Juan Pierre, former Cubs outfielder, retires after 14 seasons

After 14 years in the Majors, former Chicago Cubs’ center fielder Juan Pierre has decided to call it a career according to the team’s official Twitter handle.

You can’t help but think of ‘JP’ when naming some of the fastest outfielders to ever put on a baseball jersey. Granted, he was only with Chicago for one year – back in 2006 – when the now-37-year-old played in and started all 162 games for the Cubs in center field.

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Back in early December of 2005, the Cubs traded Sergio Mitre, Ricky Nolasco, and Renyel Pinto in exchange for the speedy outfielder who helped contribute to the then-Florida Marlins’ National League Championship Series win over Chicago just two years prior.

In his only year on the North Side, Pierre led the National League with 204 hits – which would result in him winning the second batting title of his career. Not only would he add that honor to his resume, but he would also lead the majors in outs made with 532 – the second-highest total since 1982.

He also finished the year with the lowest strikeout percentage in baseball at 5.4 percent and fielded 1.000 for the first time in his big league career. Now, while we’re on that subject – it was Pierre’s only season where he made all 162 starts in the same position and would finish with a perfect fielding percentage.

Pierre finished the 2006 campaign with three home runs, 40 RBI, 58 stolen bases, 13 triples and 32 doubles on a .292/.330/.388 clip. It was obvious the speedster wasn’t known for his power (18 career home runs), so it was kind of a big deal whenever he took a pitcher deep.

After signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers just a year later, Pierre would make it five years in a row in which he would play all 162 games for his respective club.

Through 1,994 career games played, Pierre swiped a total of 614 bases (68 was his single-season career-high) which puts him 18th on the all-time list behind switch-hitter George Davis. Another former Cubs outfielder in Kenny Lofton currently sits at No. 15 with 622 bags.

Lofton was the team’s starting center fielder in that infamous 2003 NLCS series against Pierre and the Marlins.

Next: Tommy La Stella - Cubs' next starting third baseman?