Juan Pierre

Infobox MLB player
name=Juan Pierre

---

width=300
position=Outfielder
team=Los Angeles Dodgers
number=9
bats=Left
throws=Left
birthdate=birth date and age|mf=yes|1977|8|14
city-state|Mobile|Alabama
debutdate=August 7
debutyear=2000
debutteam=Colorado Rockies
statyear=July 29, 2008
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.300
stat2label=On base percentage
stat2value=.347
stat3label=Slugging percentage
stat3value=.371
stat4label=Stolen bases
stat4value=424
teams=
* Colorado Rockies (by|2000-by|2002)
* Florida Marlins (by|2003-by|2005)
* Chicago Cubs (by|2006)
* Los Angeles Dodgers (by|2007-present)

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

Through by|2006 he leads all active major league ballplayers in at bats per strikeout (16.51), and has led the National League in that category five of the past six years.

Pierre, who was named for Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal, went to high school at Alexandria Senior High School in Alexandria, Louisiana.

College

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

Minor leagues

Pierre began his professional career with the Portland Rockies of the Northwest League, after being selected 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 by|2000 with the Carolina Mudcats before finishing the year in Colorado.

Major leagues

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 Jose Silva.

Pierre 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 by|2001 and by|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 by|2004. His slugging percentage is also below average due to his inability to collect extra-base hits. His most glaring weakness is his lack of home runs, with only 12 for his entire career and with three different seasons of none whatsoever.

On November 16, by|2002, Pierre was traded along with Mike Hampton and cash to the Florida Marlins for Charles Johnson, Preston Wilson, Vic Darensbourg, and Pablo Ozuna.

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%),cite web|url=http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=1&season=2004|title=Baseball Leaderboard - Advanced - Fan Graphs - 2004|accessdate=2007-08-20|publisher=Fan Graphs] During the post-season, he 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)cite web|url=http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=2&season=2004|title=Baseball Leaderboard - Batted Ball - Fan Graphs - 2004|accessdate=2007-08-20|publisher=Fan Graphs] ; infield hits (38);(5.2%). In addition, he was the only major league player to play every inning of each of his team's games.

In by|2005, Pierre led the National League in games played (162), and had the third-lowest strikeout percentage in baseball (6.9%). [cite web|url=http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=1&season=2005|title=Baseball Leaderboard - Advanced - Fan Graphs - 2005|accessdate=2007-08-20|publisher=Fan Graphs]

On December 7, 2005, the Marlins traded Pierre to the Chicago Cubs, receiving pitchers Sergio Mitre, Ricky Nolasco, and 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.

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), [cite web|url=http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=2&season=2006|title=Baseball Leaderboard - Batted Ball - 2006 - Fan Graphs - 2006|accessdate=2007-08-20|publisher=Fan Graphs] and in lowest strikeout percentage (5.4%). [cite web|url=http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=1&season=2006|title=Baseball Leaderboard - Advanced - Fan Graphs - 2006|accessdate=2007-08-20|publisher=Fan Graphs] 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 by|1982.

On November 22, 2006, Pierre signed a controversial five-year, $44 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers [ [http://mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061122&content_id=1745557&vkey=news_la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la The Official Site of The Los Angeles Dodgers: News: Top-heavy Dodgers sign Pierre ] ] . Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti was criticized in the media and by baseball experts for overspending on a player of Pierre's caliber.

In by|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%), [cite web|url=http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=1&season=2007|title=Baseball Leaderboard - Advanced - Fan Graphs - 2007|accessdate=2007-08-20|publisher=Fan Graphs] 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 by|2008, the Dodgers signed Andruw Jones to a two-year contract to play center field. Because of this, Pierre shifted to left field. After a trip to the DL in July, Pierre was moved into a platoon in center field with the struggling Jones.

After nearly 2 years without hitting a home run, Pierre hit a ball into the right field seats at PNC Park in Pittsburgh on September 15, 2008. It was Pierre's first traditional fly ball home run since August 28, 2006, also in Pittsburgh.

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)
* Pierre was the only player in baseball to play every inning of all his team's games in 2004, and was only the third player to do it since by|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
* Set the record for the lowest batting average (.292) in a season (2006) while collecting at least 200 hits (204).
* Has the 2nd most stolen bases out of any active player
* On July 29, 2008, Pierre stole his hundreth base with the Dodgers, becoming only one of four players in MLB history to steal at least a hundred bases with three different teams. He previously stole 100 with the Colorado Rockies and 167 with the Florida Marlins. Tommy Harper, Brett Butler, and Otis Nixon are the only others to have accomplished this feat. [http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080730&content_id=3223362&vkey=news_la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la]

ee also

*List of Major League Baseball stolen base champions
*List of Major League Baseball triples champions

References

External links

*Baseballstats |mlb=334393 |espn=4486 |br=p/pierrju01 |fangraphs=443 |cube=p/juan-pierre