Juan Pierre: Mr. 100 (3x over)
On July 29th, two days before everything in L.A. revolved around Manny Ramirez, a noteworthy Blue day in its own right took place, as Juan Pierre stole his 100th base as a Dodger. The theft made Pierre just the fourth player, along with Otis Nixon, Brett Butler and Tommy Harper, to hit the century mark with three different teams (in JP's case, the Dodgers, Marlins and Rockies). Pretty interesting achievement and I, along with a couple other writers, talked with Pierre about it the next day.
I meant to post the transcript much sooner, but then Manny-Mania hit and, to be perfectly honest, it slipped my mind. I had some free time today, however, so I thought I'd share with everyone Pierre's thoughts on the milestone. He didn't react with quite the excitement I expected, but as we learned a few days later, this season probably doesn't rank among the speedster's career faves. Or it could just be that Pierre, with his famously outstanding work ethic, isn't the most easily satisfied player in the league. Or both. Or neither. Whatever the case, here's what he had to say.
AK: Do you see this achievement as your ability to put your stamp on a team, wherever you go?
JP: Not much of a stamp, because that means they didn't want me, the other two teams. But I guess it all depends on how you look at it. You look at it that you did good for the team or you've been bounced around a lot. Most guys that steal bases are used to being on one team. Maybe a couple teams at the most.
(Editor's note: Dude, I honestly appreciate you staying humble, but way to bring down a room.)
AK: Even if you've "bounced around," if you want to put it that way, you're still making a pretty big historical impact in a pretty short amount of time.
JP: I guess you could look at it that way. I just try to be consistent as possible. I've been able to do that with my stolen bases. Everywhere I go, I've been allowed to run and been decent at doing it. I wasn't aware of (the achievement) at all.
Q: Given how important running is to your game, how concerned were you after injuring your knee?
JP: Once I wasn't going to need surgery, I was fine. It was just a matter of it healing. I'm fine now.
AK: You had never been on the DL before. Did you even know if you were a quick or slow healer?
JP: No. Especially with my knee. I've never done anything with my knee. I did everything that the trainers told me and it just healed quickly.
AK: What was your reaction when you were told about this being steal #100 and the historical significance? Is it amazement? Happiness? "That's great, but we're in the middle of a game right now?"
JP: It was after the game. I didn't know during the game. After the game (I found out). I think I knew I was with four teams with at least 50, because I remember they put that on the scoreboard last year when I did it. But with the 100, I think I got 100 exactly for the Rockies. That was the one I wasn't sure about. How many people have done it?
AK: Four.
JP: Yeah. Not many guys. No, it's interesting, because like I said, I don't keep up with numbers like that, but that one, I had no clue. I didn't know at all. When the guy (told) me, I was shocked. But like I said, I just try to remain consistent. And try to be out there every day to steal those bases. And hopefully, help the team win when I was with each club.
AK: Is the way you play, with an emphasis on speed and base running, sort of a lost art in today's game?
JP: Yeah, but I think it'll come back. Because the home run totals are going down each year. So hopefully, teams will realize that speed is still a big asset. Hopefully, we'll be able to stick around, the little guys in the game.
AK: Was there a particular base stealer you idolized growing up?
JP: Everybody knew about Rickey (Henderson). That was probably my era's force. Him and Vince Coleman, when I was younger. But the guy I most tried to pattern myself after was Kenny Lofton and Tony Womack. Those guys were in my age bracket when I was in high school and college that I really watched.
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The spirit of the Kevin Brown at work in a face-to-face confrontation with the AK....
Posted by: asdf | August 07, 2008 at 04:37 PM
Hey Juan, remember when you used to be this happy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl0dqWhzU6k
If Senior Greg Oden can still reminisce over World War I, then surely, you can...
Posted by: asdf | August 07, 2008 at 04:45 PM
Asdf,
I don't want you to get the wrong idea. Pierre wasn't unfriendly or anything while I interviewed him. Not even. I was just like, "Way to put the frowny face spin on it."
AK
Posted by: Andrew Kamenetzky | August 07, 2008 at 04:52 PM
Way to light up a room, Juan.
Speed guys usually stay with one team? Let's see, which team did Tim Raines stay with? Rickey Henderson? Vince Coleman? All of those guys bounced around because speed isn't valuable. The last speed guy to stay with one team was. . . . Ty Cobb (sorry, all you Max Carey fans).
Speed doesn't kill. It sometimes wounds when a team is in a tight game, but over the course of a season, a guy who gets on base and drivves in runs is way more important than a speedster. Who was the speedster on the great Yankee teams of the 1990s? Wade Boggs? Paul O'Neill? The Red Sox didn't have a speedy guy outside of Coco Crisp, who can't hit, yet they won two World Series by bashing the ball into gaps and over fences. Speed, shmeed. Speed is important only for taking extra bases.
As for Pierre being the sparkplug of the team, the Dodgers scored the fewest runs of the series in this game with Pierre leading off, so how is it that he's the sparkplug? The Dodgers won game three because of outstanding pitching, not because Pierre is so much better than Andre Ethier.
Pierre takes pitches and works the count, says a previous poster? Pierre is one of the hardest guys to strike out in the league because he usually grounds out before seeing three pitches. He almost never walks, so how is it that he works the count. As torre himself says, pitchers throw strikes to Pierre because they know the worst thing that could happen is a harmless single. For a guy with so much supposed speed, he has shockingly few triples.
Posted by: SaMo | August 07, 2008 at 05:08 PM
Ummm, let's see. He steals 100 bases with three different teams...but the first two teams gladly let him go. Could it be that he has absolutely no skills other than base stealing ability? Could it be that once he wasn't able to hit .340 he became a liability? Could it be that the Florida Marlins and the Chicago Cubs both realized that he was COSTING them runs and therefore, wins? Could it be that he landed with the only team in baseball with a GM dumb enough to sign him, and a manager far enough around the bend to actually play him? UMMMMMM...COULD BE....
Posted by: twerp1 | August 07, 2008 at 05:16 PM
Congradulations to Juan Pierre!
We need speed at the top of the line-up.
Juan, don't let these haters effect you. They pick who they like and nothing you do is going to change that. So just talk to the fans who are behind you. I'm behind you and hope you do well for the rest of the season.
mike t.
Posted by: Michael C. Teniente | August 07, 2008 at 05:42 PM
Good interview AK.
mike t.
Posted by: Michael C. Teniente | August 07, 2008 at 05:43 PM
All I can say is that I hope Juan Pierre doesn't bounce out of the Dodger organization. He may have signed a big contract, but no one can say he hasn't delivered exactly as promised. Someone with that kind of work ethic, speed / pitcher disruption, and dependability is a rare commodity. We're a better team with him.
Posted by: DodgersEast | August 07, 2008 at 06:33 PM
pierre would be THE perfect example for the one-time charlie o. (finley) experiment: the so-called "designated runner" rule ( to allow one player to run the bases for another)........maybe the time for this has finally arrived?????
Posted by: runninonempty | August 07, 2008 at 06:38 PM
Juan is the lonliest number that you'll ever do... Juan-hundred can be as bad as one it's the lonliest number since the number four-eeyore.
Hey I like that, Juan "Eeyore" Pierre.
Posted by: benzojones | August 07, 2008 at 07:53 PM
All too frequently, Manny Ramirez doesn't give the Dodgers veteran at-bats like Sweeney and Pierre do. On a couple of those home runs, Manny swung at the first pitch! He didn't even try to work the count, or bunt the man on first over to second. We need more players like Pierre who will have a professional haircut and run hard to first base on weak grounders to second. We need more veterans like Sweeney who will always play the game the right way.
Posted by: The Dude Abides | August 07, 2008 at 08:24 PM
I don't have anything personal against Pierre. I don't think he is hurting the team like many feel he is. My problem like most here, is he takes time away from Either who IS the better player for THIS team.
I hope Andre is hanging in there. He seems to have a great attitude about everything.
Posted by: Andy B | August 07, 2008 at 09:18 PM
Thanks, Mike.
AK
Posted by: Andrew Kamenetzky | August 07, 2008 at 09:24 PM
I think his recent comments shouldn't detract from some of Pierre's admirable qualities. He does take his job very seriously, he really is an incredibly hard worker, busts his ass, and so on and so forth. It's not like the guy is a evil human being for griping (and he did say he would have made the same deal/it was great for the team, etc.). But there's no question he's got some Eeyore in him, something I've noted a few times, and I think the media criticism he's taken since coming to LA has made him very defensive. He's just not a saint, but who is?
But when he says he's just doing what he's always doing, that's actually not true. His performance this year is far below the best he's had over the course of his career. As was last year. He might feel picked on, but in reality he's probably getting more support from his manager and GM than his production says he deserves.It'll be very interesting in ten or 15 years, after some of the "new mentality" in stats, etc. become a little more mainstream, how one dimensional players like Pierre are received.
If he can get his OBP up to a much higher level, it could help the Dodgers, but otherwise, it's pretty clear looking at the numbers this season they're a far worse offensive team with him in the leadoff spot.
BK
Posted by: Brian Kamenetzky | August 07, 2008 at 09:41 PM
Thanks for posting this interview. The comments that its drawn are exactly the sort of thing that's confused me when it comes to Pierre's reception here, and I can see how he gets into a habit of negativity. Seriously, the guy pulls off a record accomplishment, and many of the fans of his own team whine about how uninteresting they think it is. I still say that Pierre rocks, and that most of his fans don't realize his significance. Stolen bases aren't factored into stats the way they should be. Where's the measure of their influence on the pitcher's performance? The measure of their influence on the positioning of the infielders? Where's the measure of the effective doubles and triples that they amount to? They don't even appear on many of the major news site's box scores. Where do they show up on the major TV network's sports shows who's baseball coverage is way too often nothing more than a review of who hit home runs? Like Juan Pierre, they're under-appreciated.
Posted by: Steve | August 07, 2008 at 09:43 PM
Hey Mike T,
Weren't you also blindly supporting Kwame Brown when he wasted the Lakers time here?
Posted by: dcerros | August 07, 2008 at 09:44 PM
Mike T...
This isn't 1968. Runs are not at a premium. You're not going to win a pennant or even get to a wid card winning 2-1. Thus, Juan Pierre's one attribute, speed, has been rendered almost moot. His speed is MEANINGLESS when he gets on base at a below average rate. Otherwise, he's a hitter with no power who NEVER walks, thus creating no extra bases for himself or his teammates. And...he's not even as fast as Matt Kemp. I'm not a "hater"...I just know something about baseball. I'm also not living in the days of Ty Cobb and the dead ball.
Pennants are won by players who can hit, who get on base, who have power, and who can score when they're supposed to score (from second on singles, from first on long doubles). Ethier should be playing, and when the little guy Pierre is in, he should be batting either 2nd or 8th.
Posted by: twerp1 | August 07, 2008 at 09:48 PM
Hey, Mike T.:
It's spelled "congratulations."
Posted by: Scott | August 07, 2008 at 10:06 PM
Also, Juan Pierre is not a good baseball player. I mean, doing some not-fancy mathematics, you can adjust his slugging percentage to treat stolen bases like doubles (you also have to treat caught stealings as outs). Adjusted, he's only slugging .412, giving him an OPS of .737, (Ethier OPS: 771). Of course, that ignores the fact that a stolen base is still less valuable than a double.
Second-- he is terrible defensively. It's not just his little leaguer's arm; he can't read a fly ball to save his life. Chances are, if you see him make a great diving catch, it was because he misjudged it in the first place.
His deal has been one of the worst in baseball in recent years, not just because he was never really that good to begin with, but because NedCo gave a speed guy big money when he'd be on the wrong side of 30 for the entire deal.
Posted by: Scott | August 07, 2008 at 10:18 PM
C'mon, folks. This isn't Scripps National. Typos/spelling errors are accepted.
BK
Posted by: Brian Kamenetzky | August 07, 2008 at 10:41 PM
AK and BK,
I don't know if it's just me, but this Dodgers blog reads better than the Lakers blog. People here sound like they know what they're talking about. That's not to say those from the other blog are clueless, but some dudes and things on there (i.e. the C's cat, the bandwagon list, etc.) just make it seem more Kid's Meal. Haha.
Plus, Mike T. even sounds more reasonable on this one (for one, he isn't attacking you two). Shocking to some, but truer than Budweiser. My hats off to Mike, even though I disagree to some extent with his take on Juan Pierre.
Posted by: asdf | August 07, 2008 at 11:42 PM
Inasmuch as Juan Pierre seems to be THE favorite target of many in this Blog, I feel compelled to restore some balance to the discussion. First, Juan Pierre is not a ‘bad baseball player’. His season hit totals between 2001-2007 were: 202, 170, 204, 221, 181, 204 and 196 (last season). Anyone with more than a passing knowledge of the game must recognize that these numbers, plus Pierre’s lifetime batting average of .300, clearly establish him as a talented hitter. The fact that he is (and has been) one of the toughest hitters in the game to strike out and a batter who swings and misses only about once every full moon further attests to Pierre’s talents at the plate. The biggest problem with Pierre as a hitter is that his on-base percentage is not what it needs to be for a leadoff hitter. While he has had OBP’s as high as .378 and .374 (good, but not great OBP’s for a leadoff hitter) during his career, in recent years his OBP has been unacceptable for a guy with so little power. However, I must add that earlier this season Pierre did seem committed to seeing more pitches, drawing more walks and getting on base more—but this, it seems, was when Pierre saw himself as ‘fighting for a job’. After being given the everyday job, Pierre seemed to revert back to drawing fewer walks (almost none for weeks at a time, it seemed!) and getting on base less. As an aside, Pierre has actually done better as a #2 hitter (OBP of .512), albeit based on less data (37 at bats). I’m interested to see whether a more patient Pierre re-emerges, now that he is again fighting for a place in the lineup. Back to Pierre’s talents: his speed is clearly an asset. His stolen base totals throughout his career confirm this fact. Pierre’s stolen base percentage is even significantly improved this year, compared to previous years. The notion that Pierre’s speed makes him a good fit only for a bygone era in baseball (such as the late 1960’s) is foolish. There will always be a place for guys who can steal a bag—especially in a close game and, most importantly, in playoff games (think Dave Roberts of the Red Sox vs. the Yankees in the 2004 playoffs), which are often more low-scoring than regular season games. There is no need to have ALL home-run hitters in a line-up. Teams need guys at the top of the line-up to get on base and score runs (Pierre can do this—he has scored 90+ runs 6 times and 100+ runs 3 times). The issue isn’t Pierre’s lack of pop. It’s his lack of OBP. If he could bring his OBP back up to his 2004 level (.374), he would make a fine leadoff hitter. As for his defense, yes, his arm is weak (he’s not the first left-fielder with a weak arm), but his defense has improved this year. He’s made some fine catches (especially in left field). In closing, JP is certainly not a bad player. Yes, he could be better, as we know. But, as has been mentioned in this Blog, he works his tail off and, while his recent comments make him seem rather petulant, I’d rather have a guy upset about not playing than a guy who is happy to sit on the pine while he cashes a check for doing nil. Finally, keep in mind that Pierre played EVERY game for 5 consecutive years prior to this season. Being out of the lineup is unfamiliar and pretty depressing to JP. A guy who has given 100% every game year after year deserves some grace from the Dodger faithful, in my humble judgment.
Posted by: MC | August 08, 2008 at 12:38 AM
While I don't beleive that Pierre should start over Eithier, saying that Juan Pierre "is not a good baseball player" is completely asinine. I have watched almost ever single Dodgers game this year (and last) and Pierre works his ass off every single day. He's batting 322 with runners on and 368 with runners in scoring position. Pretty good for guy that has nothing more to his game than speed.
Posted by: Luke | August 08, 2008 at 01:42 AM
Scott, if you're going to treat Pierre's stolen bases as doubles, you also have to treat his caught stealings as outs, since they're rally killers.
Posted by: SaMo | August 08, 2008 at 07:53 AM
MC,
To make it "sound fair", JP is not a bad baseball player but doesn´t fit in a championship contender team.
BECAUSE:
What´s the value added from a guy that hits 200 hits, but 500 other times brings NADA with the stick and NADA with the glove-arm. NADA means NADA.
BTW, i remember Paul O´Neil once kicking the ball from the outfield, maybe someone can advise JP about it!
Posted by: tio | August 08, 2008 at 08:04 AM