Who leads the White Sox in home runs at the All-Star Break? Yes, of course it’s Adam Dunn. But who’s second on the team? Nope, it’s not Paul Konerko. Not so easy, is it (unless you looked at the title of this post, or the picture that accompanies it, in which case your powers of deduction have probably led you to the correct answer)? A.J. Pierzynski.

Pierzynski is having the best offensive season of his career, on pace for career highs in runs, RBI, and walks, which simply isn’t something that happens for a lot of 35-year-olds. His .285 batting average is right in line with his career norm (.284) and his .338 OBP, while a step above his career .324 mark, is not dramatically higher. The eye-opening difference between the 2012 edition of Pierzynski and all earlier models is the power; his .527 slugging percentage would shatter his previous best mark of .464, set back in 2003 with the Twins. He already has 16 home runs, putting him on pace for 31.

Now, I don’t think Pierzynksi is going to hit 30+ home runs, but let’s allow ourselves to imagine he keeps his pace and does it. As I said,  Pierzynski is 35 years old; there simply aren’t a lot of baseball players who manage to hit 30+ home runs, never having done it before, at such an advanced age*.

* All ages in this article are based on the player’s age as of June 30^th of each season, some players may have begun the season one year younger, or finished it one year older, depending on their actual birthday.

Oldest Players to Hit 30+ Home Runs for the First Time:

Pierzynski would tie Cy Williams as the 7^th oldest player ever to hit 30+ HR for the first time.

But most of the guys on that list had other pretty strong home run hitting seasons in their earlier years, their 30+ season came after they’d hit 25 or more a couple times, then they finally broke the 30-HR barrier. Pierzynski’s previous high is only 18 though. So, let’s look at only those players who hit 30+ without ever having hit even 20 home runs in a season before.

Oldest Players to Hit 30+ Home Runs Without Ever Hitting 20+ Before:

As you can see, Pierzynksi would become the second-oldest player EVER to jump from a career high of fewer than 20 home runs, up to 30+! Only thirteen other players in history have done it at the age of 30 or older, and almost half of those players deserve an asterisk: Crowe, Cooper, O’Doul, and Sauer were all playing in their first full (500+ PA) season when they hit 30+, segregation, World War II, and injuries had kept each of them from reaching their full potential until then; Matsui only came to the U.S. when he was 29, he’d hit more than 20 home runs in Japan multiple times before first doing it here.

Pierzynski had played in 1,494 games before this year began, spread over 14 seasons, no one on that list approaches that many appearances before they hit 30 home runs for the first time, only Steinbach (1,054) and Santiago (1,110) had played in as many as 1,000 games, and so only the two of them would really be comparable, should Pierzynski manage to do it.

Random aside: What was going on in 1996, when four players made the jump?!

Pierzynski would need to keep up his unprecedented run in order to hit 30, which is why I expect he’ll fall short. He had a great first-half though, and even without hitting 30, this could be an historic home run hitting season for him because of the position he plays. Only 12 catchers in history have collected 500+ plate appearances at the age of 35 or older, so Pierzynski would be joining a small club even in that regard. Only Carlton Fisk ever hit 30+ home runs at such an age and even dropping the cut off to 20+ home runs, only two other names join the list.

Most Home Runs by a Catcher, Age 35 or Older:

Pierzynski needs 4 home runs in the second-half to become the 4^th catcher on the list; if he can hit 7 more, he’ll be in territory previously visited by only Fisk. That’s the target I’m setting for Pierzynski: 7 more home runs, to get to 23 for the year.

Will he do it???

Paul Konerko hits the 400th HR of his career as a member of the White Sox (Photo: Dennis Wierzbicki-US PRESSWIRE)

Paul Konerko has been on fire the last few weeks, having one of the best stretches of his entire career. He’s made himself a viable American League MVP candidate. Sunday afternoon, Konerko connected on the 407^th home run of his career, tying him with Duke Snider for 47^th on the all-time list. More notably, the home run was also the 400^th of Konerko’s career as a member of the White Sox (it is often forgotten that Konerko actually played briefly for both the Dodgers and Reds before joining the White Sox). Hitting 400 home runs with one franchise is a rare feat; Konerko became just the 24 player in history to accomplish it. Here is a complete list of the players in this select group:

- Of the 24 players who’ve hit 400+ HR with a single franchise, 14 of them did it in the National League, just 10 have accomplished it in the American League.

- The Giants have had 4 players hit 400+ HR for them, the Braves and Yankees have each had 3.

- Among the 16 franchises who’ve been in existence since at least the beginning of the modern era (1901), the A’s, Dodgers, Indians, and Reds have never had a player hit 400+ HR for them.

- Along with Konerko, only Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, and Sammy Sosa have hit 400+ HR for a team other than the one they began their MLB career with. Konerko becomes the only player in history to do it with his 3^rd team.

- Ruth, Gehrig, Ott, Williams, and Musial are the only players who began their career before World War II who went on to hit 400+ HR with a single team.

- Aaron, Mays, Killebrew, Mantle, Banks, Mathews, and McCovey all accomplish the feat after beginning the career in the 1950s, which were something of a golden era for this exclusive club. Notably, four of these seven player are African-American, and would not have been able to play in MLB only a few years earlier.

- Stargell, Yastrzemski, and Schmidt were the only players to begin their career in the 1960s or 1970s to hit 400+ with one team, which may not be such a surprise, given that pitching dominated much of the time they were playing.

- Ripken and Griffey both began in the 1980s, as did Bonds and Sosa, though neither of them began playing with their 400+ HR franchise until the 1990s. Jones, Bagwell, Thomas, and Konerko also started in the 1990s, while Albert Pujols became the first player to start their career in the 2000s and join this group.

- Todd Helton has hit 352 HR with the Rockies; David Ortiz has hit 330 HR since joining the Red Sox. No other active player has 300+ HR with their current team.

- As well as Konerko is playing, it’s not easy to predict how a player his age will play going forward. It’s certainly possible he’ll hit another 100 HR with the White Sox, which would make him only the 12 player in history with 500+ HR with one team. In any event, it is quite an accomplishment, one Konerko and his many fans should all be proud of.