Everything about Mike Piazza totally explained
Michael Joseph Piazza (or /pʰiˈɑːzə/, born
September 4,
1968 in
Norristown,
Pennsylvania) is a former
American Major League Baseball player. He played in his career with the
Los Angeles Dodgers,
Florida Marlins,
New York Mets,
San Diego Padres and the
Oakland Athletics. He is a 12-time
All-Star. Piazza is often regarded as the best hitting
catcher of all time, and holds the career record for
home runs hit by a catcher with 396. He had at least one RBI (run batted in) in 15 consecutive games for the New York Mets in 2000, the second longest RBI streak ever (Ray Grimes of the Chicago Cubs had 17 in 1922).
Childhood
Mike grew up in
Phoenixville, Pennsylvania with his parents, Vince and Veronica, and his brothers Vince Jr., Danny, Tony and Tommy. When Piazza was 12, he received personal instruction from the late
Hall of Famer Ted Williams in his backyard batting cage.
Vince Piazza was a childhood friend of former Dodgers manager,
Tommy Lasorda. When the Dodgers came to Philadelphia, Mike had the opportunity to spend time in the Dodger clubhouse and dugout.
Major League career
Los Angeles Dodgers
Piazza was the last player the Dodgers drafted in the 1988 draft. He was their selection in the 62nd round. It is believed that the pick was partly a favor on the part of Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, who is godfather to one of Piazza's brothers and, like Piazza, grew up in Norristown. Piazza swore he'd learn to catch if he was drafted. Piazza's Major League debut came with the Dodgers in 1992, when he appeared in 28 games. He then won the National League
MLB Rookie of the Year Award in 1993.
Piazza's best season was
1997, a year when he finished second in
MVP voting. He hit .362, with 40 home runs and 124 runs batted in, an on base percentage of .431 and a slugging percentage of .638.
He played six full seasons for the Dodgers until he was traded to the
Florida Marlins on May 15, 1998. Piazza and
Todd Zeile went to the Marlins in return for
Gary Sheffield,
Charles Johnson,
Bobby Bonilla, Manuel Barrios, and
Jim Eisenreich. The trade, precipitated by a contract dispute, is regarded by many as one of the worst moves in Dodgers history. One week later, on
May 22, Piazza was traded from the Marlins to the
New York Mets for
Preston Wilson,
Ed Yarnall, and
Geoff Goetz.
New York Mets
Upon his arrival in New York, Piazza was routinely booed at first for his early struggles before fans warmed up to him. Despite stellar numbers from Piazza, the Mets missed the 1998 postseason by one game. Piazza helped the Mets to two consecutive playoff appearances for the only time in Mets history in 1999 and 2000. The latter of the two resulted in a National League Pennant and
World Series appearance, where the Mets lost in five games to a
Yankee team winning their fourth
World Series in five years. Of note, all five games were decided by two runs or less, something that hadn't occurred in a World Series in almost 70 years. He became known as The Monster after coach
John Stearns was caught on tape during the
2000 National League Championship Series after a Piazza hit saying "The Monster is out of the Cage!"
Piazza was involved in a bizarre incident in Game 2 of the 2000 World Series. In the first inning, Piazza was facing Yankees pitcher
Roger Clemens and broke his bat fouling off a pitch. The barrel of his bat flew towards Clemens's feet at the pitcher's mound. Clemens picked up the broken barrel and heaved it in the direction of Piazza running up the first base line sparking both benches to clear, but with no ejections. The reason this incident sparked this reaction was because earlier in the season, during Interleague play when the Mets played the Yankees, Mike Piazza was drilled in the head by a Roger Clemens pitch. Mike Piazza suffered a concussion and was forced to miss the 2000 MLB All-Star Game as a result.
Piazza would later catch for Roger Clemens in the 2004 All-Star Game. Clemens gave up six runs in the first inning, and rumors later spread about Piazza telling
American League batters what pitch Clemens was throwing.
One of the most emotional moments of Piazza's career came when he belted a dramatic two-run home run in the eighth inning against
Steve Karsay on
September 21,
2001 in
New York City to lift the Mets to a 3-2 triumph over the Braves. The game was the first regular season professional sporting event held in New York City after the
September 11, 2001 attacks and has since been hailed as the defining moment in Piazza's career and one of the single greatest moments in New York sports history.
To ease the stress on his deteriorating knees, Piazza began to split his time between catching and playing first base during the 2004 season, an experiment which was abandoned before the end of the season because of Piazza's defensive deficiencies. Although recognized as a great hitter, Piazza has also caught two no hitters thrown by
Ramón Martínez and
Hideo Nomo. Nomo's was particularly impressive because it happened at
Coors Field.
On
May 5,
2004, Piazza surpassed
Carlton Fisk for most
home runs by a catcher with his 352nd as a catcher.
San Diego Padres and Oakland Athletics
On
October 2,
2005, Piazza filed for
free agency, effectively ending his career with the Mets. He signed with the
San Diego Padres on
January 29,
2006 and was their starting catcher and clean-up hitter. Piazza experienced somewhat of a rejuvenation in 2006, batting .283 with 22 homers and helping the Padres to a division title. On
July 21,
2006, Mike Piazza collected his 2,000th career hit in the major leagues.
On
August 8,
2006, Piazza played his first game at
Shea Stadium since leaving the Mets. During the three-game series, Piazza drew frequent, repeated standing ovations indicative of the high level of regard New York's fans still hold for him. It was on par with that of
Tom Seaver in 1978. Even more telling was an event on
August 9 during that series when he drew a rare
curtain call in an opposing park following a home run off of Mets pitcher
Pedro Martínez.
On
June 23,
2007, he received a standing ovation when he brought out the lineup card for the Oakland Athletics at Shea Stadium. He was unable to play in the series because he was on the disabled list.
On
July 25,
2007, in the top of the ninth inning in a game between the Angels and Athletics at
Angel Stadium, a fan threw a water bottle that hit Piazza, who had homered earlier in the game. Piazza then pointed his bat in the stands at the fan he believed threw the water bottle to get the attention of security. The fan, who was identified as Roland Flores from
La Puente, California, was arrested by the ballpark security. Piazza is pressing charges against Flores. Flores was sentenced to 30 days in prison and three years of probation on
March 27,
2008.
He represented Italy in the
2006 World Baseball Classic.
Only five other players have ever had over 400 home runs with over a .300 lifetime average while never striking out more than 100 times in a season.
Retirement
After not being signed to any MLB team for the
2008 season, Piazza announced his retirement on
May 20,
2008, saying, "After discussing my options with my wife, family and agent, I felt it's time to start a new chapter in my life. It has been an amazing journey."
Upon his retirement, Piazza, a consensus future Hall of Famer, hinted that he'd like to be inducted wearing a New York Mets cap. "I have to say that my time with the Mets wouldn't have been the same without the greatest fans in the world. One of the hardest moments of my career, was walking off the field at Shea Stadium and saying goodbye. My relationship with you made my time in New York the happiest of my career and for that, I'll always be grateful."
Salary
During the 2005 season, Piazza was the ninth highest paid MLB player at $16,071,429. On
January 29,
2006, Mike Piazza accepted a one-year deal with the
San Diego Padres worth up to $2 million. On
December 6,
2006, Piazza signed a one-year, $8.5 million deal with the
Oakland Athletics. He replaced
Frank Thomas as the Athletics'
designated hitter.
Personal life
On
January 29,
2005, he married
Playboy Playmate Alicia Rickter at St. Jude's
Catholic Church in
Miami, Florida, before 120 guests, including his best friend
Eric Karros,
Brande Roderick,
Lisa Dergan,
Anjelica Bridges,
Al Leiter and
Detroit Tigers catcher
Iván Rodríguez.
Billy Ray Cyrus was their wedding singer.
On
February 5,
2007, Piazza's wife gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter. Nicoletta Veronica Piazza was born at 4:07 a.m. in
New York City. She weighed 5 lbs., 8 oz. and measured 19 inches long.
(External Link
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Piazza is Catholic and is featured in the Catholic film series
Champions of Faith.
He is known to be a fan of
heavy metal music and is featured on the cd
Stronger Than Death by
Black Label Society. He is also godfather to
Zakk Wylde's son, Hendrix.
Career highlights and milestones
In, his 35 home runs set the record for most home runs by a rookie catcher, surpassing Detroit's Matt Nokes with 32 in 1987. Plus, it's the most home runs by any Dodger rookie.
He was named the All-Star Game's MVP, in, after he went 2-3 with a double, home run and two RBI at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, near his home town of Norristown.
His 40 homers in and is the third most by a catcher. Todd Hundley is second, with 41 homers in ], and Javy López set the record with 43 in .
His .362 average in 1997 was the highest ever by a catcher (110 games) in the National League, tying the Major League record set by Bill Dickey, who also batted .362 for the New York Yankees in . Piazza finished 2nd in the NL MVP balloting (which he never won) for the 2nd consecutive year to Larry Walker, of Colorado.
He won the Ted Williams Award, presented by CNN/SI and Total Baseball in 1997.
His 201 hits in 1997 were the most in major league history by a player used as a catcher in 130 or more games
On September 21, 1997 Mike Piazza became just the third player and the only Dodger ever to hit a ball out of Dodger Stadium with a blast over the left-field pavilion.
He hit the longest home run in Astrodome history, an estimated 480-foot, two-run blast off José Lima in the first inning of a game on September 14, 1998.
Led the majors with four grand slams in . His fourth slam and first as a Met came against the Diamondbacks' Andy Benes in the second inning of the August 22 game at Shea Stadium.
Hit his 200th home run on September 16, 1998, at Houston. The home run, a three-run shot with two outs in the ninth inning against Billy Wagner, gave the Mets a 3-2 lead in a game they'd win, 4-3, in 11 innings.
Tied a Mets club record on July 18 when he hit his third grand slam home run of the season ... The only other Mets with three grand slams in a year are John Milner in, Robin Ventura in and Carlos Beltran in .
His 72 RBI prior to the All-Star Break in were, at the time, the most in club history. Dave Kingman had 69 in .
He and Derek Jeter & Bernie Williams are the only players in major league history to hit a World Series home run in both Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium.
He won a record 10 consecutive Louisville Silver Slugger Awards.The award is given annually to the best offensive player at each position in each league.
He joined Cincinnati's Johnny Bench, New York Yankees' Thurman Munson, Atlanta's Earl Williams, Boston's Carlton Fisk, San Diego's Benito Santiago and Cleveland's Sandy Alomar, Jr. as the only catchers to be named Rookie of the Year.
He finished second in the NL Most Valuable Player voting behind San Diego's Ken Caminiti after batting .336 with 36 home runs, 105 RBI, 87 runs and 16 doubles in 148 games in . (Caminiti later admitted to taking steroids during his MVP Award-winning season.)
He led the All-Star voting in 1996, 1997, and 2000.
He hit more than 30 home runs in eight consecutive seasons (1995-2002). He has nine career 30-homer seasons.
He hit .300 in nine consecutive seasons, dating from 1993 to 2001.
Yogi Berra, Carlton Fisk, Gary Carter, and Johnny Bench were on hand at Shea Stadium to honor Mike on "Mike Piazza Night" on June 18, 2004. Piazza was celebrated for breaking the record for career home runs by a catcher.
He hit his 400th career home run on April 26, 2006, off the Arizona Diamondbacks' Jose Valverde.
He hit a double off of the San Francisco Giants' Matt Cain for his 2,000th career hit on July 21, 2006.
Hit three home runs against the Colorado Rockies on June 29, 1996 .
Pop Culture References
During the 1994 baseball strike Piazza and Joe Morgan appeared on Married... with Children. He also did cameos in episodes of Baywatch, Celebrity Jeopardy! and the The Apprentice.
In 1998, "Mike Piazza's Strike Zone" was released for the Nintendo 64 system.
In, DHL started a campaign for Hometown Heroes, in which 5 of the greatest players in all 30 teams history were up for the award. Piazza was nominated for the Mets hero along with John Franco, Tug McGraw, Tom Seaver, and Keith Hernandez. The spot was eventually won by Seaver.
In 2003, a song released on Belle and Sebastian's album Dear Catastrophe Waitress titled 'Piazza, New York Catcher' sings a fictional tale of a New York baseball player leaving the game, using the name of Mike Piazza as a subject.
In 2000 Mike contributed guest vocals for the Black Label Society song Stronger than Death.
In the movie Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, The Chosen One hears an echo, and decides to pretend he's a PA announcer and says "Now batting, MIKE PIAZZA!"
In an episode of "" Sheen makes a reference to him.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Mike Piazza'.
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