Going into Tuesday, former Chicago White Sox star AJ Pierzynski hadn’t received a single vote on the first 45 ballots counted. By the end of the day, 52 ballots were counted and AJ Pierzynski finally received a vote! It was his first one and it came from the ballot of TR Sullivan. It was the first new ballot (46th total) revealed on Tuesday. Hopefully, AJ receives enough to reach five percent and remain on the ballot.
Pierzynski is probably never going to be in the Hall of Fame. It is an honor to just be on the ballot one time because it means you were at least a very good player. Only the best of the best get in the Hall of Fame which is how it should be.
Of course, Pierzynski is a Chicago sports Hall of Famer in the eyes of many people. He was one of the key pillars of the 2005 team that won 99 regular-season games en route to a World Series championship. This man might be loved in town for the rest of his life.
The other cool news is that Mark Buehrle rose above five percent himself as well. He isn’t likely to ever make it either but he is more deserving than Pierzynski. He was a dominant pitcher doing it clean (we think) while a lot of others around him were cheating. At a minimum, it would be nice to see Buehrle stay on the ballot for a few years.
AJ Pierzynski finally joined some of his pears with a vote for the Hall of Fame.
David Ortiz is leading the way for the vote. He would have more than enough to get in if they stopped the count right now. Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, and Scott Rolen are also above the 75 percent mark needed to make it but they need a lot more positive votes to come in.
A lot of the players at the top spark controversy at the mere idea of them getting into the Hall of Fame. Pierzynski or Buehrle isn’t really a part of that nonsense. Most level-headed people believe that they are not Hall of Famers.
White Sox fans just want to see them have their well-earned respect on a national scale. The team would not have won the World Series in 2005 if either of them were missing from the team. Hopefully, both of them are able to record some more votes and stick around on the ballot for a while. The results will be revealed in full soon enough.