Juan Pierre

Juan Pierre

Los Angeles Dodgers — No. 9
Left field
Born: August 14 1977 (1977-08-14) (age 30)
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
Major League Baseball debut
August 7, 2000 for the Colorado Rockies
Selected MLB statistics (through 2007)
Batting Average	.301
Runs Batted In	328
Stolen Bases	389
Teams
Colorado Rockies (2000-2002) Florida Marlins (2003-2005) Chicago Cubs (2006) Los Angeles Dodgers (2007-present)

Juan D'Vaughn Pierre (born August 14, 1977 in Mobile, Alabama), is a professional baseball outfielder who plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He bats and throws left-handed.

In his seven years through 2006, Pierre has batted .303 with 12 home runs, 287 RBI, and 325 stolen bases in 1,007 games. Through 2006 he leads all active major league ballplayers in at-bats per strikeout (16.51), and has led the NL in that category five of the past six years. Pierre went to high school at Alexandria Senior High School in Alexandria, Louisiana. Pierre is a lifelong Catholic who has appeared in the film series Champions of Faith which shows how faith has shaped the lives of Major Leaguers.

College

Prior to his professional career he played at University of South Alabama, where he was 1998 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, and Galveston College.

Minor leagues

Pierre began his professional career with the Portland Rockies of the Northwest League, after being drafted by Colorado in the 13th round of the 1998 MLB Draft. He won the league batting and stolen base titles in his first professional season, and was a fan favorite even at that level. Pierre began 2000 with the Carolina Mudcats before finishing the year in Colorado.

Major leagues

Matt Kemp, Juan Pierre and Andre Ethier playing Outfield for the Los Angeles Dodgers

Pierre made his major league debut on August 7 2000 as a pinch runner for the Rockies against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He made his first start in center field the following day and got his first hit in the first inning off of Jose Silva. Juan became a fan favorite early in his career because of his speed, durability, and work ethic. He led the National League in stolen bases in 2001 and 2003, and stole at least 45 bases each year from 2001 to 2006; because of his great speed and ability for contact hitting, many believe he is one of the best leadoff hitters in baseball. Critics are quick to point out that, in contrast to a prototypical leadoff hitter, Pierre rarely walks and must hit for a high average to sustain a high on-base percentage, which Pierre has not accomplished since 2004. In the 2003 regular season, Pierre posted a .305 batting average, led the NL in games played (162), at bats (668), stolen bases (65), and sacrifice hits (15), and led the majors with the lowest strikeout percentage (5.2%),^[1] During the post-season, Juan was a major contributor to the Marlins' 2003 World Series championship. He batted .333 in the World Series and .301 overall in his first playoff experience. In 2004, he led the National League in at-bats (for the second year in a row) with 678; hits (221); triples (12); games played (162); bunt hits (24)^[2]; infield hits (38);^[2](5.2%).^[1] In addition, he was the only player in Major League Baseball to play every inning of each of his team's games. In 2005 Pierre led the National League in games played (162), and had the third-lowest strikeout percentage in baseball (6.9%).^[3] On December 7, 2005, the Florida Marlins traded Pierre to the Chicago Cubs, receiving RHP Sergio Mitre, RHP Ricky Nolasco and LHP Renyel Pinto in exchange. The deal was motivated by the Marlins' need to cut payroll after finding itself unable to secure a new stadium deal in South Florida. Pierre is one of the few major league outfielders who has only played one defensive position in his career, as he has never played an inning in any position but center field. However, because of his below-average throwing arm, his current team the Los Angeles Dodgers reportedly are considering moving him to left field. However, with no power, Pierre would not be a prototypical left fielder. In 2006, despite batting only .292, Pierre led the NL with 204 hits, winning his second hit title, and in at-bats (699), games played (162), bunt hits (21), infield hits (30),^[4] and in lowest strikeout percentage (5.4%).^[5] He also played perfect defensive baseball, earning a fielding percentage of 1.000. However, he also led the major leagues in outs made (532), the second-highest out total for a player since 1982. On November 22, 2006, Pierre signed a controversial five-year, $45 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. General Manager Ned Colletti has been criticized in the media and by baseball experts for overspending on a player of Pierre's caliber. In 2007, Pierre led the majors in bunt hits (19). He also led the NL in games played (162) for the 5th straight year, and singles (164) for the second straight year, led the league in sacrifice hits (20), and had the lowest strikeout percentage in the NL (5.5%),^[6] and had the lowest range factor of all NL center fielders, 2.35. He was 2nd in the NL in stolen bases (64), 3rd in at bats (668) and plate appearances (729), 4th in hits (196), and 9th in triples (8). Going into 2008, the Dodgers have signed Andruw Jones to a 2-year contract to play center field. Because of this, Pierre will be shifted to left field.

Accomplishments

• Member of 2003 World Series champion Florida Marlins, and was named the Marlins most valuable player by the South Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America
• Received the Cool Papa Bell Award from the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in 2003
• Led the National League in stolen bases in 2001 (46) and 2003 (65)
• Major League Baseball Players Association credits Pierre with the smallest hat size among active players (5 and a quarter).
• Pierre was the only player in baseball to play every inning of all his team's games, and was only the third player to do it since 1971.
• On May 9, 2006, Pierre robbed the San Francisco Giants' Barry Bonds of a career 714th home run, which would have tied Bonds with Babe Ruth for second on the all-time list, by catching the ball as it topped the fence
• Was the first Marlin to record 200 hits in a season
• Became only the second player in history to record 200 hits in a season and not bat .300 (The other player was Buddy Bell).
• After Miguel Tejada snapped his consecutive games played streak on June 23, 2007, Pierre has the longest active streak with 434 games. [1]
• Pierre is referred to in the Beyonce and Jay-Z song Déjà Vu.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball stolen base champions
• Los Angeles Dodgers all-time roster
• Florida Marlins all-time roster

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube