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MIKE PIAZZA RETIREMENT FROM MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Mike Piazza officially announced his retirement from Major League Baseball Tuesday after 16 years in the big leagues.
Piazza, a 1986 Phoenixville Area High School graduate, was named National League Rookie of the Year back in 1993. He was a 62nd-round draft choice of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1988 amateur draft.
But he worked his way into becoming arguably the greatest hitting catcher in Major League Basehall history. He is considered a sure-bet first ballot Hall of Famer in Cooperstown, N.Y., when his time comes up.
Piazza, 39, batted .275 with eight home runs and 44 runs batted in as a designated hitter for Oakland Athletics last season. He became a free agent and did not re-sign for the 2008 season.
He became a 12-time All-Star and made the National League team 10 consecutive times starting in 1993.
Piazza finished with a .308 career average, 427 home runs and 1,335 runs batted in for the Dodgers (1992-98), Florida Marlins (one week in 1998), Mets (1998-2005), San Diego Padres (2006) and Oakland (2007). Piazza’s 396 homers are the most by a catcher by far in the history of the majors. His 201 hits in 1997 were the most by a MLB catcher in a single season.
Piazza helped lead the Mets to back-to-back playoff appearances with the 2000 team winning the NL pennant before falling to the New York Yankees in the World Series.
Piazza, the son of Vince and Veronica Piazza, made the announcement in Beverly Hills, Calif.
He married to the former Alicia Rickter on Jan. 29, 2005 and on Feb. 5, she gave birth to their first child, a daughter who is named Nicoletta Veronica Piazza.
While playing in the Phoeniville youth baseball system, Piazza lived with his family in Valley Forge. Mike starred at the Phoenixville Youth Babe Ruth League (PYBRL) at Vic Marosek Park as well as the Phoenixville Babe Ruth League (PBRL) at deSanno Field and Phoenixville American Legion baseball teams besides the high school squad. He played mostly first base at the scholastic level. Piazza established power-hitting records in the old Ches-Mont League before he graduated.
His coach at the high school and American Legion levels was John “Doc” Kennedy, who guided the Phantoms for 20 years before retiring and becoming an assistant coach at Villanova University.
I have covered Mike Piazza’s illustrious baseball career all the way through to the top. I have found him cooperative most of the time so it was a welcome experience to write about him. He remembered his early days in Phoenixville, the people who helped him and his friends on his way to stardom.
Piazza was born in a Norristown hospital, and his father was a friend of Norristown native Tommy Lasorda, a longtime official and manager with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Because of that, there was often references to Mike being from Norristown. But to be correct, Mike attended Phoenixville schools, made his home here and played his youth baseball all the way through the Phoenixville system.
He simply had ties to both the Phoenixville and Norristown areas so both areas claim Piazza as a favorite son.
Posted by
Barry Sankey
Piazza, a 1986 Phoenixville Area High School graduate, was named National League Rookie of the Year back in 1993. He was a 62nd-round draft choice of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1988 amateur draft.
But he worked his way into becoming arguably the greatest hitting catcher in Major League Basehall history. He is considered a sure-bet first ballot Hall of Famer in Cooperstown, N.Y., when his time comes up.
Piazza, 39, batted .275 with eight home runs and 44 runs batted in as a designated hitter for Oakland Athletics last season. He became a free agent and did not re-sign for the 2008 season.
He became a 12-time All-Star and made the National League team 10 consecutive times starting in 1993.
Piazza finished with a .308 career average, 427 home runs and 1,335 runs batted in for the Dodgers (1992-98), Florida Marlins (one week in 1998), Mets (1998-2005), San Diego Padres (2006) and Oakland (2007). Piazza’s 396 homers are the most by a catcher by far in the history of the majors. His 201 hits in 1997 were the most by a MLB catcher in a single season.
Piazza helped lead the Mets to back-to-back playoff appearances with the 2000 team winning the NL pennant before falling to the New York Yankees in the World Series.
Piazza, the son of Vince and Veronica Piazza, made the announcement in Beverly Hills, Calif.
He married to the former Alicia Rickter on Jan. 29, 2005 and on Feb. 5, she gave birth to their first child, a daughter who is named Nicoletta Veronica Piazza.
While playing in the Phoeniville youth baseball system, Piazza lived with his family in Valley Forge. Mike starred at the Phoenixville Youth Babe Ruth League (PYBRL) at Vic Marosek Park as well as the Phoenixville Babe Ruth League (PBRL) at deSanno Field and Phoenixville American Legion baseball teams besides the high school squad. He played mostly first base at the scholastic level. Piazza established power-hitting records in the old Ches-Mont League before he graduated.
His coach at the high school and American Legion levels was John “Doc” Kennedy, who guided the Phantoms for 20 years before retiring and becoming an assistant coach at Villanova University.
I have covered Mike Piazza’s illustrious baseball career all the way through to the top. I have found him cooperative most of the time so it was a welcome experience to write about him. He remembered his early days in Phoenixville, the people who helped him and his friends on his way to stardom.
Piazza was born in a Norristown hospital, and his father was a friend of Norristown native Tommy Lasorda, a longtime official and manager with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Because of that, there was often references to Mike being from Norristown. But to be correct, Mike attended Phoenixville schools, made his home here and played his youth baseball all the way through the Phoenixville system.
He simply had ties to both the Phoenixville and Norristown areas so both areas claim Piazza as a favorite son.
Posted by
Barry Sankey
posted by The Phoenix Files at
2:51 PM
4 Comments:
Very nice article except for the implication and Mike and Alicia got married just days before the birth of their first child when in fact their daughter was a belated second wedding anniversary gift.
Who cares that when the baby was born- his wife gets paid to take her clothes off! Real class act.
king of the steriod users
As I understand it, Mike grew up playing baseball at PYBRL. Since he left town Mike has not shown any support for that youth baseball players in Phoenixville. What's up with that Mike? Be a man and help these kids.
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