Juan Pierre

Juan D'Vaughn Pierre (born August 14, 1977) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2000–2013 for the Colorado Rockies, Florida/Miami Marlins, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox, and Philadelphia Phillies. Known for his speed, he stole 614 bases in his career, the 18th-most in MLB history at the time of his retirement. He worked as an MLB Network on-air analyst before joining the Marlins as a Minor League Outfield Coordinator for the 2019 season.

In 1,994 games over 14 seasons, Pierre posted a .295 batting average (2217-for-7525) with 1075 runs, 255 doubles, 94 triples, 18 home runs, 517 RBI, 614 stolen bases, 464 bases on balls, .343 on-base percentage and .361 slugging percentage. He finished his career with a .990 fielding percentage playing at center and left field. In 26 postseason games, he hit .304 (24-for-79) with 16 runs, five doubles, two triples, seven RBI, three stolen bases and eight walks.

Pierre was born in Mobile, Alabama, to Derry and James. Soon after his birth, his family moved to Alexandria, Louisiana. The Pierres have been deeply rooted in Louisiana since colonial times and are of Creole heritage. Pierre was named after Dominican Hall of Fame pitcher and former Giants player Juan Marichal, his father's favorite player, who also gave him his middle name, D'Vaughn, because he said it had a "good rhyme to it."

Pierre attended Alexandria Senior High School. Prior to his professional career, he played college baseball at Galveston College and the University of South Alabama. With the South Alabama Jaguars, Pierre was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in 1998.

In 1996, he played summer league baseball for the Manitowoc Skunks of the Northwoods League. He was the second Northwoods League alum to play in MLB.

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 with 38 and was a fan favorite even at that level. Pierre moved on to the Asheville Tourists the following year, again batting well over .300 and began 2000 with the Carolina Mudcats before finishing the year in Colorado.

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 José Silva. He appeared in 51 games in 2000, hitting .310 with 20 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Pierre received a single vote in 2000 National League Rookie of the Year voting, tying him for sixth place with Lance Berkman and Chuck Smith.

In 2001, Pierre became the Rockies primary starter in center field, appearing in 156 games, 140 of which were starts, hitting .327 with 2 home runs and 55 RBIs. He led the NL in both stolen bases (46) and caught stealing (17), and his 202 hits were second behind the San Francisco Giants' Rich Aurilia.