A Few Minutes With Juan Pierre
The Cubs new center fielder met the media at Wrigley Field today. Here are a few highlights from the conversation:
I'd just like to thank the Cubs organization for believing in me. They gave up a lot of good players for me and believed in me to come in here and fill the void that they had out there. I'm just going to come in here and be me. Obviously, they thought what I've done in the past is good enough and I'm not going to try and go out here and do any more than just be me. I'm really excited about it to play for a team with a history. I have to admit that I have an Andre Dawson throwback jersey and when I got traded I put it on just to see how I looked in the Cubs uniform and it looked pretty good.
Is it too early to say whether this is a place you'd like to be long term? Obviously, you're a free agent after this year.
It's definitely a place that I'd like to be for awhile. Just watching it on TV and from the other dugout, you got a great bunch of guys here. You would have been right in the thick of things if they wouldn't have had injuries. That's the main thing in baseball is staying healthy. If our guys stay healthy, I think we'll have a good shot at making a run for it this year. I think this is one of the top three city to play in. As a baseball player, this is what you dream of. I'm excited about it and I hope to be here for a long time.
Can you talk about playing hurt and your calf injury last year?
I didn't have a good year. I don't think the injury was the reason I did, I just had an off-year. You won't hear me mention an injury being the reason why I played. I think I just had a bad year. After all that, my numbers weren't Juan Pierre-like, but they weren't too bad also. I'm definitely looking to get back into form. The injury wasn't the reason for the way I played last year.
Can you talk about the mentality of a leadoff hitter?
It's the ability to change the whole game. It's taking pride of seeing the first pitch of the game and knowing that you can shake things up right from the first inning. I was talking to Lou Brock a lot - we shared a complex with the Cardinals during spring training in Florida - and he was talking about that. The mentality to have the ability to change the game right off the bat....it's been said I don't walk a lot, but the main thing is to just get on base. Once I get on base, I try to create as much havoc as possible.