Congratulations to Mike Piazza who will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame along with fellow inductee Ken Griffey Jr. on Sunday afternoon. MLB Network will exclusively televise all the festivities live from Cooperstown, New York beginning at 12:00 PM, followed by the Induction Ceremony and the acceptance speeches at 1:30 PM.
Piazza joins Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver (41; retired in 1988); Manager’s Gil Hodges (14; retired in 1973) and Casey Stengel (37; retired in 1965) as the only uniformed Mets whose numbers have been retired.
“This is truly a special moment for me, and I’m very grateful,” Piazza said on Saturday. “I’m excited, obviously, to share this with my family and a few of the guys that I’ve played with and been coached by in the past. It’s truly a special event.”
One of the greatest offensive catchers of all time, Piazza set the MLB record of 396 home runs as a catcher while with the Mets. Over 16 seasons with the Dodgers, Marlins, Mets, Padres and A’s he finished with 427 homers, 1,335 RBI, and a .308 batting average.
A 12-time All-Star and 10-time Silver Slugger Award winner, Piazza spent eight years with the Mets and helped take them to the postseason in 1999 and then all the way to the World Series the following season.
Piazza was a seven-time All-Star with Mets and set a team-record with 124 RBI and hit 40 home runs in 1999 and then finished with 38 home runs and drove in 113 runs in 2000.
The Mets will commemorate Piazza’s Hall of Fame career all next weekend when the Mets are home at Citi Field. On Friday, all fans will receive a special Piazza replica jersey.
Then on Saturday they will officially retire Piazza’s No. 31 in a special pre-game ceremony. Finally on Sunday, the first 15,000 fans will receive a Mike Piazza bobble-head.
“We are truly thrilled to honor Mike by retiring his number during a weekend-long celebration recognizing his incredible career,” said Mets COO Jeff Wilpon. “His offensive prowess, ability to deliver in the clutch, and tireless work ethic helped him become one of the great catchers of all-time.”
Piazza looks forward to his Hall of Fame induction on Sunday, but looks forward to celebrating his career with Mets fans at Citi Field next weekend.
“The one thing I love about Mets fans is that it’s tough being in the same town as the Yankees, obviously all their World Series and their accomplishments, but there are no better fans, so this is obviously emotional for me.”
Congratulations Mike, on your big day. Thanks for all the great memories as well as the pride and class you brought to our franchise!
Mike Piazza has had so many memorable moments during his incredible tenure with the Mets. Here are some of our favorites:
May 22, 1998 – Acquired by the Mets from the Florida Marlins in exchange for minor leaguers Preston Wilson, Ed Yarnall and Geoff Goetz.
May 23, 1998 – Makes his Mets debut at Shea Stadium, going 1-4 with an RBI double in a 3-0 win over Milwaukee.
June 1, 1998 – Belts his first home run in a Mets uniform at Pittsburgh off Jason Schmidt.
September 14, 1998 – Hit what is believed to be the longest home run in Astrodome history, an estimated 480-foot blast off Houston’s Jose Lima.
April 28, 1999 – Hits his first walk-off home run as a member of the Mets taking San Diego’s Trevor Hoffman deep, a two-run shot, in a 4-3 win.
October 2, 1999 – Blasted his 40th home run of the season off Pittsburgh’s Mike Williams.
October 19, 1999 – Crushed a two-run home run in the seventh inning off John Smoltz in Game Six of the NLCS at Atlanta to tie the game, 7-7.
June 14-July 2, 2000 – Had an RBI in 15 consecutive games to set a franchise record…It was the second-longest streak in major league history …Ray Grimes of the 1922 Chicago Cubs had an RBI in 17 straight games.
June 30, 2000 – Hit a laser line drive home run to left, a three-run shot, capping a 10-run inning in an 11-8 comeback win over Atlanta.
September 21, 2001 – Hit an eighth-inning home run off Atlanta’s Steve Karsay in the first New York City sporting event since the 9-11 attacks as an emotional Shea Stadium erupted…The Mets would go on to beat the Braves 3-2.
May 17, 2002 – Reached the 1,000 career RBI plateau when he launched a grand slam off San Diego’s Jason Boyd in a 13-4 win…He became the ninth player in ML history whose primary position was catcher to collect 1,000 RBI.
May 5, 2004 – Hit a 3-1 pitch off San Francisco’s Jerome Williams in the first inning for his 352nd home run as a catcher to become the all-time leader, passing Carlton Fisk.
June 18, 2004 – Hall of Fame catchers: Yogi Berra, Carlton Fisk, Gary Carter and Johnny Bench were all on hand to honor Piazza at Shea Stadium on “Mike Piazza Night.”
September 29, 2005 – Hits a solo home run at Shea Stadium, his final blast as a Met, and his 220th in a Mets uniform, in an 11-0 win over Colorado.
