Anne Stein

A.J. Pierzynski

Catcher, Chicago White Sox

Age: 31

In Chicago, A.J. Pierzynski’s loved; in other cities, the two-time All-Star isn’t the most popular guy. He’s a passionate clubhouse personality, as crafty and fiery on the field as his outspoken manager, Ozzie Guillen. In 2006, after getting involved in a brief shoving/punching match with Cubs catcher Michael Barrett, the White Sox launched a “Punch A.J.” campaign urging fans to vote him into the final spot on the American League All-Star Team – and he won.

What’s been the favorite moment of your career so far? Winning the World Series (with the White Sox in 2005) would be number one. As far as personal accomplishments, there’s playoffs stuff, the home run against Oakland in 2002 to win the series was huge, but far and away the best thing is to win the World Series. Growing up wanting to be a baseball player, you watch the playoffs and the World Series and see how excited the players are, and you always want to have that feeling. Then when you have that, it’s better than what you could ever expect. It’s amazing, it’s a great experience.

What’s been the toughest moment of your career? Probably my whole year when I was in San Francisco (2004). The things that were said, the things that happened, some people called me some things in the newspaper and stuff like that — just trying to defend yourself about things you really can’t defend, because once it’s written people believe it whether it’s true or not. That whole year was a nightmare. I went there as the new guy, was there about a month-and-a-half, had some guys (teammates) tell some stories to the newspaper that weren’t true, and it went downhill from there.

I’m over it now — I ended up in a better place!

Who’s your favorite athlete in another sport? I grew up a Florida fan so I was always a big Emmitt Smith guy. Now that I play sports and I get to know a lot of these guys, it’s not so much an admiration thing but a mutual respect; you understand how hard it is to do what they do. Especially in football, to see the grind they put their bodies through every week, it’s amazing. The guy I’d probably want to be right now is Tim Tebow (University of Florida quarterback and 2007 Heisman Trophy winner), because I’m a Florida guy, and I have season tickets; it’d be pretty cool to be him for one day.

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What’s your favorite movie? Scarface, because it’s set in Florida and Al Pacino’s so awesome in that movie.

What’s your favorite book? I’ll read anything by James Patterson.

What’s your guilty pleasure? Carvel ice cream cakes — chocolate with vanilla crunchies on the bottom and whipped cream ice cream. That’s what my wife gets me for my birthday and I’ll eat the whole thing in one day. It hurts for a couple days after.

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