Juan Pierre has quietly gone about
his business for the past 14 seasons.
The 35-year-old sports a lifetime batting average just shy of .300 and
came into this season with only one more career strikeout (452) than walks (451). The always reliable Pierre played
in every game over a 5-year span from 2003-2007 with the Marlins, Cubs, and
Dodgers.
Now in his second stint with the
Marlins, Pierre has cemented his name among baseball’s elite with his 600th
stolen base. Only 13 other players since
1900 have reached that mark. Obviously Rickey
Henderson’s lifetime mark of 1,406 is still very distant. Lou Brock (938), Ty Cobb (892), and Tim Raines
(808) may also be beyond reach.
If we keep in mind that Pierre is
only three years removed from his career-high and MLB-best 68 steals in 2010 with
the White Sox, there are a few other well-known base stealers that may be
within reach on this list. Even if
Pierre can manage 35 stolen bases per year (which is 16 less than his career
average per 162 games), he would pass Otis Nixon (620) and Kenny Lofton (622)
by the end of this season. He would
overtake Honus Wagner (639) and Bert Campaneris (649) after 2014. At that rate, he would finish the 2015 season
at age 38 and very near 700 steals, which would move him up to 8th
on the all-time list passing Willie Wilson (668) and Joe Morgan (689).
Even though Pierre has never hit
for power in his career (17 home runs lifetime), he has certainly made his mark
taking bases. He has never been a flashy player, but has just shown up each day and done what he does best: get on base and move himself along. There are some very high-caliber
names on the list ahead of him, not to mention the fact that he has more steals
since he came into the big league in 2000 than any other player during that
span. Juan Pierre has to be placed on
any list of the elite leadoff hitters and base stealers in major league history.
