2006 State of the Sox

September 29: White Sox 4, Twins 3

The details of this game are quite inconsequential -- Freddy pitched another gem, Jermaine Dye took sole possession of second place on the White Sox single-season home run list with his 44th of the year, Alex Cintron went yard as well.  Jerry Owens made a nice running catch and doubled before injuring his foot on a slide. 

Nevertheless, we're still out of the playoffs.  So let's talk about A.J. Pierzynski.



For some reason, Minnesota Twins fans boo A.J.  It makes little to no sense, considering:

• He contributed to a couple of pennant-winners
• He was traded; he didn't leave by his own choice
• He brought a hell of a lot back in the trade (Francisco Liriano, Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser)
• He was replaced by the should-be AL MVP (Joe Mauer)

Twins fans boo him all the same.  Then again, Twins fans become abnormally excited when a 55-year-old Dutch guy circles them, so there's not much use analyzing their behavior.

A.J. enjoyed the last laugh tonight, stomping on home plate after Bobby Jenks struck out Phil Nevin on three pitches with the bases loaded to end the game.  I'm certain that will endear him even more to the locals. 

Was it a little over-the-top?  Maybe.  But considering how badly home plate umpire Chuck Meriweather was handling appeals that inning, I don't blame him.  Jenks had to record five outs in the inning thanks to the Metrodome turf and Meriweather, and he barely got the job done, leaving the bases loaded.

After Nick Punto singled with a chopper over Joe Crede's head, Jenks struck out Liu Rodriguez check-swinging with a curveball.  A.J. picked the ball out of the dirt, tagged out Rodriguez, and there was no call.  He appealed to third base umpire Phil Cuzzi -- no swing.  A dozen foul balls later, Rodriguez walks.  Great. 

Up comes Mauer, and Jenks strikes him out on three pitches, the last one a check-swing.  Pierzynski points to the third-base umpire while Meriweather is ruling no-swing and ignoring A.J.'s request.  Finally, Meriweather points to Cuzzi, and Cuzzi rings him up. 

After Michael Cuddyer doubles, it's the same situation with Justin Morneau.  It takes an abnormally long amount of time to get an appeal, and Cuzzi gets it right again.  Two outs.  After a weak Torii Hunter infield single, A.J. finally catches a strike three for which he doesn't have to press the umpires.

But A.J. did more than bitch.  He provided a key run by singling with two outs off a lefty who came in to face him.  With Ross Gload on second, Ron Gardenhire rolled in Dennys Reyes, and Pierzynski hit a hanging slider back through the box to extend the lead to 4-1. 

Considering he had no help from backups this year, A.J. has handled southpaws respectably in 2006, or at least better than last year.  He improved his batting average 36 points (.266), and his on-base percentage by 50 (.297).  In a season where he's had to catch a personal-record number of games (tonight was No. 139) thanks to incompetent backups, the effort's appreciated. 

He even stole a base off Jesse Crain, his first since August 16, 2003. 

Record: 89-71 | Box score | Play-by-play