Punch AJ, Part 2

No that photo to the left is not a misprint. Nor is it a photoshop project I made Tony do. It is a photo of an "altercation" between our very own World Series MVP David Eckstein and White Sox catcher AJ Pierzynski at an NWA-TNA wrestling pay-per-view this past Sunday.

Here is a recap from the Miami Herald, an actual newspaper, which has a wrestling section on their website:

Catcher A.J. Pierzynski of the 2005 world champion Chicago White Sox picked a
fight with World Series MVP David Eckstein of the 2006 world champion St. Louis Cardinals during the TNA pay-per-view Turning Point on Sunday, Dec. 10 from Universal Studios Orlando.

Pierzynski had a shoving match with Eckstein. Pierzynski's pal Dale Torborg, the strength and conditioning coach for the White Sox and formerly the Demon in WCW, slugged Eckstein's brother, Rick, a minor league coach.

''Dale and I were a little upset that they got the big entrance, yet we just got introduced from the [seats]. Plus, they got the [entrance] music, and we didn't,'' Pierzynski said. "It was a little disappointing. We got a little jealous, so we took out our frustrations on them.''

Pierzynski and Torborg tore Eckstein's new inspirational children's book, Have Heart, which led to the pull-apart.

''As a kid, I always enjoyed wrestling,'' said Eckstein. "All that went down. Wow. That was unbelievable. Things got a bit heated with A.J."

"When you step into the ring, you're stepping outside your comfort zone. I can handle playing in front of 45,000 [baseball] fans, but going out in front of the TNA Wrestling fans who always want to see action, I was nervous.''

So far I've made none of this up.

NWA-TNA promises that this feud is not over and that we should tune in to their show this Thursday on Spike TV to see what happens next.


Doing a little investigative work on this, Brian Stull, host of The Stranglehold (KFNS 590), asked Eckstein about his role in the wrestling ring. Eckstein said that he will not be involved in wrestling an actual match, but said that there is something in the works for this story. He hinted that his brother Rick could be wrestling in the grudge match, as well as AJ Pierzynski.

By the looks of this picture, AJ and his gut will be a force to be reckoned with, no matter who he wrestles.

I'll anxiously be following TNA wrestling for the next couple weeks to see how this plays out. I'm glad our MVP shortstop is using his time doing something worthwhile during the offseason.

Oh, and be sure to pre-order the bertflex.com "David Flex-stein" shirt coming soon!