Pierzynski Voted MLB's Most Hated Player, Chicago Tops For MLB Groupies
By Chuck Sudo in News on Jun 13, 2012 9:40PM
The photo to the right is a blast from the past: that's former Cubs catcher Michael Barrett punching AJ Pierzynski six years ago after he took umbrage with the way Pierzynski celebrated scoring a run after a hard collision at home plate. Pierzynski is that athlete that's a royal dick, unless he plays for your favorite team. Then he's "competitive" and possesses the "intangibles" of a winner.
Men's Journal released a survey of 100 Major League Baseball players and found that the veteran White Sox catcher is still the most hated player in The Show. And the vote wasn't close, either. New York Yankees third baseman/narcissist Alex Rodriguez and outfielder (and former White Sox) Nick Swisher finished second and third, respectively. Incidents like the Barrett punch-out—which helped facilitate Barrett's leaving Chicago—and the high, cleats-first slide in Tampa that resulted in a series of payback pitches and, ultimately, Hawk Harrelson's epic meltdown are reasons why.
One National League pitcher said Pierzynski "likes to talk a lot of shit" and heard that Pierzynski was a bad teammate and clubhouse lawyer.
“He’s been a prick to guys on his own pitching staff. Basically, if you haven’t got five years in the big leagues, he treats you like you’re a peasant. He’s that kind of guy.”
This is nothing new to anyone who follows MLB regularly. Pierzynski has always been a chippy player but put us in the camp of wanting him in black and white any day.
For a legendary shit-talker, however, Pierzynski didn't even rank among the league's best. That honor fell to current Sox third baseman Orlando Hudson. We wonder if Hudson memorized some Clu Haywood gems from Major League.
Former Sox and current Miami skipper Ozzie Guillen was named the least-respected manager among the players, which we're sure will lead to a nice tirade in a few days once a Marlins beat reporter musters the courage to ask. And Chicago was named the best city in baseball for groupies. Again, anyone who followed the scorched earth left behind by Mark Grace during his days as a Cub is unsurprised by this. We long suspected there were some visiting bullpens getting loose, if you know what we mean.