Latest / Chasing Baseball Dreams / 37: Juan Pierre | Your Son’s Baseball Future Isn’t Decided at 12
Transcript
- juan pierre: You gotta be patient. You gotta be encouraging because I've seen it right now. A lot of 13, 14, that's when a lot of the kids stop playing. They like just give up. And my dream, I love kids. I want kids to play baseball as long as they can and have fun. Bobby Minor: And welcome back to Chasing Baseball Dreams. Today I'm joined by I'll say the legendary Juan Pierre. 14 years in the big leagues, over 2,200 hits, more than 600 stolen bases in a World Series ring with the 2003 Florida Marlins. Juan, I'm excited to talk to you about how you got there, what kept you there, and what baseball parents can learn from your journey. So welcome to the show. juan pierre: thanks for having me. love the content you're putting out. Always follow you and get a little snippet every day of of of who you talk to and and information you put out. So I appreciate you having me on. Bobby Minor: Yeah, no, no, I'm I'm really excited, man. There's a lot, there's a lot to your story, and I know parents are gonna get a lot out of it. and so I wanna d just kind of jump into something that I actually did not know. So, like, one, you have more career hits than anybody who ever played in the MLB that never made an all star team. And like, that to me was just mind blowing. juan pierre: Yeah. unfortunately, huh? Bobby Minor: So, you know, a lot Yeah, so and and man, you played five seasons in a row, you played a hundred and sixty-two games. it it's just it's crazy juan pierre: Yeah. Bobby Minor: to me. So like a lot of parents have a son who's producing but maybe isn't getting the recognition that they think that he deserves. So when you were I mean, getting hits, you were stealing all those bases, you were playing every day, and still weren't getting chosen for the all-star team, like how did you deal with that? juan pierre: well it was it was kinda easy. Number one, it's a difference because you're in the big leagues, you know what mean? So I never thought in a million years that I would be in the big league. So being an all-star wasn't on my radar. and I realized I was putting up numbers, but at that time they just picked outfielders, you know what I mean? So you had your staple ones, Andrew, Jim Edmonds, Barry Vond, Sammy Sosa. Chipper played outfield for a couple you know, it i it was no shot. You know what I mean? I was a realist, I I thought I maybe had one shot after we won the the the World Series and you know the manager Jack McKinn was also cause I said, man, he gets to pick like five of his dudes. I had a opportunity then, but that didn't happen. So so it it really didn't affect me. And I didn't really realize till a couple years back that I did have the most hits without making an all-star team. But it was just the era, man. It was the the steroid era, it was hitting home run era. So my type of game was was not looked at as an all-star game type player, but definitely it it helped win games and do that stuff. But so I I handled it right. It's just like who are you? I would have picked Barry Bonds over me. You know what I mean? All the guys I just listed, they Lance Berkman, I I would have chosen all those guys over me. So I would I didn't feel any type Bobby Minor: That's good, that's good. So what would you say to the parent out there that thinks that you know that that their son keeps getting getting passed over, but he d he deserves more? juan pierre: Yeah, you just you just you you put your head down and and and and and go to work. I was I have four boys, so I'm I'm heavy in travel ball. I got a twelve U team, a ten U team, and a nine U team. So I'm I'm right thick and I have a fifty a a boy that's about to play fifteen U baseball, so I'm in the thick of it. So my twelve year old made the well, my fo now fourteen year old, when he was twelve he made the USA team. You know what I mean? They went to Panama and played on the USA team. So my twelve year that just turned twelve year, he tried out, he got to the last sixty-four players and he didn't make it. You know what I mean? And and I and and I sat down with him and he was disappointed, but I wasn't like, these guys, in my opinion, I felt he he he he could have made it 'cause I know I can play, but during the tryout, the the week they had to stay, I felt he didn't do enough. You know what I mean? For what they were looking for. I'm like, huh, come a realist. After the first couple of days, in my mind, I didn't tell. I was like, it's gonna be tough for you to make it. But I didn't go home, these people, now you gotta work hard. I'm like, look, you didn't make it, so what? Nobody gonna remember the 12-year-old U USA team two years from now. so I think when pe the parents don't put so much emphasis on not making this or making this or or doing it, if you do make it. You're the greatest thing in the world if you don't make it, you know what I mean? So I think it's just a even kill. I think the parents reaction to stuff would put the pressure or not pressure on their kids. Bobby Minor: Yeah, that's really good, man. So, okay, I don't 12U baseball. In your opinion, juan pierre: Mm-hmm. Bobby Minor: how much of what happens at 12U has any bearing, if any, on who the players are when they're 16 or 17? juan pierre: it doesn't have much bearing. it's it's just the fields are so small. The kids are actually too big for 12 year. I wish they would do more like 5480. In Florida, we just go straight 12U to 6090. if they did that, my twelve U team, we would do like fifty four eighty right now. because they're ready for it, but they're not ready for sixty they're ready probably the bases and all that, but pitching at sixty feet at twelve, I don't think that's we're gonna hold off on that, but it beholds no bearing just from going through it with my my kid that's 14 now. some of the kids and I've heard it in your podcast, some of the kids that are the best kids at 12 year old. Now some a lot of them do translate, at least from you know, 13, 14, 15. It still translate. but as they get older they're gonna have to when the field start evening out, when you're not just the biggest, strongest kid out there, you gotta learn how to play the game. And all that. But for the most part, if you're pretty good at 12, really, really good at 12, you're gonna be good at 13, 14. I think it it catches up. Now you might not be as fast, you might not necessarily hit as many home runs, but I haven't seen personally a kid that's like really bottom of the barrel, 12U, and then go to 13U, 14U and and just become better. But around 15, 16, 17, hit puberty, get a little stronger. Then you see those guys coming back, in the play. In my opinion. Bobby Minor: yeah, no no, that's good, that's good. and that's why I asked. All right, so your fourteen year old, let's let's say he's fourteen and a half, and you have a decision to make, and is it better in your opinion, I'm gonna ask your opinion again, because it's you know, we're not there's n we don't we don't, you know, i everybody's situation is different. Would you rather juan pierre: Different, yeah. Bobby Minor: have your fourteen year old reclassify and play thirteen U baseball, or would you rather him play up and play fifteen U baseball? juan pierre: Yeah, I would rather him play up. all my teams, just not my personal kid, but all the teams I coach, we usually play up. Now we're stuck at twelve U because usually when we're eleven U, we played 12U. When we're 10U, we played 11U. Now we're 12U, I I can't go to 13U just because of the field size. but I would always have my kids play up. And I saw you s mention this on the podcast. It's like age was number number. You always played with older kids. you that's that's what gets you better if you can handle it. That's why I love the Dominican, Venezuela, all my teammates, they're like where age wasn't but a number. If you could play with the 16-year-old and you were 12, they put you in there. it wasn't age by age by age. You know, we didn't have 10U, 12U, 13. When I was coming up in in the little league and stuff like that, you played like you said, nine and tens usually played together, eleven and twelves usually played together. So I'm always trying to challenge my kids personally. so I will always try to to put him up. And if he gets overmatched and and stuff, that's okay. Like it's fine. but I'm always looking to play up and and and not and to each his own. You know what I mean? I know a lot of people Bobby Minor: Yeah. juan pierre: kind of class down or whatever, but for whatever reason, and that's a personal decision. but I don't get out of whack when we go to these tournaments and they gotta be huge and I'm like, hey, compete. All right, compete. It's gonna help us more than it's gonna help him by playing against us. So let's go out there and compete, see what happens. Bobby Minor: Yeah, that's good stuff, man. so before the big leagues, you went to Galveston College and then and then to juan pierre: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Bobby Minor: South Alabama and I'm a big I'm a big proponent of the JUCO route. I think I think ninety ninety percent of high school players out there I think should strongly consider finding finding a good JUCO program and going that route. That's again just my take. But but what what did you what did you need to get better at coming out of high school and how did you decide that Galveston was the place to do it? juan pierre: so I I I actually I got drafted out of high school. This is back when they had a lot of rounds. It's like the 30th round by the Mariners, and I'm like, that's that's way too low. so I was like, I need to go go to school. All the division one schools, I'm from Louisiana, so you know, the LSU, McNeese States, Norway, you know what I mean? They all wanted me to rest shirt because I was like 150 pounds soaking wet. Like I was small kid. wasn't wasn't a big kid, wasn't strong. And I'm like, I don't want a red shirt at all. So then I started looking in the JUCO's and Gavson Juco just they I don't even know how they found me. I think it was a high school all American game or something like the all-star game I played in. And they came and visited and then I went visit and they had couple guys that was in the minor leagues, Kansas City Royals was like affiliated with them. Dick Smith was the head coach there, had coached some guys that got drafted and stuff like that. And they constantly had guys drafted out of there. So that's how I found Galison. But the thing I needed to work on was was size. I just was a small, talking about undeveloped. You know what I mean? I was maybe 150 pounds, soaking wet, didn't have any power, so to speak, could run the ball down, had a decent arm, but like I just needed to get I wasn't physically ready to go play division one or division two baseball. Bobby Minor: Okay, yeah. So you probably drank a bunch of water burger shakes to try to gain some weight. juan pierre: Yeah, yeah. Whataburger, Jack in the Box, all that good stuff. So Galveston Bobby Minor: Yeah. juan pierre: taught me a lot though. It's first time you're on your own. the coaches was there. Charlie Corbell was a pitching coach. He actually coached in Marlins organization as well, later on. So those coaches they I mean it was ran just like a bigly. I learned how to take infield, outfield, learn how to the coaches was really connected to the pro baseball. So I learned the game of baseball, how it ran the pro style of it at Gallison. Bobby Minor: That that's a a lot of that's I mean I could do a whole show on, you know, the benefits of going the JUCO route, especially, you know, Texas JUCOs. There's some really good ones. So okay, I want to ask juan pierre: Yeah. it's awesome. Yeah. Bobby Minor: you a question. I've had this debate with my son, the one that that's playing college baseball right now, and and So I want to hear your take. So you had a 14 year big league career. You hit 18 home runs your entire career. And I'm trying to explain juan pierre: Hehehe. Bobby Minor: to my son that 'cause like I'm I I'm bat I bat left handed, I throw right, but I bat left. And like back when I was playing, I wasn't trying to hit home runs. It was just I w it was a different sort of game. Like I would you know, I would slap the ball, I would you know, I would drive the ball in the gap, but I mean I my whole thing was I was just trying to get on base. If I told him if I juan pierre: Right. Bobby Minor: were playing today, if I were playing today, I guarantee you I would have hit more home runs. So I wanna hear your take on it. If you were playing go back in time and now you're starting your big league career in twenty twenty six and you play fourteen years, you think you would have hit more than eighteen home runs? juan pierre: I would have tried I guess I would say. Definitely would have tried to hit more than 18 home run. It's such a touchy thing because I was just like you like my goal was just to get on base for the big boys. That was our job. At South Alabama we had Coach Kitchell. He called ants and bulls. He said ants can't be bulls and bulls can't be ants. All right. We have And that always stuck with me my whole career. So I never, I definitely could have hit more home runs if I would have picked certain pitches. It's definitely the big league. have certain parks that are easier to hit home runs in. I would have picked more spots to do it, but my aim was just to get on base. If I wanted to miss, I was taught to miss on top of the ball. So you hit a ground ball, you do all those type things, but. unfortunately now the way to game even the youth side high school side, it's it's metrics. It's metrics. So I tell kids all the time. I really don't even think I would have got a shot to play in the big leagues now. The way the way the game is played and the metrics and all those type things. Because I don't grade well on none of that stuff. I never have never would. So but it is refreshing to see like a Chandler Simpson guy like He made it, hopefully he sticks around, but like those were the type of hitters, like they taught us, you know, it wasn't everybody. It was just a couple of guys in the lineup or even when I played, it was me. Each role was way, you know, had more power, way more power, but he was a type, Sean Figgins was a type of guy like that. had Kenny Law. You had these guys around the league that was a similar type players. And you had for Kyle's, Jimmy Rollins was like that, but they had more power. But you just don't see that around the league anymore. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Now that's yeah. you know, it it's definitely definitely interesting and and it just di just how much everything's changed. juan pierre: it's just amazing how, and it seems it changed quick. I know it was over time, but the game has changed quick, just the evolution and the thought process behind it. And like I said, I'm not that old school guy. I like, you don't need analytics. And you know what mean? It's a place for it, but it's, the way I was taught couldn't always, all of it been wrong. You know what I mean? Like maybe some parts we could have done better, but like it's like. It's like you look at the game now and looks like everything I was taught to do was wrong, you know? Bobby Minor: Yeah. Well and this I mean, one thing I loved about the World Series is you saw two teams that made the World Series that both bunted a lot during the season. You know, we gotten away from from laying down bunts and you know, even the Ra I mean the Rays, the Cardinals who weren't weren't in the World Series, but you know, not only just seeing them bunt more, but I've s you know, seen bunt two or three times in the same inning. So I think there's juan pierre: Yeah. Bobby Minor: this shift, you know, where it shifted so far this way, it's all analytics driven. juan pierre: Mm. Bobby Minor: Now it seems like it's kinda coming back more towards the middle. where it's how can we take the data but still you know still play good baseball. So now juan pierre: Yeah, yes, just play the game the way it was supposed to be designed to be played. like I said, it wasn't everybody back in the day, even in the steroid hour came in, you didn't have like five dudes, six dudes in the lineup button. You just had, you know, a couple at the top, Bobby Minor: Yeah. juan pierre: maybe at the back, you know, had your thumpers in there, you know what mean? You had your guys that hit 40 home runs. It's like, I'll give you example. If a guy's batting two 40 on the season, he's batting 180 with runners in scoring position. All right, you get a guy on second base, nobody out. what's the chances of him really getting the hit? what's the chances? Bobby Minor: It dude, this that's a whole this is a whole to me a whole nother conversation. You know, I'm sure juan pierre: Yeah, I know. Bobby Minor: like a lot of people out there now they they have no idea what the Mendoza line is, but okay, during your career if you were batting two twenty, what what was gonna happen? juan pierre: You're getting to get sit down. You're out of there. This is why you never had guys bat 220 Bobby Minor: yeah. juan pierre: and hit 40 home runs. You know what mean? Because you never got to the 40 if you was batting 220. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Now you can bat two twenty and be a multi millionaire, juan pierre: always on Teep's side of the players. So like, if the analytics help those Bobby Minor: Yeah. juan pierre: guys stay around. Bobby Minor: Yeah. So I I wanna I wanna ask you a question about when when you were younger. So like juan pierre: Mm-hmm. Bobby Minor: what did you what did your parents do when you had when you had a bad game? Like I'd love to know like what happened between the last out and and getting home because that's where a lot of baseball parents that that are listening, that's where they struggle. You know, the car ride home. So juan pierre: Yeah. Bobby Minor: like how did your parents how'd your parents handle it if you had a bad game? juan pierre: Yeah, they, it wasn't that much to it. my parents wasn't, I wouldn't say the crazy parents of these days. Like we were from a country town. Like we played against your buddies. Like it wasn't as serious as it is now. know, like on the coaching side and on the parent side, I'm on both sides right now. And it's mind blowing, you know, the pressure, the stuff as young as a kid. I just remember playing with my buddies. I don't even think I was in high school with the ride. My parents were easy like that. They didn't have no expectations of me. didn't, not to my knowledge, expected me to get drafted and go to big league. Like that stuff wasn't, they just wanted me to make good grades, like be a good student, you know, and be a good person and whatever you did on the field, it was whatever. So I didn't have those kinds of parents that was, put so much emphasis on the athletic side. Bobby Minor: Okay. And your audio your audio like on my it cuts out in the recording it's gonna be fine, but it cuts out. That's why sometimes if I'm if I'm pausing, it's like I'm trying to make sure that you're that you're juan pierre: Okay. Bobby Minor: done talking. So but I'll edit that out. I'm gonna I'm gonna edit what I just said out. So all right, so so we talked about you building juan pierre: Okay, and if it doesn't work out, we can do it again. Bobby Minor: Okay. Yeah. so juan pierre: Mm-hmm. Bobby Minor: like we said, you build a fourteen year big league career without being a home run hitter. And to me, I think it was Lewis Brenton when I had Lewis on, we were talking about just how huge it is to even have a ten year career. So you built you know, you you played fourteen years in the majors and you weren't a home run hitter. So juan pierre: No. Bobby Minor: Let's say a dad has a son who who makes contact, he gets on base, he can run, but he he's worried because other kids are hitting balls over the fence. How would you figure out whether that kid needs to change something or just keep developing the things he already does well? juan pierre: I would say keep developing the things he does well, have the right actions. Because if you're young, if you're in high school, the last thing that really comes in an athlete is the strength. Sometimes you just got to get older. Some guys get stronger earlier, but if you're a guy that gets the right swing, get your right path, do everything. And I give prime example of my kid that's 14, he's going to be 15 in January. Last year we went straight to the BB Corbats. We didn't do drop fives. So like a lot of balls, he was frustrated. I'm like, look man, in a year, ball's gonna be in the gap. Like it's okay. You know, then he played his 14 year and they're the wood bat games and stuff. like, bro, you hit the ball well. Like a couple of years, that ball be over his head. You know what mean? So do I get the swing right? And you will worry about the strength part after that. But you know, I get it. When you see a kid your same age as you or a year older, they hitting the ball like. On this 15-year team now, we got guys that's hitting it out the park in the Monterlee fields. We played in the WWBA. We hit 10 home runs as a team with a wood bat. These kids are 15, some of Bobby Minor: No. juan pierre: them 14. So I'm like, that's incredible. I was what is going on here? So it's a matter of just, it's the process. And I get it as a parent, you do look over to the left, you look to the right, you see this kid doing that, that kid doing this, but it all pans out. at 17, 18 and if your kid never hits home runs like that's a possibility. It's just that's how the game works as the good Lord bless you. Some be blessed with more power than the others, but you can't go chasing it. You know at such an early age. Bobby Minor: Yeah, for sure. I I had Chris Colabello on yesterday and he never he hit zero home runs in high school. So, you know, and juan pierre: Hmm Bobby Minor: still and still made it to the big. So now, one thing that you are well known for is your is your work ethic. Like you like your work habits became a big part of your reputation as a player. So when you were a teenager what did working hard actually look like for you? if we'd watched you for a week, we were a fly on the wall, like what w what would we have seen you doing without a parent or coach telling you to do it? juan pierre: man, yeah. High school, like I really started getting after it. Like I would get up in the mornings, I didn't have a cage and we couldn't afford none of that stuff. So I had like wiffle balls and a tee and I would hit in my backyard before school and just hit and hit, you know, these wiffle balls. I had an older brother that was seven years older. So we always would play like wiffle ball stuff in the back. But then at school, we'll have practice, but I'll go on the weekend. I'll ride my bike, up to the, up to the field. Didn't have really nobody to play base because all the kids in my neighborhood, they was basketball or football. So I didn't really have kids to play catch with. I would ride my bike backpack full of balls, get on the football field, throw the balls down to one end, pick them up, throw them back to the other end. All the little stuff that, that, I mean, kids don't have to do now. I know my kids don't because they have everything now, which could be a downside. know, I think that part of the game, the love of the game, not knowing anyone telling me I had to do it, what got me to where I was, you know what mean? But now, you know, got less, like now kids can't go out and do anything without a coach or an instructor too, and they don't know how to figure stuff out on their own. So that, I was, I was really into it, I was a big basketball player too. I loved basketball in high school. I played all the way to my senior year. So basketball season, you'll see me at five, six in the morning, drilling my ball down the street. My neighbor used to say that I was there long clock. So whatever I went after, you know what mean? I really got after and that's one thing I would teach. If I could teach my kids, if I would want to put some in them that was in me, it was be like to work, you know what I mean? the work ethic part because that gives you the chance. I'll tell parents all the time, I see these guys, they get instruction, they do this. I say, look, it gives you the best opportunity to be good, but it doesn't guarantee you nothing. You know what mean? I played with guys in the Bickleys, man. I'm in the cage for hours trying to figure it out. These kids take five swings off the tee and they go four for four, three for three with two bones. I'm like, man, that's just not fair, man. So the work puts you in a good spot. But in baseball, doesn't guarantee you success on the field. Bobby Minor: Yeah. For sure, for sure. So how much how much how much did playing basketball help you as a baseball player? juan pierre: it helped a lot. the agility. It's fun. know what mean? Like you said, baseball, it's a lot of standing around. It can be boring. It's not active, but basketball is for just the hand-eye coordination is for just the agility, the jumping, the running, the competing. Because if you sit back in basketball, you won't get a rebound, you won't get nothing. You got to get in there and get dirty and get after it a little bit. So I think it helped my own. my baseball tremendously and I know other professional athletes, we all say the same thing, play multiple sports, do this, do that, but having a kid in it, having four kids in it, it's tough to play multiple sports. It's almost impossible to play multiple sports outside of high school. If you do your high school or your middle school basketball, then you could play your baseball, but as far as travel, They all play at the same time. Bobby Minor: No, definitely makes it tough. So you had five seasons in a row. You played all 162 games. So two questions. During those five years, how how much of that, I mean, were you just injury free or how much of it did you play through injuries? And then I guess in your sixth season, what what what led to you finally sitting out a game? juan pierre: Well, I was injured from but you play I stole basis, you know, I mean my game was one pretty as we mentioned I had 18 home runs so I wasn't trotting around the bases a lot. So I will get on that was before to pick over three time rules. So guys will pick over jam fingers broken fingers popping it back. Didn't have those big sliding minutes like they have now wish I did. So it's a lot of stuff and I played in Miami for three of those years. You know what mean? So it was outside, it was hot, it was 100 degrees. So it was just a mindset. Like I just wanted to be out there. I felt when I was out there, I gave our team the best chance to win. Now somebody else, fans may have disagreed, but me personally thought if I was out there, I gave my chance, the team a good chance to win. even if I was aching and stuff, which I did a lot. had a lot of strain hams. you kind of know that if you do have a strain or something, you know how to play with it. learn, you just learn how to play hurt. That's what the old schoolers taught me. They always say you can't make the club in the tub. So I didn't go to the training room. If I had anything, I would go back to the hotel, get treatment, put treatment ice, all that at myself, never went in the training room. It was just a mindset to when you play that many games. That's why I love to talk to Cal Ripken about cause that was, that was unbelievable what he did. but it's just a mindset of like, you just want to be out there for your teammates. Like if a game's going on, and I used to always get flagged because like big leaguers, all right, if you're out of it by September or something, you'll see some of the big guys take some few games off and have elements, but always will tell the guy, the contract say 162, man. They're paying me to play 162 games. I'm going to be out there for that 162, if I can be. Bobby Minor: So what finally ended your streak? juan pierre: man, like it wasn't by choice. I was with the Dodgers. signed a five year deal with the Dodgers, played in 162 my first year. well, I stole like 65 bases, had 198 hits, batted like 294, which in baseball terms, that's a pretty good year. Mason Marys and Alphill, in a long story short, they signed Andrew Jones. the Dodgers signed Andrew Jones and they had Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, two young budding stars. And, and, and I was the I-Man Out. That's, that's how it ended for me. I was the I-Man Out the first opening day, 2008. Yeah. I found myself on the bench, healthy. it was a hard time for me. But honestly, I mean, this is going off the rail a little bit, but honestly, that's what brought me to my faith. You know, I'm a man of faith, Jesus Christ. And that time I think God was dealing with me during that streak, because baseball had became my idol. You know what mean? I love baseball. I mean, anytime you play 160, you're getting five years in a That's... You act like all the big leaguers, they'll be like... And in 2004, I played every inning. I didn't sit out at any. So if we're up 15-0 in the ninth inning, and the guys want to sit out, I'm like, no, I'm in there. So I played every inning in 2004. So doing that process with the Dodgers, that's when God started showing myself like baseball is not the all in all. So I had to sit down on the bench, and that's when I accepted the Lord. Jesus Christ as my savior and he walked me through that. definitely a painful time, but a great time because I wouldn't be right where I'm at right now without being sit on the bench. Sorry for that, the answer, but that's how it came to be. Bobby Minor: No, actu no, actually 'cause I wanted to ask you about that. 'Cause you you'd I mean, established yourself in the big leagues. I mean, you're an everyday guy and then, you know, with the Dodgers all of a sudden now you find yourself sitting. and so so your your faith obviously was a big part of that, but what was the what was the biggest lesson that you personally learned through that and what would you say to the parent out there that's watching that again thinks that you know thinks that their son deserves more and he's not getting what they think he deserves? juan pierre: Yeah, it's especially in baseball athletics in general and baseball, like a lot of that stuff happens all the time, unfortunately. Guys, and you know this, guys that hit the home runs, that do all this, even at a youth level, they get a longer string. You know what mean? That's just the way it go and parents don't realize it, like as being a coach and seeing like everything is not equal. It's just, this is where it is. know, if a guy's the big guy, the big dog on the team, he's going to get a long release. He'll be able to do more things or not do things and do right. like, sometimes you're going to get the short end of the stick, like, but you got to continue to keep working, continue to keep doing your work. You can't let that derail you from the ultimate goal and whatever it is. Say you're on your high school team, you're not playing your freshman year, you're not playing your sophomore year, junior year you get some time, but you continue to work, you continue to get better, you continue to develop, and what God has for you, he has for you. If it's meant for you to get out on the field and do your thing, you will, but you hear a lot of stories where it happens either way. But as a parent, you encourage your kid, you don't... Cause I always tell parents from the 13U to 14U, do not, that ain't the time to be the bad car ride home. Because number one, the field is too big for the kids. it's going to be a lot of sleepless nights. It shouldn't be, but at the youth level, but it's, it's that 13U, 14U just because it's a big transit. I think that's one of the biggest jumps in baseball. And that's not the time to be grilling your kids. It's never a time, but definitely not the time. You gotta be patient. You gotta be encouraging because I've seen it right now. A lot of 13, 14, that's when a lot of the kids stop playing. They like just give up. And my dream, I love kids. I want kids to play baseball as long as they can and have fun. But as a parent, you gotta be their best cheerleader. And I know it's tough. You wanna get home, you work on something all week and they get out there and do the exact opposite. It's frustrating. But they're kids, you know what mean? The kid's gonna be kids. Bobby Minor: Yeah, no doubt. All right, I wanna I wanna talk we we talked a lot about you stealing bases. So you stole six hundred and fourteen bases. Take us inside a time that you got thrown out in a big situation. All right. Like what did your manager say? And how did you keep that mistake from from making you like gun shy the next time? Because like parents and coaches say they want aggressive players, but then they get upset when that aggression costs them an out. juan pierre: Yeah, when they get... Yeah, I've dealt with that. They're like, why did you get thrown out there? I'm like, that wasn't the goal. went thinking I was gonna make it. I didn't run thinking I was gonna get out, but you hit it right on the head. We're gonna pizza grass, we're gonna do this, reed balls in the dirt, let's take the extra bass. But as soon as somebody gets thrown out, everybody gets upset. so, Mari Wills, rest in peace Mari Wills. He taught me like as a base stealer, like you're going to get picked off and you're going to get thrown out. It's like, once you do that, you keep going. You say you get thrown out, you get picked up next time you go again. and that was the old school mentality, which now I don't think works as much because the analytical game and if you get thrown out and messes with your war, I still help out with the Miami, with the Marlins. Miami Marlins, so these guys are teaching me all these stuff now. I'm like, man, really? He said, yeah, you can't do this. can't mess up your war. They know how to calculate that stuff in game. So that aggression of keep going and all that stuff, I don't even think the managers would allow that, but that's how it was. It was just that mentality. Like, hey, I'm getting on base. I'm going to create havoc. And I wasn't just running to run. The running was to move up 90 feet. give your team a better chance to score runs. That's that's the reason of running. wasn't to steal 6070 bases. That's the byproduct of it, but I never ran just to say this to steal a base. My goal was always to help the guy behind me, drive me in. But definitely it's a different mindset. gotta you gotta you gotta realize you gotta get picked and hopefully you have a manager or coach that's OK with it. You know what mean? Because if you're going to be aggressive, they call it stealing for a reason. You're going to get thrown out. I heard it with the Tampa Bay. I Chandler Simpson got thrown out. He overslept the base in the World Series. why would he run there? I'm like, that's his game. You know what I mean? That's his game. Obviously, the manager didn't tell him not to run. So it's hard. Especially you get thrown out big time. I've been booed off the field. You get thrown out. the fans are yelling and stuff, the players are, hey man, you know, but I practiced on, number one, I practiced it. Like I worked at it, I studied it, and sometimes it didn't go my way, but it wasn't like I was just flipping a coin out there, you know, still in basis. Bobby Minor: Yeah, that's that's really, really good. here's another what would it be like for you today versus then? So when you were playing, if they had the three the three the three throw, three pick off rule rule then, how many bases do you think you could've stolen? You think you could've you think you could have cracked a hundred in a season? juan pierre: I don't know a hundred, a hundred is a lot. I don't know Ricky, Mario Wills, Lou Brock, like those, that's a lot, a hundred. You know what mean? I would definitely have to have an on base about Vince Coleman. Yeah, Vince. And Bobby Minor: Vince Coleman. Don't forget Vince. Vince Coleman. Yeah. Yeah. juan pierre: Vince did it like batting 260, 270. Like I don't know how he did it. Like he, wasn't a big on base percentage guy. He just, every time he got on, he stole second and third. I think I could have got maybe 80 on a good year. That's the only thing like, My type hitters, like I'll tell people, like my batting average was pretty much my on-base percentage. So the years I batted 320 over 300, my on-base was probably 360, 370. Those are the years I probably could have got, you know, close to 80. Cause I was just a guy that didn't walk a lot. And everybody's like, you see, I'm like, no, I always was on the tops of the list of pitches, seeing the pitches per at bat. It's just, I will get to three, two or whatever. And they forced me to put it in play, which was smart. on the pictures scene, but I think I could have got 80. 100 is a lot. Bobby Minor: Yeah. One thirty three. Think about one thirty three. Isn't that what it isn't that what Ricky had? Man, that's like juan pierre: Yeah. Yeah, and then I he got caught 20 some times that year. So I think he 150 some times or something. Crazy. Bobby Minor: That's wild. That's wild. Alright, juan pierre: Yeah, that's unbelievable. Bobby Minor: so yeah. Alright, so this this this is where we're we're gonna wrap up. So like take us into the 2003 Marlins Clubhouse. Okay. Who in that clubhouse, who helped you understand something about winning that you hadn't understand that you hadn't understood before and what happened? Because I want I want parents to hear what a World Series team valued that they might overlook watching their own son's team. juan pierre: Gerald Williams. He was a guy. He played with the Yankees, the Rays. He was older. He taught me a lot. He wasn't playing. He was like a fifth outfielder, I think. He wasn't playing a lot. Him and also Lenny Harris, Mike Mordekha. These are all veterans in the game. I was 25, 26 at the time. These guys were 40, 35, 37. They've played over 10 years. And they were a big part that we won the World Series. They don't get all the hype. know, you had Beckett, Miguel, all these guys at that Duntrell. But the unsung heroes was those guys because they were walking us through. I remember the first time we played against the Giants, first playoff game. And man, I struck out my first setback against Jason Schmidt. I was like, man, I cannot calm down. Like you see the flags, you know, playing against Barry Bonds. Like I just want to do good. And they just sent me down. I was like, look, you just got to relax, play your game. Just a common voice other than the coaches. You knew these guys are in the fire with you, too So those guys was like the unsung heroes for us in in 03 and and as kids you need that, you know Especially if you can't get it from your parents because I get it your parents you get intense you want your kids to do well, but if you have a Coach or instructor that can calm you down put everything in perspective relax and play your game. makes a big difference because you know, the game is mental. And I hate to say this because I have a like nine-year team, even at nine-year, you know what mean? Like the game is all mental. So I run my teams, we run our teams toward like big league teams, but I give them freedom. Like I'm not on you every time. I rarely have them taken. The only time I have them taken the pitch is if they just keep swinging at something over their head. But I give them freedom to play. give them freedom to make mistakes, don't correct everything. If the umpire calls a bad call, I don't get on the umpire. I'm like, look, you're going to have to deal with it. that's, that's part of baseball is dealing with, with, with failure when things don't go your way. So, the quicker you, you, you, you get that in hand is the better, especially in baseball. Cause baseball is a game of failure. You know, it's, you can be good 30 % of the time and, and, be a hall of Famer. So It's a lot and that's the Hall of Famer. So a lot of us are not Hall of Famer. So guess what? We're to fail a lot, but it's a beautiful game and I would just encourage the parents to just try to be your kids cheerleading. If you can't handle it, give I always like the 24 hour rule, man. let it sit for 24 hours and then talk because nobody wants to hear how bad they were, right after a game. Bobby Minor: That's good stuff. And I know you said if you fail 30% of the time, you're a Hall of Famer. I know what you meant. You meant 70% of the time. succeed 30% of the time. Yeah. Yeah. No. Now what's crazy, what's crazy juan pierre: Yeah, yeah, yeah, my bad. You see, yeah, yeah, that's the one. Yeah, it. Bobby Minor: is, because I'm thinking, but you can succeed 30% of the time, but not be an all-star. juan pierre: yeah, yeah, definitely. Bobby Minor: So but no, but yeah, and that's one of the consistent themes. we all all the former big leaguers I've had on my show, you know, they say it and I think people don't, you know, it's just crazy to me, crazy to me. Like I'm I've always been of the mindset that success leaves clues. And so I'm always gonna defer to the guys that have been there and done that. But dude, I get I get a lot of parents up in my comments that, you know, probably never played above JV baseball and they think they know better than Dustin Pedroya, Adam E. You know what I mean? And like parents, this juan pierre: Yeah. Bobby Minor: the the gate a lot of things have changed in the game, but a lot of things haven't changed. So I listen to these guys that have been there done that, not the guys that are gonna tell you what you want to hear. juan pierre: Yeah, without a doubt, and that's why it's such a common thing. And I see a weekend and week out, being at these tournaments, dealing with parents and it's just one of those things. And at the end of the day, the parent, you have to parent your kid the best way you know how. think Matt Barnes is on your show and said, and a lot of these parents, they don't know any better. They're trying to do the best they think they can do. But the reason I got into the youth sports, was number one is to coach my kids. But I love the, have we're just local teams. we have local teams, my 10 year local team, it's really good. We were like, I don't put in these, these rankings and stuff, but we're up there. We went just can went from beast to the East and we always fall short usually because we don't have that, the put together team. You know what mean? But I like the, the friendship side of playing with your buddies. Now my 12 U team has been really good, yeah, it not hurt my heart, but kind of hurt my heart because now I use my 12 U team as like a form system because we can't compete with the big teams because the way the tournaments are set up, they're set up for the big teams. It is what it is. Like I don't have a 15 man roster with guys that just come to pitch. So now I have about five or six kids that are really good. But now I have to let them go play in big tournaments for the other teams so they can experience this stuff. so my team's like a foreign league. I treat my team like a foreign league now. Like we're gonna develop, we're gonna play our local tournaments, we're gonna compete, we're gonna do all this. But when the big tournaments come, you guys go play for the bigger organizations so you can get the, and they don't need exposure now. It's more of just experiencing it if you want to. Bobby Minor: Yeah, that's good. So Juan, i anybody that wants to keep up with what you got going on, they want to follow you on social media, where can they find you? juan pierre: Beast Mode JP9. I think that's my Instagram. And we are the original Florida Pokers. I got a 12U, 10U, 9U. So I think we're on Instagram on that stuff. yeah, that's where you can find me. I'm in your local fields grinding with the kids, teaching them about the great game about baseball and also the game of life. I'm enjoying it. Bobby Minor: Well, amen. I really appreciate you and good luck in all you do. juan pierre: Thank you.