The End Of A Brilliant Career

Yesterday, one of the greatest catchers of all time officially closed the book on a legendary career. Mike Piazza, after not being able to find work at age 39, decided to hang up his cleats after 16 years in Major League Baseball. Piazza went from a 62nd round selection of the Los Angeles Dodgers to eventual first ballot Hall of Famer. His 396 home runs as a catcher are by far the most of any catcher in baseball history.

Piazza's Major League career began with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which in five years, could be the team that Piazza will have on his Hall of Fame plaque. Piazza had one the greatest rookie seasons of all-time in 1993, batting .318 with 35 home runs and 112 RBIs on route to the NL Rookie of the Year award. The next year, Piazza hit .319 with 24 homers and 92 RBIs, gaudy numbers for a catcher. Those years however, were just the beginning of the greatest hitting seasons for a catcher of all-time.

In 1995, Piazza hit a whopping .346, while sending 32 pitches over the wall, and driving in 93 runs. Piazza's '96 season was even better. Piazza was named the MVP of the All-Star Game and finished the season hitting .336 with 36 homers and 105 RBIs. However, Piazza's best season ever was in 1997. Piazza hit .362, homering 40 times and driving in 124 runs. Somehow, Piazza finished second in the NL MVP race to Larry Walker. 1997 would be Piazza's final full season as a Dodger.

Midway through 1998, Piazza was shipped to the Florida Marlins. 10 days after that Piazza was traded to the New York Mets, who are the other team that could end up being on Piazza's Hall of Fame plaque. The next year, Piazza had his second best season of his career, hitting .303 with another 40 home runs and 124 RBIs. In 2000, Piazza was the biggest reason the Mets went to the World Series. In a era of Yankee dominance in New York, Piazza made the Mets relavent to New Yorkers, hitting 38 home runs and with 133 RBIs and a batting average of .324. Piazza would never play in another World Series, but he continued his great regular season with an even more dominating postseason. He hit .302 with 4 home runs and 8 RBIs, all in just 53 at-bats.

2001 was a year that will always be in the memory of all Americans. On September 21st, just 10 days after the terrible events of 9/11, Piazza finally gave New Yorkers some hope and a reason to cheer. The Shea crowd was awkrard that night, not knowing what to do. The Mets, donning FDNY and NYPD hats to honor the firefighters and policemen that helped save American lives, trailed the Atlanta Braves 2-1 in the bottom of the 8th inning. Mike Piazza stepped to the plate against Atlanta pitcher Steve Karsay with a man on first. On an 0-1 pitch, Piazza crushed a fastball over the center field wall, sending the Shea crowd into a frenzy. It was Piazza's most memorable moment as a Met, one that will be remembered by Mets fans for the rest of their lives. He ended up finishing the season with a .300 avg, 36 home runs, and 94 RBIs.

In 2002, Piazza finally started to show a catcher's decline. For the first time in his career, Piazza hit under .300 during a full season, though he still did hit .280. 2002 was also the last season that Piazza hit over 30 home runs or had over 90 RBIs, as Piazza hit 33 homers and 98 RBIs during his '02 campaign. It would be the last great year of Piazza's amazing career.

For the rest of his career, Piazza was never the same. He stayed with the Mets through 2005, before moving to San Diego for a year and then Oakland for another year. Piazza finished his outstanding career with a .308 batting average, 427 home runs, and 1335 RBIs. While he was never known for his defensive abilities, Piazza called a very good game as a catcher and pitchers enjoyed throwing to him. In five years, Piazza will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He will be remembered as the greatest hitting catcher of all-time, and possibly the greatest catcher of all-time.