Pillar brings hockey-like mindset to Jays’ lineup
Outfielder admits to being big a fan of the sport after playing roller version
Before Tuesday’s game at Yankee Stadium, Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Pillar lounged on a clubhouse couch, firing a series of questions at Toronto reporters.
Pillar has been caught up in the NHL playoffs and wanted to know the intricacies of ice hockey: skating, shooting, etc. What he didn’t need to know were the basic rules because, though he grew up in sunny Southern California, he loved watching hockey and, in fact, played. Not on ice, but on roller blades. For a number of years when he was a kid, Pillar played in a roller hockey league and now kind of wishes he played hockey on the ice. He loves the hard-hitting action of the NHL, especially during the playoffs.
“The only difference (between) the two is that you’re on roller blades instead of skates and there was no body contact in roller hockey. That’s the part I didn’t like,” said Pillar, who once described his approach to playing centre field as bringing a football mentality to the position.
“I wanted to check people. That’s what I enjoy about hockey. It’s a contact sport. But I enjoyed roller hockey. I learned a lot of the basic rules of hockey, the strategy behind it. I found it fun.”
Pillar said there weren’t a lot of ice hockey leagues when he grew up in the West Hills section of Los Angeles, though he said that’s changed and there are youth leagues all over the city now. Pillar was a standout in baseball, basketball and football, so he didn’t have a lot of time to pursue other sports, though he wishes he had the chance to give ice hockey a crack.
“I think my demeanour, my personalty fits that kind of sport,” he said, “Playing football, that’s kind of where I got my tenacity and aggressive style of play.”
One reason why Pillar is one of the few Jays off to a great start this year is because he approaches each at-bat with an aggressive stance, though he is also chasing far fewer pitches out of the strike zone, particularly late in counts.
Pillar leads the Jays in hits with 35 (10 more than his closest teammate Kendrys Morales), home runs with four (tied with Morales and Justin Smoak), and slugging (.491). He also has walked seven times.
Manager John Gibbons put him in the leadoff spot early in the season and he hasn’t looked back.
At spring training, Pillar talked about becoming an all-around great player and not just a defensive standout. That seems to be taking flight.
“I’m off to a pretty good start this year, but I don’t want it just to be a good month, but something that can be sustainable,” he said. “It’s kind of hopefully my coming-out party a little bit and showing everyone what I felt I was capable of doing. I just needed some time, some at-bats, needed to go through some failures to understand what’s going to allow me to be successful at this level.”
As for his interest in ice hockey, Pillar is amazed how popular it has become in L.A. compared to when he was a kid, though he used to attend Kings games with his buddies.
“I think a lot of it has to do with the success of the Kings. They won a couple of Stanley Cups. I think people don’t see it as a Canadian, cold-weather sport anymore, but something that anyone can do, anyone can enjoy,” said Pillar, pointing out that Wayne Gretzky’s arrival in 1988 made a huge difference as well. Pillar still attends Kings games in the off-season and loves it.
As Pillar stood at his locker talking hockey, Smoak, who hails from the non-hockey hotbed of Goose Creek, S.C., interjected: “You guys talking about hockey? I used to play a lot of road hockey as a kid.”
In fact, Smoak was a fan of the nearby South Carolina Stingrays of the East Coast Hockey League and used to have his birthday parties at the rink during games.
“I liked messing around playing road hockey,” said Smoak. “We used to drill guys into the grass.”