The Atlanta Braves are pretty good at keeping a tight lid on any news pertaining to free agents now. Alex Anthopoulos prides himself on not allowing information to be provided to the masses until the organization is ready.
However, that was not the case for the Braves a decade ago. One of the most hilarious moments in Atlanta history happened in 2014 while Fredi Gonzalez was the manager.
Gonzalez won’t be remembered for being the most popular manager in Braves history with how poorly his six-year stint ended. But fans certainly won’t forget the day he leaked one of the team’s free agent signings.
Braves History: Fredi Gonzalez surprisingly leaks team’s offseason addition to fan at HoneyBaked Ham
Braves insider Mark Bowman remembers the day well as he stated it is the day he received one of the best texts of his life.
While waiting in line at an Atlanta area HoneyBaked Ham, Gonzalez told another customer in line that the Braves signed catcher AJ Pierzynski and he was the first person to know. Little did he know that the person he told would tell his son and the news would soon be leaked on Twitter.
This is the 10th anniversary of Fredi Gonzalez telling another Honeybaked Ham customer that @ajpierzynski12 was signing with the Braves. Fredi confirmed this happened via a text that concluded with “Merry Christmas and F*** Twitter.” One of the best texts I’ve ever received. https://t.co/l6tLJ9sbJb
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) December 24, 2024
The fan who was given the news of Atlanta signing Pierzynski to be their backup catcher told his son. His son just happened to be the drummer of a popular rock band named “As Cities Burn”. The post-hardcore band was very popular in the mid-2000s.
Aaron Lunsford was their drummer and he decided to share the news on Twitter from his account. He asked a few of the Braves beat reporters if they could confirm the news and was later confirmed by an industry source.
Lunsford hilariously started a blog that is no longer active called “Ham Rumors” to talk about how everything transpired. His tweets on the matter are also no longer available online.
However, Bowman stated Gonzalez sent him a text message not long after, stating: “Merry Christmas and F**k Twitter.” Pretty easy to imagine this may have gotten a pretty big laugh out of Bowman. That is probably one of the funniest ways to have breaking news confirmed.
Pierzynski spent the final two years of his career with the Atlanta Braves and filled the backup role well. He batted .269/.304/.382 during his two seasons in Atlanta with 11 HR, 72 RBI, and an 87 OPS+. The charismatic catcher even reached 2,000 career hits while playing for the Braves. He finished his career with 2,043 hits; this tied him with Yogi Berra for the sixth-most by a catcher in MLB history.
AJ now serves as an analyst for Fox Sports and co-hosts the Foul Territory podcast alongside Erik Kratz, Scott Braun, Todd Frazier, Adam Jones, Lorenzo Cain, Brock Holt, and Jason Kipnis.
