January 12, 200521 yr http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/stor...phil&id=1964657 Wednesday, January 12, 2005 By Phil Rogers Special to ESPN.com It is one thing to be a gifted player, and another again to constantly develop your gifts. Juan Pierre is not the greatest hitter in the majors but he's somehow piled up 200-plus hits in three of the last four seasons. That speaks to his standing as a true craftsman. It's no coincidence that the best at their business are often the smartest. Greg Maddux is the one pitcher on the Chicago Cubs' talented pitching staff who makes it a point to watch the opposing team take batting practice, always searching for ways to exploit hitters. If he gets out to the dugout especially early on days the Florida Marlins are in town, he can sometimes catch a glimpse of Pierre doing his own distinct form of preparation. On the first day of a series on the road, Pierre will go out to home plate with a bag full of baseballs and slowly roll them down the first- and third-base lines, watching to see whether they move toward the infield or roll toward foul territory. Teams never have to do that when they visit Pro Player Stadium. With Pierre and Luis Castillo in the lineup, they know that the Marlins have their field set up with the baselines tiling toward the infield, not away from it. Juan Pierre Pierre is highly skilled at getting the bat on top of the ball. Pierre and his teammate, Castillo, are 1 and 1A on our list of the best bunters in baseball. You couldn't go wrong with either of them, nor Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki, for that matter. Detroit's Alex Sanchez gets a ton of bunt hits but often leaves Alan Trammell scratching his head about how he can't get a sacrifice down in the late innings. Pierre, among the game's best bunters, has most used that old-fashioned weapon to turn himself into a dynamic force. And he also happens to be on the short list of players you would most want a Little Leaguer to emulate. "I can't imagine anybody working harder at anything than Juan Pierre,'' said Cubs special assistant Gary Hughes, who fell for Pierre when both were with the Rockies. "He might be my favorite player in baseball. All I know is his work ethic is unbelievable. Our minor-league staff (in Colorado) got tired of trying to beat him to the ballpark. He's just unbelievable.'' An 13th-round pick in the 1998 draft, Pierre was not a highly touted prospect. But he has succeeded where most talented players failed, in large part because he understands his strengths and limitations. He is listed as 6-foot, 180 pounds, but is an inch or two shorter and maybe 15 pounds lighter. Hughes said Pierre was a "good bunter'' when he first saw him play, in the South Atlantic League in 1999. But when Hughes helped prepare scouting reports for the 2003 National League Championship Series, he cautioned that he was a great bunter. He says the difference is that Pierre always works to make himself more skilled. Pierre mastered the art of bunting as a means to using his blinding speed to first base (he's been clocked as quick as 3.6 seconds). He never got caught up in the macho pursuit of swinging for the fence, resisting the temptation trying to swing for the fences, even when playing at Coors Field, where left-handed hitters love to use the prevailing winds to send balls flying out of the park. "Pierre knows what he can do and what he can't do,'' Hughes said. "I think that's so important -- to know what kind of a player you are, and what you aren't. He's not going to start pumping weights and hit the ball out of Pro Player Stadium.'' Because teams must respect his ability to drag bunt, Pierre gets dozens of hits every season that are slapped just out of the reach of the corner infielders. He's as skilled at putting the ball on the ground to left field as pulling it toward right field. He has good enough bat control to show bunt and then swing away, which can be a third baseman's nightmare. Pierre almost always bunted or at least feigned a bunt the first time to the plate in 2003, when he put 90 bunts in play, pulling the infielders in for the whole game. He varied that pattern last season, saving his bunts for later parts of the game, when he sensed the fielders had perhaps relaxed. You can be sure Pierre will work to refine that approach when spring training arrives. It is what he does. Phil Rogers is the national baseball writer for the Chicago Tribune, which has a Web site at www.chicagosports.com.
January 12, 200521 yr He also happens to be on the short list of players you would most want a Little Leaguer to emulate. Was there ever a sentence that sums a person up more perfectly than that?
January 12, 200521 yr This is one of the many reasons JP is a huge asset to this ballclub. He sets the table and the pace on the field and off. That is exactly what you want in your lead off man.
January 12, 200521 yr We need to lock JP up long term. 654110[/snapback] I don't know....I think the Marlins' brass is high on Eric Reed. I never tire of reading articles on JP.
January 13, 200521 yr It's something we all knew but its good others can see the type of player we've been lucky to have had play for us.
January 14, 200521 yr I was talking with my son the other evening about current Marlins players that may have a chance to make it into the HOF some day. And while Cabrera certainly stands out, and perhaps AJ or Beckett if they ever get their act together and put together a string of outstanding seasons (although right now I would say it is more doubtful). No one else really stood out. Until I starting thinking about JP. With his work ethic, it is quite possible he could continue to be effective into his 40's. He continues to rack up league leading hits and stolen bases each year, and it is quite possible he could finish his career in the top ten all time in both categories, possibly even the top 5. I realize his weak arm is a detriment, yet he brings so many other attributes to the game. Food for thought.
January 14, 200521 yr I was talking with my son the other evening about current Marlins players that may have a chance to make it into the HOF some day. And while Cabrera certainly stands out, and perhaps AJ or Beckett if they ever get their act together and put together a string of outstanding seasons (although right now I would say it is more doubtful). No one else really stood out. Until I starting thinking about JP. With his work ethic, it is quite possible he could continue to be effective into his 40's. He continues to rack up league leading hits and stolen bases each year, and it is quite possible he could finish his career in the top ten all time in both categories, possibly even the top 5. I realize his weak arm is a detriment, yet he brings so many other attributes to the game. Food for thought. 655066[/snapback] That's an interesting thought, but with his OBP suggesting that he's really the less effective of the two leadoff hitters we have on the team, his legacy may be as the biggest all around "good guy" and relentless worker, but barring a 5 years span of .330 averages and 60 SB's, I don't see him getting serious consideration. Although, he does have an outside chance at getting 3,000 hits (bear in mind, he's already near 900 and he's only got 4.5 seasons under his belt), and that is pretty much a ticket into the hall.
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