Juan Pierre became the second White Sox player to collect career hit # 2000 Thursday after he hit a ball through the left side of the infield.
Pierre was a much maligned earlier in the year, creating calls for a change in leftfield, either Dayan Viciedo or Brent Lillibridge. Pierre continued to work as he has his entire career, “… if there’s one guy who can handle it, it’s him,” said Konerko on his fellow 2000 hit club member, “You won’t get in there with him. You won’t affect Juan’s approach. He’s not going to get rattled. He’s as tough as anybody.
Pierre began the season hitting .243 over the 1st month of the season but since the All-Star break he is hitting .311 going 12/16 in stolen bases, even hitting a homer. “Three months ago, everybody was ready to choke my head off here, but I still wanted to be in there every day”, said the leadoff hitter.
Following the game, manager Ozzie Guillen said, “Those 2,000 hits, I bet you he worked for every one, He worked for that. I’m very proud to see it.”
Juan said of his accomplishment, “As a baseball player, I didn’t think anything of stolen bases and hits. just a guy who shows up every day to play. That’s the one thing I concentrated on every day, just to be in there fighting and battling with the guys and being in there every day. For people to notice, it’s pretty cool, but I did it just to be a teammate”
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