Mike Piazza may have been shutout by the Baseball Writers which you can read below, but according to Adam Rubin, he could very well be inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame during the 2013 season.
The Mets’ Hall of Fame committee — which has included team employees Dave Howard and Jay Horwitz, former player Al Jackson and media members Gary Cohen, Howie Rose and Marty Noble — is expected to meet before spring training to discuss any inductees to the upcoming class. An announcement is expected in the next several weeks.
The committee technically decides whether to recommend any number retirements as well. Jeff Wilpon makes the final call in both cases.
The Mets only have one former player’s number retired — Tom Seaver’s No. 41. Still, there appears to be strong consideration to have Piazza leapfrog other worthy candidates such as Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter and retire No. 31 at least once Piazza achieves Cooperstown.
Lets hope Mikey gets his well deserved big day at Citi Field… As for Cooperstown, there’s always next year.
Original Post
In what has been easily the most controversial ballot in the history of the Baseball Hall of Fame, the much anticipated results are in. The Baseball Writers Association of America have elected to enshrine nobody into Cooperstown for the first time since 1996 and the eighth time in the history of the Hall of Fame since their first ballot in 1936.
In a first ballot that saw controversial names such as Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, who failed to crack 40% as well as Sammy Sosa who received just over 12% of the vote. Piazza had a nice showing at 57.8%, finishing fourth overall and second only to Craig Biggio who led the board with 68.2%; just 39 votes short of the needed 427. Dale Murphy received 18.6% of the vote in what was his 15th year of eligibility and as a result will not be on the 2014 ballot.
The other BBWAA elections without a winner were in 1945, 1946, 1950, 1958 and 1960.
“The standards for earning election to the Hall of Fame have been very high ever since the rules were created in 1936,” Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson said. “We realize the challenges voters are faced with in this era. The Hall of Fame has always entrusted the exclusive voting privilege to the baseball writers. We remain pleased with their role in evaluating candidates based on the criteria we provide.”
Bernie Williams, Kenny Lofton, Sandy Alomar Jr., Julio Franco, David Wells, Steve Finley, Shawn Green and Aaron Sale all received votes, but did not reach the required 5% to stay on the ballot for next year.
Biggio’s son Conor had this to say via Twitter following the surprising results that his father was denied the honor of becoming the 45th first-ballot Hall of Famer:
This summer will only feature the Veteran’s Committee candidates making it into Cooperstown. Umpire Hank O’Day, Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert and 19th-century catcher/third baseman Deacon White will be honored on July 28th; all of which have been deceased for over 70 years.
