Mike Piazza
Encyclopedia : M : MI : MIK : Mike Piazza
Michael Joseph Piazza (born September 4, 1968 in Norristown, Pennsylvania, USA) is a U.S. Major League Baseball player who currently plays for the San Diego Padres. He is generally recognized as the top-hitting catcher of all time. He is a 12-time All-Star. On May 5, 2004, Piazza surpassed Carlton Fisk for most home runs by a catcher with his 352nd as a catcher.
Childhood
Mike grew up for the first few years of his life in a small house in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. The house was hardly big enough to hold Mike's family which consisted of his parents, Vince and Veronica, and his brothers Vince Jr., Danny, Tony and Tommy. The backyard was where Mike made his earliest baseball memories. His father had made a batting cage made of wood with a net inside. On one side of the cage was a pitching machine. Mike would load this with some tattered baseballs and then hit them. It was Mike's second home; he spent every bit of his spare time here. Even during the cold Pennsylvania winters, Mike was a constant presence in the cage, having shoveled snow out of it and then heated the baseballs on the stove in his house. To protect from the vibration of the bat on the hard baseballs in the cold, he would also wear gloves while hitting.Vince Piazza was childhood friends with Dodgers manager, Tommy Lasorda. When the Dodgers came to Philly, Mike had the opportunity to spend time in the Dodger clubhouse and dugout. When he turned nine, he joined his first little league team, the A's. Mike's coach, Abdul Ford-Bey taught him and his teammates the fundamentals of the game. The next year, Mike was on a team called the Cardinals where Mike played catcher. Mike did not like catching, ironically. He wanted to be a pitcher. However, a few years later, when he was thirteen, Mike led his team to the semi-finals of their play-off and hit a game winning home run. At age 13, Mike was also allowed to serve as a batboy for the Dodgers which allowed him to spend even more time with major-leaguers and become friends with some of them.
High school
Vince Piazza sold and bought land and cars until Mike was 13. However, at that time, he struck it rich after buying a computer company and was able to build a house several miles away which Vince's father had Mike help to build in order that he understand the value of hard work. The house was abutted on one side by a golf course and Mike's father had a batting cage built in the basement. With this brand new pitching machine, Mike could practice hitting not only fastballs, but curveballs and even knuckleballs. As a kid, Mike even hit in front of the legendary Ted Williams, who complimented his swing. Mike became interested in heavy metal music, and played electric guitar and drums. The high school team had a baseball team called the Phantoms. Their coach, John "Doc" Kennedy knew he would try out for the team, remembering him from little league. He asked Mike if he would consider playing catcher, as the team needed one. Piazza told the coach that he would prefer playing first base for then, but the team had a first-baseman and so he ended up spending his tenth grade year playing for the junior varsity team. When Mike was a junior he made the varsity team, he finished that year with 12 home runs, breaking a record, and led the team in every hitting category. He was voted most valuable player. As a senior, Mike batted almost .600 for the Phantoms, but the team's season ended with a loss in the district semifinals.Major League career
Piazza's best season was 1997, a year when he finished second in MVP voting. He hit .362, with 40 home runs and 124 runs batted in, an on base percentage of .431 and a slugging percentage of .638.
He played for the Dodgers until he was traded to the Florida Marlins on May 14, 1998. Piazza and Todd Zeile went to the Marlins in return for Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson, Bobby Bonilla, Manuel Barrios, and Jim Eisenreich. The trade, precipiated by a contract dispute, is regarded by many as one of the worst moves in Dodgers history. One week later, on May 22, Piazza was traded from the Marlins to the New York Mets for Preston Wilson, Ed Yarnall, and Geoff Goetz.
Piazza helped the Mets to two consecutive playoff appearances in 1999 and 2000, the second resulting in a National League Pennant and World Series appearance although the team would lose to a Yankee team winning their fourth World Series in five years.
One of the most emotional moments of Piazza's career came when he belted a dramatic two-run home run in the eighth inning against Steve Karsay on September 21, 2001 in New York City to lift the Mets to a 3-2 triumph over the Braves in the first regular season professional sporting event in New York City since the September 11 tragedy.
To ease the stress on his deteriorating knees, Piazza began to split his time between catching and playing first base during the 2004 season, an experiment which was abandoned before the end of the season because of Piazza's defensive deficiencies. Although recognized as a great hitter, Piazza is generally not well-regarded for his defensive play, despite having caught two no hitters thrown by Ramón Martínez and Hideo Nomo. Nomo's was particularly impressive because it happened at Coors Field. Piazza has had trouble throwing out runners stealing second base, though not because of a lack of arm strength. Piazza's height makes rising from a crouch difficult and negates the benefits of his strong arm.
In his 14-year career (through 2005), Piazza's career batting average is .311 with 397 home runs, 1,223 RBI, and 308 doubles in 1,702 games.
On October 2, 2005, Piazza filed for free agency, effectively ending his career with the Mets. He signed with the San Diego Padres on (January 29), 2006 and is their starting catcher and clean-up hitter.
He represented Italy in the 2006 World Baseball Classic.
Teams
- Los Angeles Dodgers: 1992-1998
- Florida Marlins: 1998
- New York Mets: 1998-2005
- San Diego Padres: 2006-present
Salary
During the 2005 season, Piazza was the 9th highest paid MLB player at $16,071,429. On January 29, 2006, Mike Piazza accepted a one-year deal with the San Diego Padres worth up to $2 million.Career Salary
1993 - $126,000
1994 - $600,000
1995 - $900,000
1996 - $2,700,000
1997 - $7,000,000
1998 - $8,000,000
1999 - $7,171,428
2000 - $12,071,429
2001 - $13,571,429
2002 - $10,571,429
2003 - $15,571,429
2004 - $16,071,429
2005 - $16,071,429
2006 - $1,250,000
Personal life
On January 29, 2005, he married former Playboy Playmate Alicia Rickter at St. Jude's Catholic Church in Miami before 120 guests, including Al Leiter and Detroit Tigers' catcher Ivan Rodriguez.Trivia
- In February 2001, he defeated Kevin Sorbo of Hercules fame and Ally McBeal actress Jane Krakowski on Celebrity Jeopardy!, collecting $15,000 for teammate Al Leiter's Leiters Landing Foundation charity.
- Piazza appeared on the September 23, 2004 episode of NBC's The Apprentice. He was paid $20,000 for a half-hour of work pitching a vanilla-mint flavored Crest toothpaste.
- Mike was the subject—and source—of a hoax involving Teen Wolf starring Michael J. Fox. Mike alleged in an interview with New York Sports Express that he had played the boyfriend of the beautiful blonde (whom Fox sleeps with).
- He once did guest vocals for heavy metal band Black Label Society's song "Stronger than Death".
- He did backup vocals for heavy metal band Overkill onstage during DJ Eddie Trunk's Annual Halloween listener party on October 29, 2004, at the Hard Rock Café in New York City.
- Mike was responsible for leaking a demo of "I.R.S." by Guns N' Roses, also on the Eddie Trunk Radio Show.
- He was referenced in a song by Scottish indie-rock group Belle & Sebastian, "Piazza, New York Catcher".
- Hit the longest home run in Astrodome history, an estimated 480-foot, two-run blast off Jose Lima in the first inning of a game on September 14th, 1998.
- Led the majors with four grand slams in 1998. His fourth slam and first as a Met came against the Diamondbacks' Andy Benes in the second inning of the August 22nd game at Shea Stadium.
- Hit his 200th home run on September 16th, 1998, at Houston. The home run, a three-run shot with two outs in the ninth inning against Billy Wagner (now coincidentally a Met), gave the Mets a 3-2 lead in a game they would win, 4-3, in 11 innings.
- Tied a Mets' club record on July 18th when he hit his third grand slam of the season ... The only other Mets with three grand slams in a year are John Milner in 1976 and Robin Ventura in 1999.
- His 72 RBI prior to the All-Star Break in the year 2000, were the most in club history. Dave Kingman had 69 in 1976.
- He and Derek Jeter are the only players in major league history to hit a World Series home run in both Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium.
- Won 10 consecutive Louisville Silver Slugger Awards.
- In 1993, his 35 home runs set the record for most home runs by a rookie catcher, surpassing Detroit's Matt Nokes with 28 in 1987. Plus, it is the most home runs by any Dodger rookie.
- Joined Cincinnati's Johnny Bench (1968), New York Yankees' Thurman Munson (1970), Atlanta's Earl Williams (1971), Boston's Carlton Fisk (1972), San Diego's Benito Santiago (1987) and Cleveland's Sandy Alomar, Jr. (1990) as the only catchers to be named Rookie of the Year.
- Made first All-Star appearance in 1993, where he struck out in his only at-bat. He made his first start at All-Star Game in 1994, a year later. He was the first Dodger to start an All-Star Game since Mike Scioscia in 1990.
- Was named the All-Star Game's MVP, in 1996, after he went 2-3 with a double, home run and two RBI at Veterans Stadium in his hometown of Philadelphia.
- Finished second in the NL Most Valuable Player voting behind San Diego's Ken Caminiti after batting .336 with 36 home runs, 105 RBI, 87 runs and 16 doubles in 148 games in 1996 (sadly, Caminiti later admitted to taking steroids during his MVP Award-winning season).
- His .362 average in 1997 was the highest ever by a catcher (110 games) in the National League, tying the Major Leage record Bill Dickey who also batted .362 for the New York Yankees in 1936.
- His 40 homers in 1997 and 1999 is the third most by a catcher. Todd Hundley is second, with 41 homers in 1996, and Javy Lopez set the record with 43 in 2004.
- Won the Ted Williams Award presented by CNN/SI and Total Baseball in 1997.
- His 201 hits in 1997 were the most in major league history by a player used as a catcher in 130 or more games
- Has the 2nd highest slugging percentage in Dodger history with .572, trailing Gary Sheffield by only .001 percent.
- His .331 batting average as a Dodger is the fourth highest in franchise history.
- His 250th home run was a grand slam on May 14th vs. Florida's Brad Penny.
- Hit more than 30 homers in eight consecutive seasons from 1995 to 2002). Has nine career 30-homer seasons.
- Hit .300 in nine consecutive seasons, dating from 1993 to 2001.
- Yogi Berra, Carlton Fisk, Gary Carter and Johnny Bench were on hand at Shea to honor Mike on "Mike Piazza Night" on June 18th, 2004. Piazza was celebrated for breaking the record for career home runs by a catcher.
- In 2005, he batted .252. It was his worst season average since 1992, when he hit .232 only 69 at-bats in 21 games.
- Played against the Mets in for the first time since leaving on April 20th, 2006.
- Hit his 400th career home run on April 26, 2006 off Arizona Diamondback Jose Valverde.
- His younger brother Tommy plays for the Kingsport Mets.
External links
- [2005 statistics at ESPN]
- [Entire professional career statistics and analysis at Baseball Reference]
- [Ultimate Mets Database] - Mike Piazza as a New York Met
- [Article from New York magazine, October 2000, about Piazza and the Mets]
|- style="text-align: center;" |- style="text-align: center;"
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.