With all due respect to James McCann, he’s no Mike Piazza.
On this Shoebox Memories, the chosen subject is from the 2003 Topps Stadium Club set produced by Topps in November 2002, just in time to be given as gifts under the tree.
While most sets are released the following year with stats and pictured from the previous season, this set contains stats from 2002, during which Mike Piazza produced a slash line of .280/.359/.544 with 33 home runs and 98 RBIs. His .903 OPS was good for an OPS+ of 138, indicating it was 38% better than league average.
This was actually a “down” season for Piazza as – excluding a 21 game cameo in 1992 – it was the first season he had failed to hit at least .300, and the .903 OPS was the lowest of his career to that point.
Now, let’s take our Sherlock Holmes deerstalker hat off the wall and turn to the electronic schedule and results pages maintained at Baseball Reference to see if we can determine the game this play was taken from (and who the tushy of the opposing player shown in the photo belongs to).
In reviewing the photo, Piazza is wearing the travel uniform, the infield is grass, the brick outfield wall is covered by ivy, and the opposing player is wearing a uniform with stripped pants and a shirt consistent with Cubbies Blue. The conclusion is that the action shot was from a day game at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
Online, we see that the Mets played three games in Chicago in 2002 from April 9-11. However, April Chicago weather is not consistent with the short sleeves both players are wearing and some of the white shirts shown in the bleachers.
A review of the box scores from each of those three games reveals Piazza did not ever reach third base (other than on a home run) during the series. Therefore, the picture is not from the 2002 season, even though the stats on the back are from this 2003 set released in 2002. 2002-2003 are not considered part of the “junk wax” era of baseball cards, but this is still a disappointing fact.
Looking back to the 2001 season on Baseball Reference, the Mets played three games at Wrigley, from June 25-27. June Chicago weather is far more consistent with the short sleeve uniforms Piazza and the unknown Cubbie are wearing. June 25 was a night game (the Statler Brothers should re-release an updated “Don’t Wait on Me”) so that game can be eliminated as a possibility.
June 26 was a day game, and in the top of the sixth, Mike Piazza doubled to right center field off of Jon Lieber and went to third on the play due to an error by Cubs center fielder Gary Matthews. If this is the play, the tushy is that of Miguel Cairo, who manned the hot corner for the Cubs that day. The Cubs won the game 4 – 2.
A recent commenter in a Shoebox Memories article asked if the author flips through cards looking for cards from in-game action and only writes about the ones that the details can be determined (hence our 1.000 batting average), or if even cards that cannot be determined conclusively are written about as well. The truth is the latter, and this card is an example.
While June 26th is a likely candidate, on June 27, 2001 the Mets also played a day game at Wrigley. In the top of the eighth with one man out and trailing 4-3, Mike Piazza singled to right, sending Desi Relaford to third. After Robin Ventura made an out without advancing the runners, Todd Zeile lined a single to right field, scoring Relaford and sending Piazza to third.
If the action is from June 27th, the Cubs third baseman is still Miguel Cairo. However, in this game the next batter was left fielder Lenny Harris, who drove Piazza home with a single – putting the Mets ahead 5-4, the final score of the game.
Does weather help us choose between the two dates? June 26th had a game time temperature of 82 and was sunny. June 27th had a game time temperature of 81 and was sunny.
Let’s hang our deerstalker hat back on the wall as we are forced to admit at least a partial defeat. We determined the identity of the third baseman, but are unable to determine the actual date or play pictured on the card.
