I'm always amused at the geniuses that call in the post game show on the Score.  It's become almost humorous and they should rename it the "kick a guy when he's down" post game show.

It seems if a player is scuffling a bit, the geniuses want him traded, waived or sent to the depths of the bench.  Earlier this year, many of them demanded the Sox send Gordon Beckham back to the minors.  Now that he's hit almost .400 the last month, that talk has died down.  The same group wants Bobby Jenks cast aside for Sergio Santos. They all want to drive Mark Kotsay to the airport. And since he's ripping it up at Triple A, they demand Mark Teahen be brought up immediately if not sooner. 

In my view, these are not fans, these are bandwagon jumpers who simply want the hot hand no matter who it is.  The big picture means nothing to them.  They have no understanding about the game of baseball.  If they did, they'd be patient and realize it's a 162 game season and in the law of averages, things generally shake out correctly at the end.

Which brings us to the newest whipping boy, Anthony John Pierzynski.  Honestly, I thought A.J. would be the last one (save for Paulie) to make the list of players the geniuses want to get rid of, but because he's hitting .231 and Ramon Castro has had a fairly good year at the plate, Pierzynski is old news and Castro is the next big thing.

I have some reservations about this.  Pierzynski has always hit for a decent average and limited power. But the thing about A.J. which makes him one of the most valuable members of the team is how he handles pitchers.  He knows this staff inside, outside and upside down and is an extension of pitching coach Don Cooper behind the plate.  He knows how to get the best performance out of each pitcher, including the young guns, Danks and Floyd.  The pitchers trust A.j. implicitly, which is a huge thing.  He makes them better pitchers by his presence and his leadership. 

A.J. is also one of the best at getting in the other team's head.  He talks almost non-stop to opposing hitters causing some of them to lose their focus.  Again, you can't discount that.

The twenty-five thousand dollar question is can you get that out of Castro and do you want to experiment in the middle of a pennant race?  If you were going to give Castro more PT, you probably should have done it earlier.  Now, you pretty much need to dance with who brung you and that person is A.J.

One guy called yesterday and suggested that Castro hit for A.J. late in the game.  Of course, he forgot to take into account that if Castro got injured, there would nobody to catch.  But hey, when you know it all, it's easy to forget the facts.

A.J. has been an asset to this team since 2005.  He's given his full effort and attention to doing the best he can and he's been loyal to the team and the fans.  It's time some of the genuses cut him some slack and show him some loyalty as well.