Sep
20
2011

Mike Piazza, Mets Royalty

An article by Former Writers

I’d just like to say a few words about how gracious Mike Piazza was during the weekend of the 10th Anniversary of September 11th, and also at the game at CitiField.

Never has a catcher been such a gentlemen, both at the plate and behind it, much like Johnny Bench. Mike was given a bit of a hard time when he originally arrived on the Mets, but once we got to know him, we never wanted to let him go. Pitchers loved him and the rest of the team did, too. He was a private man, and a religious man, and it made him a bit different. In fact, when Roger Clemens threw a broken bat at him during the playoff game, the crowd was stunned.

Mike is now happily married with two little girls and when he was around a couple of weekends ago, someone asked him if he missed the game. He said yes, but he’d like to see his daughters grow up a bit before even thinking about returning to it in some capacity.

Catchers are special people, they work with the pitcher, but only they see the whole game clearly from behind the plate. Every pitcher has a favorite catcher, and some will only work with that player. Mike was liked by all his pitchers, and they shared him equally.

It was the only way he would have wanted it.

About the Author: Former Writers

13 Comments + Add Comment

Rich from Lake Como September 20, 2011 at 6:19 pm

Mike Piazza is my favorite all time Mets position player. He always gave me my money’s worth. I was lucky to see so many special moments involving him at Shea Stadium. I want to see his number retired and I’d love to see him working for the Mets in some capacity someday soon.
metsguppy September 20, 2011 at 6:45 pm

Piazza is a classy guy. He should have had his number retired by the Mets before Shea Stadium closed and should have it retired NOW! Not only does he deserve it but it would be a good crowd pleaser and would the game they did it at would probably be the only sell out crowd CitiField will have for awhile. He is obviously a Hall Of Famer and should be honored by the Mets before he goes into the Hall as a Met. The Mets have only retired ONE player number and two managers and Piazza deserves it more than those managers did.
Metfan September 20, 2011 at 6:50 pm

Mike owes his start to his great baseball career to another great Italian-American, Tommy LaSorda. I also admire his dedication to be an ambassador for the game. When he could of had a lucrative position with a lot of big league clubs he became the manager for the Italian olympic baseball team and I think he still manages in Italy. A Hall of Famer, family man and a real “classy” guy. Thanks to you and John Franco for participating in the 9/11 memorial at Citi Field. Thanks.
Rickeybobby September 20, 2011 at 9:13 pm

Glad you wrote this pice..class act, hope he hits the Hall as a met..was able to catch the replay recap of the first game after 9/11, so dramitic, so emotional, when he hit a BOMB bottom 8th 2-run home to put them up 3-2 it was just magic
metsguppy September 20, 2011 at 9:27 pm

Just wanted to add, anyone else still think that Mike looks odd without his signature facial hair? Its like if Keith Hernandez lost the ‘stache.
Lifelongmetsfan September 21, 2011 at 6:55 am

Mike Piazza is #4 on my All-Time Favorite Met list.

1. Lee Mazzilli
2. Felix Milan
3. John Stearns
4. Mike Piazza
5. Lenny Dykstra
- Metfan September 21, 2011 at 8:38 am
  
  Good picks but my five are plus two pitchers:
  Tom Seaver
  Tug McGraw
  Tommy Agee
  “Kong” Dave Kingman
  Don Clendendon
  Ron Swoboda
  Gary Carter
- Metstheory22 September 21, 2011 at 9:00 am
  
  My picks are:
  1. Hojo
  2. Piazza
  3. Hernandez
  4. Koozman
  5. McGraw
  6. Stearns
  - Lifelongmetsfan September 21, 2011 at 9:57 am
    
    I would hae included Kingman but that horrible “Kingman-kid Met fan” story really struck a chord with me. Are you guys familiar with tht story?
    - Metfan September 21, 2011 at 12:20 pm
      
      No but am interested.
- JPMNewYork September 21, 2011 at 11:52 am
  
  Since you’re doing All-Time Favorite Mets lists, I was going to throw mine in… but every time I thought I had it done, I realized I couldn’t put “x” in without including “y”…or “z”…and it got too long. Not sure how you can cut it down to five, or even ten.
  
  But there’s one who remains at the top of my list, despite all his foibles: Keith Hernandez. He brought this team legitimacy when it had sunk to the level of a joke (but without the fun of the early years). He took charge of the infield better than anybody I’ve ever seen, and he was without equal playing First Base. I can even forgive his being in the locker room at the end of Game Six; they never would have made it there without him.
Annie Savoy September 21, 2011 at 12:38 pm

I agree with you about Keith – I can still see him abandoning first base to run around the infield and check with the others. Now that he is a broadcaster I am learning even more about him. Ron Darling is also a fine broadcaster and intellectually off the charts about more than just sports. In fact the trio will talk about anything that interests them – Gary included. This past year has been terrific – just mention the Pepsi Porch to them.

Other Mets who could sit at this broadcast booth are Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, John Olerud, and Mike Piazza.
- Metstheory22 September 21, 2011 at 5:07 pm
  
  Yeah, I forgot Olerud. Maybe a lineup by favorite players at each position.

NL East Standings

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB
Braves	24	18	.571	-
Nationals	23	20	.535	1.5
Phillies	20	23	.465	4.5
Mets	16	24	.400	7.0
Marlins	11	32	.256	13.5

Last updated: 05/18/2013

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