SO LONG #31

At the risk of ruining a good thing, all I can say about the mets recent winning streak is this. They are winning with timely hits, good pitching and their defense making outs.

Now, moving on. I wanted to break out of this writing funk to write about Mike Piazza who recently retired. The man didn’t call a press conference, fill it with balloons that read “hope you enjoy retirement” and other nice messages, start crying like an overgrown baby while lamenting on how his body can’t handle the grind of a 162 game season.

No, he sent out a message to the press. That’s just the kind of guy that Mike Piazza always was.

The reason that a player like Mike Piazza will always be appreciated is how he came up. The term late round pick doesn’t do justice to how late he was picked. Some players talk about being picked in the 6^th round and how that fuels them as a player, one can only imagine what being drafted in the 62^nd round in the 1988 draft did for Mike.

Legend has it that he was taken as a favor from Mike’s father’s old friend Tommy Lasorda. Piazza promised Lasorda, the Hall of Fame manager, that he would learn to catch.

He won the rookie of the year in 1993. Piazza then went on one of the most dominant stretches that any catcher will have offensively. If you want to consider context, let’s talk about two of the greatest offensive catchers in the history of the game, Johnny Bench and Pudge Rodriguez. Let’s see how their average numbers hold up over their best 5 year stretches.

Name Yrs GMs A/B Hits HR RBI BA

Mike Piazza	1996-2000	146	536	177	37	115	.331
Johnny Bench	1970-1974	153	576	154	34	113	.267
Ivan Rodriguez	1997-2001	128	516	167	26	86	.324

Let me also say that in those years, Johnny Bench won two NL MVP trophies (1970, 1972) and Pudge won one (1999), but neither in their most dominant offensive stretch could match Piazza in overall stats.

Piazza finished second twice in consecutive seasons in 1996 and 1997 losing both times to guys who had one magical season.

Also if you think I’m picking the better years out of Piazza’s stats to prove a point just look at the overall numbers and you can tell that there is no need to nitpick.

Now let me say this, he wasn’t the best defensive catcher, as a matter of fact he cant even be discussed in the top 10 or in the conversation. But you can make the case that while he didn’t have the strongest arm in the world to throw out base runners; no one put more fear in pitcher’s eyes than ole number 31.

There’s a certain humility that comes with being a catcher if you think about it. Consider how they kneel for the majority of the game. They have the most equipment on. They stay on their knees for 9 innings taking such a beating on their legs that offense is considered almost a luxury for the catcher to have.

The catcher is supposed to know the strengths and weaknesses of a pitcher they are catching, they are supposed to know scouting reports on all hitters that come up. They are supposed to understand game situations, and also be counselor to pitchers who are beginning to unravel. In today’s game they will see atleast 3 pitchers in the course of a game and they will have to guide each to a strong outing.

Let’s not forget the beating they may take from balls coming back and hitting them, the bats that come on the backend of the swing and may nick them here and there. All that considered, for Mike Piazza to have amassed the numbers he did, for this long its an amazing story.

What a way to go. He’s never forgotten as the LAST PICK of the 62^nd round. Number 31 in our memories, and number one in our hearts. Thanks Mike. Your career will never be forgotten.