Mike Dojc

SPORTS

Around the Horn with Baseball's Top Initial Men

3/29/2006

A.J. Pierzynski (White Sox Catcher)— The initials stand for Anthony John. The sports media took to calling the all-star backstop The Phenomenal A.J during the White Sox World Series run. The nickname was borrowed from TNA (Total Nonstop Action

B.J. Ryan (Blue Jays Closer)- B.J. is short for Robert Victor Ryan Jr. His pa’s name is Bo and since Robert was his first son that’s why his name got truncated the way it did. It’s apparently a Louisiana thing. The most famous B.J. in Blue Jay history is B.J. Birdy, Toronto’s mascot from 1979-1999.

A.J. Burnett (Blue Jays Pitcher): Allan James Burnett signed a five-year contract with Toronto worth $55 million. Don’t let the stolid name fool you, Burnett sports tattoos and nipple rings and when he was on the Marlins his at-bat music was Marilyn Manson’s “The Beautiful People.”

JP Ricciardi (Blue Jays General Manager): He’s named after his dad John Paul, but only a couple of his aunt’s and uncles ever called him John. JP’s parents each had nine siblings. He’s described his family as a cross between The Sopranos and Everybody Loves Raymond.

Honorable mention to B.J. Surhoff and J.T. Snow and if anybody has any tidbits on their names or any other initialized ball players in the bigs, let me know in the comments.