"He loves to compete, he loves the game. He studies. I don't know anybody who studies that much in baseball. This guy is one of the best guys I can remember having on my team."

"He's one of the premier leadoff men in the game. Anybody that follows baseball knows it's tougher to find a good leadoff man than a good power hitter. We're very, very excited to have Juan Pierre."

"You hear from being sub-.500 to the World Series. I don't think anybody really knows. There's a lot of variables here, a lot of variables that can go well and work. I don't see many variables that would cause it not to work."

"I don't know if anybody is going to pitch that long. That's No. 1. He's a great competitor, a great guy and a great teammate."

"They were booing in St. Louis, too. Maybe it's the way of the world right now. I never saw them booing anybody in St. Louis."

"Competition sometimes will make you sharper than you believe you are. Anybody who watched those games, you could tell it was serious competition."

"There's good years and bad years -- there's great years and good years. This might be one of the great years. ... I don't know anybody who stayed on top and excellent every year in their career, but he's done a pretty good job of it."

"I've never heard anybody booed in St. Louis."

"I like his approach. Anybody who can hit the ball up the middle and to the opposite field is going to hit. He'll learn how to hit with power. If he can hit balls to right field, he has power."

"I've never seen him that wild. Anybody is capable of losing their control. He doesn't lose it that often. I don't think I've seen him blow one ever. We'll just take it and savor it."