17 years ago today, Mike Piazza became a New York Met after the Florida Marlins swapped him for Preston Wilson, Geoff Goetz, and Ed Yarnell. Little did both General Managers know, this trade would create a New York icon.
I am a Mets fan of the millennium, so it was only natural that Mike Piazza became my first favorite player. Piazza was the reason I became a catcher in little league, and after watching him club 33 homeruns during the 2002 season, I proudly decided to pattern my own swing and batting stance after him as just a T-baller.
I also remember becoming livid when my friends would torment me on the elementary school playground by chanting “Mike Piazza stinks like a rotten pizza.” This obnoxious chant led to more than a few scraped knees and hurt feelings.
While I didn’t realize it then, the Mets acquisition of Mike Piazza truly signified a rebirth of baseball in Flushing. After the trainwreck that was the early 90’s (I’m glad I wasn’t alive then to witness it), Piazza brought the Mets back into the national spotlight.
His gargantuan blasts and unwavering charisma not only carried the team to the 2000 World Series but also consoled the city of New York following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Never before, and probably never again will we ever see both Met and Yankee fans cheer for a walkoff blast by the same team.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBMC1tA4CdM
There is little debate that Mike Piazza is an all time great, everything that he has done for New York City and the game of baseball speaks for itself. His lifetime .308 batting average and 427 career homeruns back many claims that he is the best offensive catcher in history and his leadership and competitiveness anchored the solid Mets teams of the late 90’s and early 2000’s. He was awesome to watch, even cooler to talk to, and there is no doubt in my mind that he deserves enshrinement in Cooperstown, with a Mets cap on his plaque.
