The Most Hated List

July 31, 2012; Minneapolis, MN, USA: Chicago White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski (12) walks to the dugout after the sixth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

4. A.J. Pierzynski

Let’s get one thing straight. Everyone hates A.J. Pierzynski for the primary reason that he has established himself as the premier jerk in all of baseball. He starts fights, talks trash to hitters while they are in the batter’s box, and even rubs his own teammates the wrong way. Basically he does everything that you would want your catcher to do. It helps explain why he has consistently been one of the best catchers in baseball since he came up with the Twins back in the late 90’s.

The Indians have had quite a few run-ins with Pierzynski over the years thanks to his time spent with intradivision rivals the Twins and White Sox. In 167 games and 681 plate appearances, Pierzynski has a .279/.325/.454 slash line with 20 homers and 79 RBI. He’s been a thorn in the Indians side for years now. When he finally left Chicago prior to the start of the 2013 season for the Rangers, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. We would still have to see him on occasion, but not to the extent when he was playing for the White Sox.

Oh, and then there were the frosted tips. Those didn’t help things any.