The Hall of Fame induction ceremonies at the Baseball Hall of Fame are over and Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza are now members of the Cooperstown, New York, shrine.
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Griffey removed the cap when he and Hall of Fame classmate Mike Piazza posed for pictures with Jane Forbes Clark, the Hall of Fame chairman. Griffey is one of just six players ever to hit at least 630 home runs in his career, along with Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Alex Rodriguez and Willie Mays. Griffey was the top pick in the 1987 amateur draft and the only number one overall selection to be inducted, while Piazza, a 62nd round pick in 1988, was the lowest drafted player to ever be enshrined.
“There is nothing like going to the Hall of Fame if you are a baseball person”, said Herman.
“You know what they say when you’re a kid: ‘Don’t do that?”
“To all the legends and Hall of Famers on this stage behind me, you all have given us great joy and inspiration”, Piazza said.
“And I think once I started looking at the kids, it made it a little tough, ” he said. One of the most well-known moments from Piazza’s career was when he hit the game-winning home run against the Atlanta Braves on September 21, 2001.
“If he looks at me and we make contact, we have a couple of routines, a way of us expressing love for one and other”, Buhner told me last week. He was the 1997 American League MVP, a 13-time All-Star selection and a 10-time Gold Glove Award victor. He built a great business an employed many people.
“One special moment in my memory of my mother is an ice cold high school game at Owen J. Roberts High School in which I hit two home runs”, Piazza said. The two were part of the Seattle Mariners, who drafted Ortiz, briefly, but it was enough time for Griffey to get a good look at the future Red Sox star. There were thank you’s, insights into his values in life and baseball, a pitch for Edgar Martinez to join him in Cooperstown and, of course, tears. “We can now smell the roses”.
Throughout his 22-year career, Griffey made his mark on the game like few have or will. “I’m (darn) proud to be a Seattle Mariner”. His most famous home run took place at the first major sporting event in New York City after the 9/11 terrorist attack.
Though the Dodgers gave him his start, Piazza found a home in NY when he was traded to the Mets in May 1998. Piazza said as chants of “Let’s go, Mets!” arose from the thousands in attendance.
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It was a privilege to watch Junior and his incredible career and we will likely never see a hitter with his natural ability and charisma for a long time, if ever.
