Hector Santiago: Powerful. Inaccurate. Hector Santiago.

Sartorial Baseball: A.J. Pierzynski's All-Gator Nike PEs

A.J. Pierzynski is a memorable baseball player. Some will remember him for getting punched in the face by Michael Barrett. Some will remember him for kneeing the Giants trainer, Stan Conte, square in the nether regions. Most will remember him as a hard working, gritty catcher that pissed off the majority of fan bases around the league (at least 29, and sometimes all 30).

At 35 years old, Pierzynski is in the twilight of his career, expected to wrap up his White Sox tenure as a veteran mentor. Instead of handing over the job to prospect Tyler Flowers, however, A.J. is having one of the best starts of his career (typical A.J.).

If there's one thing we associate with Pierzynski, it's cold game, so it's only right that he wears these fly gator shoes. A huge Florida Gators fan, Pierzynski had his new Nike Air Huarache 2KFresh cleats done up in a unique, all-over "gator" pattern on the upper. Additionally, the sometimes professional wrestler gets a championship belt with his logo placed on the ankle strap.

Forearm bash to Sole Collector

Trend Spotting: SB > Hits

Here is a topic I am 100% none of you have ever thought about. Remember in the 2004 ALCS when Dave Roberts was put in as a pinch runner and stole second in the 9th, scoring the tying run? Dave Roberts recorded no hits that post season and one stolen base.  Jump ahead to this year - Brent Lillibridge, yes the Brent Lillibridge, has recorded six steals to his four hits putting him on pace for forty-four (44) steals and twenty-nine (29) hits.

This triggered my thinking - given a larger sample size, say, an entire season, have there been any instances of elite base stealers grabbing more steals than hits? Baseball Reference to the rescue! I set the bar at the prorated Lillibridgian (sp?)  44 steals and ventured deep into the catacombs.  In 1978, Willie Wilson, seen here with his game-used fungo, swiped 46 bags while blooping 43 hits. Impressive Willie, no wonder you later became the first player to serve jail-time mid season for attempting to buy cocaine.  Aaaaaany who - after another couple hundred clicks I found myself staring at the holy grail of Lillibridgesque (sp?) stat lines:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	H	SB	CS
1976	26	OAK	AL	68	4	1	0	31	11

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com

That's right. ZERO hits and Thirty-one steals. If the first throwback didn't have enough consonance for you how about Larry Lintz. Pictured here holding a bat as if he had any idea how to use it, Larry is the only player in history to record 30+ steals in a season without recording a single hit. He also holds the title as the only player to have more steals than hits in his career (min 100 steals). Given these facts, I will concede that perhaps it is not Lintz who was Lillibridgish, but Lillibridge may be Lintz-like*.

*Of course I saved the best alliterative consonance for last.

Philip Humber Throws 21st Perfect Game in MLB History

You want another classic performance from a mediocre White Sox pitcher? We're talking Wilson Alvarez and Joe Cowley and Joe Horlen and Mark Buehrle. Blue Moon Odom and Francisco Barrios! Now Phil Humber throws the third perfect game in franchise history and the twenty first in MLB history.