Juan Pierre & The .400 Club

by Eric Stephen on May 29, 2009 11:46 PM PDT in Research Comment 9 comments

More photos » David Zalubowski - AP

Juan Pierre is in rarefied air with his amazing May performance.

Since moving to Los Angeles in 1958, the Dodgers have had many players hit .400 in a single month. There have been 67 separate .400 months, in fact, with a minimum of 20 plate appearances.

There have been a number of LA Dodgers who have joined the .400 club multiple times, including:

Pedro Guerrero: 4 times
Don Drysdale: 3 times
Mike Piazza: 3 times
Steve Garvey: twice
Dave Hansen: twice
Eric Karros: twice
Paul LoDuca: twice
Olmedo Saenz: twice
Terry Whitefield: twice

Juan Pierre, who went eight for 20 in April to join the .400 club, is close to becoming the first LA Dodger to hit .400 in consecutive months. He currently has 40 hits in 101 at-bats, good for a .39604 average for the month. With two games left in the month, depending on at-bats, Pierre will need the following number of hits to rejoin the .400 club:

Hits/AB	May AVG
1 for 1	.4020
2 for 2	.4078
2 for 3	.4038
2 for 4	.4000
3 for 5	.4057
3 for 6	.4019
4 for 7	.4074
4 for 8	.4037
4 for 9	.4000
5 for 10	.4054

If we increase the minimum to 50 plate appearances, there have been 27 different .400 months in Los Angeles Dodger history, with Pierre trying to become #28.

Incidentally, Juan Castro is 13 for 34 in May. He's at .38235, but if he goes one for one this weekend he will join the .400 club as well.

Read after the jump for the complete list of .400 months in LA Dodger history.

.400 months in LA Dodger history (minimum 20 PA)

Player	Month	AB	Hits	Avg
Eric Karros	Apr 1995	19	11	.579
Mike Piazza	May 1995	34	18	.529
Raul Mondesi	Apr 1995	19	10	.526
Mike Kinkade	Sep 2002	14	7	.500
Terry Whitfield	Aug 1984	23	11	.478
Mark Loretta	Apr 2009	19	9	.474
Andre Ethier	Sep 2008	78	36	.462
Pedro Guerrero	Jul 1985	63	29	.460
Willie Davis	Aug 1969	109	50	.459
Antonio Perez	May 2005	35	16	.457
Ramon Martinez	May 2006	31	14	.452
Olmedo Saenz	Aug 2004	20	9	.450
Tom Haller	Aug 1971	38	17	.447
Jeff Kent	Jul 2007	76	34	.447
Sandy Koufax	Jul 1965	18	8	.444
Steve Yeager	Apr 1974	18	8	.444
Bob Lillis	Sep 1958	61	27	.443
Brett Butler	Jul 1992	95	42	.442
Sandy Alomar	Apr 2006	25	11	.440
James Loney	Jun 2007	50	22	.440
Bill Buckner	Jul 1972	57	25	.439
Nomar Garciaparra	Sep 2008	23	10	.435
McKay Christensen	Jul 2001	30	13	.433
Dave Hansen	Sep 1995	30	13	.433
Lee Lacy	Apr 1975	37	16	.432
Jim Gilliam	Jun 1959	109	47	.431
Mike Piazza	Jun 1997	109	47	.431
Steve Garvey	Sep 1978	107	46	.430
Don Drysdale	May 1965	21	9	.429
Ted Sizemore	Aug 1970	98	42	.429
Ron Cey	Apr 1977	73	31	.425
Don Drysdale	Aug 1958	19	8	.421
Eric Karros	Apr 1998	19	8	.421
Don Drysdale	Sep 1965	24	10	.417
Pedro Guerrero	Sep 1980	24	10	.417
Wally Moon	Apr 1961	60	25	.417
Tim Wallach	Aug 1994	36	15	.417
Paul LoDuca	Apr 2004	77	32	.416
Manny Ramirez	Aug 2008	106	44	.415
Pedro Guerrero	Jul 1987	82	34	.415
Pedro Guerrero	Sep 1987	99	41	.414
Rick Monday	Aug 1982	29	12	.414
Delino DeShields	Aug 1995	51	21	.412
Steve Garvey	Jun 1973	34	14	.412
Jerry Reuss	Sep 1983	17	7	.412
Olmedo Saenz	May 2004	17	7	.412
Duke Snider	Sep 1958	34	14	.412
Eddie Murray	Sep 1990	112	46	.411
Wes Parker	Jul 1970	95	39	.411
Norm Larker	Jul 1958	78	32	.410
Billy Ashley	Jul 1997	22	9	.409
Dave Hansen	Jul 2002	22	9	.409
Hundley, Todd	Jul 2000	27	11	.407
Mike Piazza	Sep 1997	96	39	.406
Mike Sharperson	May 1992	37	15	.405
Jose Hernandez	May 2004	42	17	.405
Willie Crawford	May 1973	94	38	.404
Mike Scioscia	Apr 1988	52	21	.404
Mickey Hatcher	Jun 1989	25	10	.400
Frank Howard	Jul 1961	30	12	.400
Tom Hutton	Jul 1969	20	8	.400
Stan Javier	Jun 1990	65	26	.400
Paul LoDuca	Aug 1999	30	12	.400
Mike Piazza	Aug 1995	115	46	.400
Juan Pierre	Apr 2009	20	8	.400
Joe Pignatano	Sep 1959	20	8	.400
Terry Whitfield	Jul 1985	20	8	.400

For ease of research, March games were couned in April, and October games were counted in September. Thanks to the amazing Baseball-Reference.com for providing the vehicle to do this research.

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Comments

It never ceases to amaze me

That after 125 years of Dodger baseball (give or take a few names) and 50 of them in Los Angeles, that for a club as storied as this one, firsts can still happen.

I for one am pretty disappointed in all the piling on I’ve done on Juan Pierre over time, but he’s earning my respect this year, and I’m hoping he can get to .400 for the month and back to .400 for the year.

Which reminds me, when Chipper Jones was doing this .400 thing last year, it was the story of baseball, so why does it seem like I’m not hearing anything on Juan Pierre’s run?

by goodlucksaturday on May 29, 2009 10:59 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Part of it was that Chipper qualified for the batting title.

If Pierre is still hitting .400 or so in two weeks, by which time he should have enough PA to qualify, he’ll get more attention I’m sure.

by Eric Stephen on May 29, 2009 11:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed.

Juan just hasn’t gotten to play enough yet.

by Brendan Scolari on May 29, 2009 11:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I find it hilarious that Sandy Koufax is on this list. He was such a beast

by BleedBlue23 on May 29, 2009 11:03 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

It was pretty funny

the perils of lowering the bar to 20 PA I guess :)

by Eric Stephen on May 29, 2009 11:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

When do I start to worry about James McDonald.

Do I give him another couple of months?

by bhsportsguy on May 30, 2009 8:41 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

A few good starts and he'll be fine.

by Eric Stephen on May 30, 2009 11:42 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Revised Pitching Schedule

With the news that Kershaw’s start will be pushed back to Thursday (most likely), here is the revised pitching schedule for the upcoming homestand:

6/1 vs. AZ (Kuroda)
6/2 vs. AZ (Wolf)
6/3 vs. AZ (Billingsley)
6/4 vs. PHI (Kershaw)
6/5 vs. PHI (Milton*)
6/6 vs. PHI (Kuroda)
6/7 vs. PHI (Wolf)
6/9 vs. SD (Billingsley – 5 days’ rest)
6/10 vs. SD (Kershaw – 5 days’ rest)

*This assumes Stults will be removed from the rotation.

Kershaw is backing up Kuroda in the pen on Monday. His start might get pushed to Friday, 6/5 depending on how Monday goes. In that case, Stults will need to pitch on Thursday, 6/4 and Milton will get bumped (for this turn at least).

by silverwidow on May 30, 2009 10:37 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs