierzynski replaced Chris Jericho in a game show called The Price is Raw.