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| Full Name: | Mike Piazza |
Get that fuzzy feeling inside...
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CBS Sportsline - Found Oct. 13, 2008 ... the same Georgia Tech program, but Wieters' first full pro season has him looking like the next Mike Piazza -- albeit with a better chance to... |
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Sport Illustrated - Found Oct. 1, 2008 Sandberg went in the 20th. Heck, Mike Piazza lasted until the 62nd. There's a difference though: It took Thome, Sandberg and Piazza years to... |
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CNN - Found Oct. 1, 2008 Sandberg went in the 20th. Heck, Mike Piazza lasted until the 62nd. There's a difference though: It took Thome, Sandberg and Piazza years to... |
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New York Times - Found Sep. 29, 2008 There were wonderful Mets of postseason glory, from Tom Seaver to Mike Piazza to Jerry Koosman to Bud Harrelson, plus two men who wore Mets... |
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Washington Post - Found Sep. 30, 2008 Ed Kranepool was there of course and so were Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry, Mike Piazza and Keith Hernandez and, of course, Tom Seaver... |
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New York Times - Found Sep. 29, 2008 I will remember, forever, the image of Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza exiting together through the outfield fence on Sunday evening, and turning... |
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New York Times - Found Sep. 29, 2008 I spoke to Mike Piazza in a corner of the press box. Since the closing ceremonies for Shea were scheduled for after the game, Piazza mentioned... |
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New York Times - Found Sep. 28, 2008 ... were Mike Piazza and Seaver. It was Seaver who got the Mets to their first World Series, in 1969, and helped them win it. It was Piazza who ... |
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New York Times - Found Sep. 28, 2008 Some of the loudest ovations went to players like Keith Hernandez, Doc Gooden, Tom Seaver, Mike Piazza, Robin Ventura and Darryl Strawberry. |
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ESPN.com - Found Sep. 27, 2008 He has hit more home runs (23) than any rookie catcher since Mike Piazza. |
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Mike Piazza
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| Mike Piazza | ||
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| Piazza in 2006 | ||
| Catcher | ||
| Born: September 4, 1968 Norristown, Pennsylvania |
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| Batted: Right | Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | ||
| September 1, 1992 for the Los Angeles Dodgers |
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| Final game | ||
| September 30, 2007 for the Oakland Athletics |
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| Career statistics | ||
| Batting average | .308 | |
| Home runs | 427 | |
| Runs batted in | 1,335 | |
| Teams | ||
| Career highlights and awards | ||
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Michael Joseph Piazza (pronounced /pʰiˈɑːʦə/ 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 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 consecutive games in 1922).
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Piazza grew up in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania with his parents, Vince and Veronica, and his brothers Vince Jr., Danny, Tony, and Tommy. When Piazza was 12 and 6 months, 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.
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 brotherscitation needed and, like Piazza, grew up in Norristown. Piazza swore he'd learn to catch if he was drafted.citation needed 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 and then-Dodger parent News Corporation's desire to secure a major TV contract with the Marlins, 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.
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 had not 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!"citation needed
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, Piazza was drilled in the head by a Roger Clemens pitch. Piazza suffered a concussion and was forced to miss the 2000 MLB All-Star Game as a result.citation needed
Piazza would later catch for Roger Clemens in the 2004 All-Star Game. Clemens gave up six runs in the first inning.[1]
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.
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 in which New York's fans still held him. It was on par with that of Tom Seaver on his returns to pitch at Shea Stadium in 1977 and 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 in the 4th inning. Not done for the day, Piazza went deep off Martinez again in the 6th. And with the Mets ahead 4-2 in the 8th, and two runners aboard, Piazza hit one to the wall in center, nearly bashing his third homer of the day and putting the Padres ahead. The fans, ecstatic that he'd hit two, were also enthusiastically rooting for the Mets to secure a pennant at the time, and did not get the chance to react to a third.
Piazza signed as a free agent with the Oakland Athletics on December 8, 2006. On June 23, 2007, he received a standing ovation when he brought out the lineup card for the 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 pressed charges against Flores.[2] Flores was sentenced to 30 days in prison and three years of probation on March 27, 2008.
Piazza represented Italy in the 2006 World Baseball Classic.
Only SIX 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. (Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Lou Gehrig, Mel Ott, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth)
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 is time to start a new chapter in my life. It has been an amazing journey."[3]
Piazza thanked all of his fans for their support, saying, "Last but certainly not least, I can't say goodbye without thanking the fans. I can't recall a time in my career where I didn't feel embraced by all of you. Los Angeles, San Diego, Oakland and Miami -- whether it was at home or on the road, you were all so supportive over the years. But 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 will always be grateful."
Piazza made a return to Shea Stadium during the "Shea Goodbye" closing ceremony on September 28, 2008, where he received the final pitch in the history of the stadium from Hall of Famer Tom Seaver. Piazza and Seaver were also afforded the immense honor of officially "closing" Shea when they walked off together into the center field exit and closed the door on the park after waving goodbye to the capacity crowd. The two are generally regarded as the greatest hitter and pitcher, respectively, in the history of the franchise.
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 8, 2006, Piazza signed a one-year, $8.5 million deal with the Oakland Athletics. He replaced Frank Thomas as the Athletics' designated hitter.
Though beset by rumors throughout his career that he was gay, on January 29, 2005, Piazza 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, as well as Anjelica Bridges, Al Leiter and Iván Rodríguez. Billy Ray Cyrus was their wedding singer.
On February 3, 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. [1]
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.
| Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (October 2008) |
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 Apprentice.
In 1998, "Mike Piazza's Strike Zone" was released for the Nintendo 64 system.
In 2006, 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.
He appears in the 2002 Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant movie, "Two Weeks Notice".
In 2000, he contributed guest vocals for the Black Label Society song Stronger than Death.
In the 2002 movie Kung Pow! Enter the Fist, Betty hears an echo, and decides to pretend he is a PA announcer and says "Now batting, MIKE PIAZZA!"
In an episode of "The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" Sheen makes a reference to him.
In an episode of "The King of Queens," while in jail at a Met's game, a drunk fan continuously screams "Piazza!"
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