Happy birthday to Grant Balfour and A.J. Pierzynski! Let's watch them face off

In his career, catcher A.J. Pierzynski has never recorded a hit against fellow birthday boy Grant Balfour. Their most recent tête-à-tête (seen in the video above) featured Balfour converting a save opportunity for the Athletics by forcing Pierzynski to pop out, making him 0-7 against the Aussie since their first showdown in 2007.

In fact, he's only reached base against the righty once -- drawing a walk off Balfour in Game 4 of the 2008 ALDS between the White Sox and Rays.

And yet, Pierzynski and Balfour will always be linked beyond this statistical oddity and even their shared birthdays.

Why's that?

On July 22, 2001, Balfour made his MLB debut for the Twins. His catcher that day:

A.J. Pierzynski.