The LTJ Editorial: “The best memory Mike Piazza gave me”

“The LTJ Editorial”
Author: Luis Tirado Jr.
Date: 9-27-13
Twitter: @LTJ81
Website: http://www.TheNYExpress.com

“The best memory Mike Piazza gave me”

I will have the privilege of attending the final NY Mets game this coming Sunday, September 29^th, 2013 at Citi Field and it won't just be another baseball game for me. This will be the day the Mets will induct Mike Piazza into their own Hall of Fame and will honor him in a pre-game ceremony tribute. I have plenty of memories about Pizza especially a huge one that I'll never forget to this very day. More on that later in this article but for now, let us take a look at some of the accolades Piazza earned wearing a Mets uniform.

Piazza is a 12-time All-Star and in the eyes of most baseball enthusiasts, easily one of the best catchers to ever play the game. When you look at professional baseball as a whole, he holds the most home runs hit by a catcher at the amazing number of 427. The last time the Mets went to the World Series back in 2000, one of the biggest reasons they were able to get there in the first place was because of the hot bat of Piazza. I remember he had a hitting streak of 15 straight games where he at least got one run batted in. During his tenure with the Mets, he honored every single game in the contract he signed back in 1998 and played for about 7 years. During that stretch, he played in 972 games, had 532 runs, 1028 hits, 193 doubles, two triples, 220 home runs, 655 runs batted in, 7 stolen bases, a batting average of .296, and a .373 on base percentage. Absolutely incredible stats and many say that the trade the Mets made to acquire Piazza was one of the best in baseball history to turn a franchise into the right direction. A winning direction at that.

When you look at his career, he has not only been quite the class act, but he's been a phenomenal superstar no matter where he ended up playing. Even though he debuted for the Los Angeles Dodgers and played for teams like the Miami Marlins, San Diego Padres, and the Oakland A's, he will almost always be remembered for his tenure with the Mets. He even said when his time comes to get into the MLB Hall of Fame, he wants to be inducted as a Met. Before his professional baseball debut, ever since he was a little boy, baseball was his world. Did you know when Piazza was just five years old, his Dad was working on his arm strength by making him throw baseballs and practice catching? Another fun fact is that when he was just twelve years old in his custom-made backyard batting cage, he had a very special instructor. One who showed him what kind of batting stance he should always use. It was Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams! It was Williams who actually showed him how to bat and made sure to teach Piazza that no matter what any coach ever told him, to never change his batting stance.

Many baseball fans, especially Mets fans, cherish every memory he brought to this team. I remember one very big memory though because it helped distract me during a difficult time not only in my life but in the lives of millions. I will never forget the terrorist attacks that struck this nation, especially in New York with the September 11^th, 2001 attacks. I remember just a huge sadness that hit me the day it happened that lasted that entire week and still bothers me to this day. Everything in New York was on lock down, every night I went to bed I would worry if in the news the next day more attacks would occur. The sports world stopped and you couldn't even watch TV or even listen to Sports Radio because everyone was focusing on the coverage of what would be another upcoming war this country would face. After the week was over, some kind of sports returned that weekend I remember. It was another NL East game featuring the Atlanta Braves coming to Shea Stadium to take on the Mets. Everyone was sad, crying, it was really emotional since all the players wore NYPD/FDNY caps to honor New York. It was the first sporting event held after the 9/11 attacks, so it meant a lot to a ton of people, regardless if you followed baseball or not. What's my all-time favorite Piazza memory? That at-bat where Piazza hit a ball for a home run that even though I wasn't physically at the game, I heard the Shea Stadium crowd from my home in Queens. It was huge and gives me goosebumps every single time I see that hit. At the time, it lifted the entire city to forget just for a little bit of what occurred earlier that week.

Mike Piazza stands for a lot of things. Integrity, loyalty, and of course, doing things the right way. I know a number of years ago he admitted to using something called Androstenedione but at the time it wasn't anything banned by MLB. Piazza used it for muscle mass and it really isn't any kind of Performance Enhancing Drug when you think about it. It's not like he was a horrible player, took Andro, and starting to hit 10 home runs a game thereafter. As far as I'm concerned, he has brought nothing but great memories and will be remembered as an incredible player. Does he belong in the MLB Hall of Fame? Absolutely! No catcher in the history of the game has made as much an impact as Piazza did and while he didn't get enough votes the last time he was eligible, he will eventually get in. This time though, in Cooperstown.

Baseball: Pie Traynor, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, South Central, Ubaldo Jimenez

From Northborough's Mark Fidrych to Natick's Doug Flutie, professional athletes from the region have earned a certain level of affection from their hometown fans. But while local ball fields, street signs and other markers bear the names of less accomplished players, Framingham's Harold "Pie" Traynor, a Hall-of-Famer widely considered one of the best third baseman in baseball history, gets nary a thought in his hometown. The oversight is about to end, though. Town historian Fred Wallace, after securing the approval of several town boards, hopes to erect a plaque in Traynor's honor by next spring. Read more: link  

Ron described the infamous trade of Babe Ruth to the Yankees that "ruined" baseball here for almost a century, and he pointed out the single seat in the right field bleachers painted red amidst the sea of green to mark the exact spot where the longest measurable home run inside Fenway landed. Ted Williams clobbered it on June 9, 1946, off Detroit's Fred Hutchinson. Taped at 502 feet and authenticated by a newspaper story, the ball crashed through the straw hat of the man dozing in the storied seat -- Section 42, Row 37, Seat 21. That's Red Sox lore that I can remember! - http://www.torontosun.com/2011/09/13/on-the-trail-of-baseballs-holy-grail  

This is the only position under serious attack right now, although the 2011-12 offseason will go a long way to showing us just how perilous Gehrig’s position is. At the moment, the Iron Horse is ahead of Albert Pujols, both in performance and length of career. However, Pujols is fewer than 500 games behind Gehrig, and figures to play for at least another decade. Should Pujols sign a long-term deal with the Cardinals and finish his career in St. Louis, he has a reasonable shot at taking over this position. - http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/this-annotated-week-in-baseball-history-sept.-11-17-1941  

We contacted Strawberry for the story and he told me it was tough to make it out of South Central back in those days, but still easier than it is today. Back then, Strawberry was playing alongside other future major leaguers like Crenshaw High teammate Chris Brown. The area also had other up-and-comers back then like Eric Davis, Chili Davis, and Ozzie Smith. They all emerged together and plenty of MLB attention was drawn towards the Los Angeles inner city. There was a much bigger support network back then as well, geared towards funneling talented young players on to the correct elite path they'd need to take. - http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/marinersblog/2016227323_trayvon_robinson_a_journey_to.html  

Despite a K/9 identical to last year and a K% higher than 2009, but not too far below last season, his SwStk% has taken a dive. Given the apparent quality of his stuff, his SwStk% has actually never been as high as one would expect. But this year, it is below league average for the first time in his career. I am guessing that his decreased velocity is the main culprit and thinking all this ties into his career worst BABIP and worst HR/FB ratio since 2007. In addition, his F-Strike% is at a career worst, even though his BB% dropped from last season and is just a hint worse than his career best mark in 2009. So, according to the underlying metrics we typically analyze, (Ubaldo) Jimenez has pitched at the same level as he always has, but the luck dragons have taken a bit out of his season. But given his huge unexplained velocity dip and some other weird numbers in his advanced metrics, he has been quite the enigma this season. If his velocity does not improve next spring training, he may not be as undervalued as we might expect and a full rebound is less of a guarantee. - http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/index.php/ubaldo-jimenez-head-scratcher-of-the-year