A.J. The Adversary

For years, he hated them. And the feeling was mutual. It was arguably the most heated relationship in all of professional baseball. But now, A.J Peirzynski, the former spark-plug catcher for the Minnesota Twins, will be playing with the ultimate enemy: the Chicago White Sox.

For the past four seasons, ever since the Twins returned to American League Central Division prominence, the Twins and Sox haven't been on the best of terms. In fact, the threat of a bench-clearing brawl looms over each game they play. A major reason for that tension was A.J. Peirzynski. The Twins catcher would chirp at hitters while they stood in the batter's box, chirp at the position players when he was on base and chirp at the entire White Sox team through both city's media outlets.

When A.J. was shipped off to San Francisco to make room for up-and-coming Joe Mauer, controversy followed him. Immediately Peirzynski became the subject of criticism from teammates, fans and the media. They said he was selfish and arrogant. But as the season continued, they realized he was also a solid backstop and an asset to the line-up.

You can expect the same thing to happen in Chicago. At the beginning, there may be some hard feelings between the enemies-turned-teammates. Don't be surprised to see the Chicago media make a big deal of it at the beginning of the season. But in the end, Peirzynski and the Sox will be fine.

I know this because I have played with a lot of guys like A.J. They are the sworn enemy of every team they play. They annoy and berate everyone on the opposing team, no matter who it is. Their teammates are even annoyed by their tactics but, in the name of solidarity, ignore it or at least put up with it. Don't expect A.J. to make a lot of close friends in Chicago, but that doesn't mean he won't be successful.

Losing A.J. Peirzynski before last season didn't seem like a bad deal for the Twins at the time. After all, they had Mauer waiting in the wings. But now that Mauer has suffered a knee injury that is much more serious than the Twins have been willing to let on, A.J's presence behind the plate will be sorely missed. Even more now that he is based in the enemy camp.