August 04, 2005
Piazza Class
The Daily News looks at the graceful way Mike Piazza's career with the Mets is winding down.
In one sense, it wasn't really news that he was hitting seventh last night, since he'd been moved out of the middle of the lineup a couple of weeks ago. Then again, this is still Piazza, perhaps the greatest hitting catcher ever. So every step down in the lineup is not just an acknowledgement of decline at the plate, but a reminder that he is in his final days at Shea.
The fans seem to be growing more aware of it all the time. They've been cheering his every at-bat, and last night they gave him a curtain call for his game-tying home run in the fourth inning, then chanted his name after Piazza threw out a runner stealing third with the game tied in the ninth inning.
Mike Piazza should have never been allowed to leave the Dodgers, but thanks to that genius Kevin Malone ("there's a new sheriff in town....."), who was brought in by that factory of baseball knowledge NewsCorp (a.k.a. Fox TV who only bought the team to fill programming time and to compete against Ted Turner's Braves superstation), the greatest hitting catcher of all time is winding down on the wrong coast.
Just to refresh your collective memories, here is how that blockbuster 1998 deal went down: The Florida Marlins got Mike Piazza and 3B Todd Zeile for C Charles Johnson, 3B Bobby Bonilla, OF Gary Sheffield, OF Jim Eisenreich & RP Manuel Barrios.
Eisenreich retired after the 1998 season and the Dodgers shipped Bonilla off to the Mets a couple of months later for RP Mel Rojas. A year later, they packaged CJ along with OF Roger Cedeno and also sent them to the Mets for a broken down Todd Hundley. Finally the traded Sheffield to the Braves for Brian Jordan and Odalis Perez in 2002.
In the end the Dodgers while they did get 3 productive seasons out of Sheff, all that is left to show for dumping their franchise player of the generation is #3 starter Perez. Which is probably why Kevin Malone hasn't gotten another job in baseball.
Piazza's having another good day today, with a two-run homer and a two-run single so far. They're bashing at Shea: 6-5 Mets in the top of the fifth.
Make it 6-6. And stay tuned.
Mike got another ribby to make it five for the game. Unfortunately, the Mets' pitching collapsed and they're behind 12-9 in the ninth. Piazza has now getten his numbers up to a semi-respectable .269/.332/.469.
