The Bleacher Bums: May 29, 2007 Archive

Is A.J. playing hard or playing dirty?

Posted at 11:20 AM on May 29, 2007 by Tom Scheck

The Twins beat the White Sox yesterday but only after Sox catcher (and former Twin) A.J. Pierzynski lit a fire under their, well - um, foot. Check out Reusse's column and a Pi Press story on the incident.

During his time in Minnesota, A.J. was well liked by the fans and was considered a hard playing catcher. Opposing teams and fans hated him. As a matter of fact, they still can't stand the guy. Remember that fight in Wrigley?

So what is it, Twins fans? Is A.J. playin' hard or playin' dirty? Discuss...

Mr. Consistent

Posted at 1:38 PM on May 29, 2007 by Chris Dall

I heard a statistic in passing a few weeks ago on the radio, after Johan Santana lost to the Cleveland Indians on May 17, and I've been meaning to look it up ever since. The stat was that Santana had pitched at least 5 innings in 100 straight games. Well it is in fact true, and after yesterday's victory over Chicago, that streak is now at 102. The only other current starting pitcher with a similar streak is Curt Schilling, who went 147 games with at least 5 innings between 2001 and 2006.

That might be one for Mr. Santana to put on his resume for the next time he meets with Twins management to talk contract. It's hard to put a price on that type of consistency given the current state of major league pitching, but my guess is that the price starts somewhere around $20 million a year.