Piazza No More
by Phil Gurnee on May 20, 2008 1:19 PM PDT
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PrintThe greatest hitter I ever heard has called it quits today. When I look back at all the things I’ve had the pleasure to see as a Dodger fan, listening to Mike Piazza hit a baseball is near the top of the list. And when I say, listen I’m not talking about Vinny giving me the play by play, I’m talking about the explosive bang that would resonate throughout Dodger Stadium when Piazza squared one up.
Many players can do that once in a while, but with Mike he sent shock waves from pillar to pillar on a more consistent basis during his Dodger career then anyone I’ve ever followed.
Following prospects is a lot of fun when you first notice them doing something in rookie ball. When no one else pays them any attention you wonder why but you keep watching the stat sheet as you grow some weird attachment to them. As Mike progressed up the minor league ladder he laid waste to the pitchers like no other Dodger catcher has ever done, and when they finally couldn’t ignore his bat any longer he then laid waste on major league pitching.
By the time his Dodger career was over he had re-written the offensive book for a catcher. He not only was the greatest hitting catcher in history he was our catcher. Never in my Dodger history had we had such a player. So we did what any smart organization would do, we traded him.
The trade was dark day for me. They got plenty of talent back for him, but he was our guy. Our home grown HOF had been sent away and eventually he would play out the rest of his productive career with the Mets. As he drew close to the end of his career, many clamored for him to spend his last year as the Dodger backup. I was not one of them, as I only wanted to remember him in his glory and I’m glad he left now, instead of hanging on one more year.
Many things bug the crap out of me at Dodger Stadium these days, but none more so then when they boo Mike Piazza. The DSI(Dodger Stadium Idiots) must be clueless to boo the best offensive player to ever grace our stadium.
I’d like to spend a lot more time on this but work beckons. Piazza started his career after I had turned 30. He will be headed to the HOF just about the time I expect to retire thus allowing me to make my first trek to Cooperstown and honor a favorite Dodger. It will be strange to sit among a sea of Met hats as they claim him for their own, but I know better.
Piazza was a Dodger, our Dodger, my Dodger, your Dodger.
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He'll
always be a Dodger to me as well. I lived in Bakersfield, California for much of my youth and had the opportunity to see the Bakersfield Dodgers in their final years before they became the Bakersfield Blaze and gasp a Giants affiliate in what had to be the biggest mismatch of a fan base and an affiliate in the minor leagues at the time. Unfortunate I started watching them too late as most of the Dodger early 90s ROYs had already passed through and all we had left of them was the mural of each that had been put up at Sam Lynn Ballpark’s entrance.
I fear that Piazza will go into the Hall of Fame as a Met. He put great numbers there as well and led them to the World Series. It would be hard for us to say Met fans do not have an equal or even greater claim to Piazza.
Piazza
Piazza is a Met, and will go into the HOF as one. Sure, he had some great numbers as a Dodger, but his prime years were in NY. His statement alone says it all – he thanked L.A., S.D. Miami and Oakland, but then went on to single out Mets fans and NY, and how grateful he is to them for giving him the happiest years of his career there. The feeling is mutual, too. Mets fans are notoriously tough on players, but Piazza is beloved…...
Re:
He should go in as a Met but his best years were as a Dodger based on any metric you want to use. If you think you saw the best of Mike Piazza you are sadly mistaken. His 26-28 year arc was as good as it gets.
Re : Re:
Understood. Those two years were his most outstanding. However, his Mets stats were pretty comparable to his Dodgers stats overall, and if you take into account that he considers himself a Met, and the love he has for NY and New Yorkers especially after that horrible day in Sept. ‘01, AND everything HE and they experienced together, it’s hard to argue. As I said, his statement pretty much sums it up…
I don't think we disagree on anything
I’ll take his Dodger years and you can take his Met years and we can both cheer for him 5 years from now.
Not Really.
In a little over 5 seasons as a Dodger, Piazza had a WARP3 of 50.4. In just under 8 seasons with the Mets, Piazza had a WARP3 of 43.2. That’s not really comparable at all. Piazza’s best seasons were by far with the Dodgers, not the Mets, and he was a more productive player with the Dodgers, not the Mets. As far as what Piazza wants to go in as, a Dodger or a Met, I assume that will ultimately be up to him. Even though the Hall has final say, I assume that given the importance of both teams to his career, whatever he says they’ll go with, i.e. this won’t be a Boggs or Carter case where they wanted to go into the hall with the teams they won a championship with, but had to go in with the cap of those teams they had been on the longest.
But that’s 5 years down the road, and we will see what Piazza thinks then. I assume that he will want to go in as a Met, but Piazza’s connections to the Dodgers stem more than just his first 5 years in the bigs.
by Tango and Cash on May 20, 2008 6:26 PM PDT up reply actions
Tom Glavine on Piazza
"The Mets are the team I identify him with. I know he came up as a Dodger, but he had more productive years with the Mets. He broke the home run record for catchers with the Mets. In the end he actually played more games as a Met than as a Dodger. When I think of Mike in his prime, more of those years he was a Met than a Dodger." – Tom Glavine
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