Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza are the 311th and 312th members inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
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“Nobody gets here alone”, Piazza said, who also thanked his former manager Tommy Lasorda, former hitting coach Reggie Smith and former Dodgers teammate Eric Karros, among others.
Piazza, who delivered the first speech of the afternoon, grew most emotional when discussing his most famous home run – the game-winning shot he hit in the first NY sporting event held following the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.
Consider this: A total of 1,067 players have been drafted in the 62nd round or later and only 12 of them signed with the team that selected them and went on to become major-league players.
Then Griffey donned a ball cap, turned it around in his trademark style, and smiled. “I pray that we never forget their sacrifice”.
“I’m going to leave you with one thing: Out of my 22 years, I’ve learned that only one team will treat you the best”. “At first I was pressing to make you cheer, and wasn’t doing the job”.
“My father’s faith in me, often greater than my own, is the single most important factor in me being elected into this Hall of Fame”, Piazza said.
Piazza, who ended his career with 427 home runs, 1,335 RBIs and 2,127 hits, became just the second Major League Baseball player to wear a Mets cap on his Hall of Fame plaque (Tom Seaver).
The Hall of Fame is a tribute to the idea that anything is possible in baseball.
Griffey gave the hat that he wore on stage during his Baseball Hall of Fame induction to Tyler and Kristin Marino, who lost their NYC firefighter father on 9/11. In his first year of eligibility, Griffey was named on 437 of 440 possible ballots.
Both Griffey and Piazza offered heartfelt thanks to their fathers in their speeches. “Nope. Not me. You know what they said when you’re a kid?”
Piazza became the second NY met to be inducted, and as 62nd round selection, the latest draft choice in history.
Griffey noted that numerous 48 Hall of Famers on hand for the ceremony were not anxious to hear him ramble on an uncomfortably hot, muggy afternoon, “and you don’t want the Hall of Famers at your back throwing stuff at you”. “Now it’s time to smell the roses”.
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“There are two misconceptions about me – I didn’t work hard and everything I did I made look easy”, Griffey said. The crowd of 50,000 was tied for the second-biggest in Induction Sunday history with 1999.
