Congratulations to Mike Piazza on a great career and best wishes for a happy retirement, but the Mets didn’t necessarily have to take the whole day off for you.
As readers of the site know, I tend to think too much attention is given to number retirement and not enough attention to the idea of the number as a tradition to be passed along, but I certainly can’t imagine Mets could get away with issuing No. 31 again anytime soon. And it’s not hard to come up with an argument for Piazza’s credentials, so let’s bring it on… in 2013.
Submitted by gored82 on Wed, 05/21/2008 – 12:35pm.
I’d like to see the Stems retire 31 for Piazza and Franco…
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“And it’s not hard to come
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 05/23/2008 – 12:58am.
“And it’s not hard to come up with an argument for Piazza’s credentials”
Sure, he was an incredible clutch power hitter and team player, however he was a mediocre catcher at best. His throwing arm was abysmal-almost Knoblauch-esque, with the exception that base runners almost always took extra bases on his throwing errors while Chucky’s errors usually only resulted in a safe at first call and some boos. He couldn’t stop the running game and wasn’t a threat to do so. Every team took advantage of it. I’ll never forget all of the occasions he opted to not even attempt to throw out base stealers for the sake of damage control. I guess it’s better to let them have one base, rather than 2+. He wasn’t that great of a fielder(especially at first base, which was supposed to be his saving grace), he had no speed and lacked the overall toughness that all catchers should have. He was a big guy but anyone could have mowed him down during a play at the plate or on the mound(Clemens).
Granted, catching is the hardest position in the game but was he a hall of fame catcher? Absolutely not, without a question. Should he be admitted for his overall career stats. My vote is no but it is debatable.