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Michael Joseph Piazza #31
New York Mets: Catcher
HT: 6'3"
WT: 215 Bats: Right Throws: Right
Born: September 4, 1968 Norristown, Pennsylvania
College: Miami-Dade Community College
Teams: Teams: New
York Mets (1998-present),
Florida Marlins (1998), Los Angeles Dodgers (1992-98)
World Series Championships: None
Did You Know?
- The Dodgers selected Mike in the 62nd round
of the 1988 draft, but only as a favor as Tommy Lasorda was friends with
Mike's father. 1,389 players were selected before him.
- Mike lived out his boyhood dream of wearing
Dodger blue, but during his 6th season with the club he was dealt not once but
twice in the same week. He ended up on his current team, the New York
Mets.
- Mike received special batting instruction
from the greatest hitter to ever play the game, Ted
Williams, early in his
career. He obviously applied what he learned as he has a career BA of
.319, which is good for 4th on the Active list entering the 2004 season.
- In Mike's rookie season he batted .318, set
Dodger rookie records for HR and RBI with 35 and 112, respectively, and
was unanimously named 1993 NL Rookie of the Year.
- In 1997, Mike had
perhaps the most productive offensive season ever as a catcher with career
highs in BA (.362), Slugging Percentage (.638), HR (40), RBIs (124),
Hits (201), Total Bases (355) and a second consecutive 2nd place finish in
NL MVP voting.
- Mike became the 5th player in ML history to hit
Grand Slams in consecutive game when he accomplished this feat in 1998. He
later hit another Grand Salami in the same month to tie another ML record for
most Grannys in a month.
- During the Mets' 2000 pennant-winning season,
Mike enjoyed a streak of 15 consecutive games with a RBI, falling short of the
ML record of 17 consecutive games.
- In Mike's first 10 full years in the big
leagues, he amassed more HR and RBI than any other catcher in
history.
- Mike is a 10-time All-Star (1993-2002).
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