As someone who grew up watching Piazza and Griffey, it’s cool to see them inducted into the Hall of Fame.
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“But nothing can prepare you for those emotions that you feel, because of everything the Hall encompasses and the history that was behind us on that stage”.
The improbable journey wasn’t lost on him as he referenced the Hall of Famers behind him and said “the only way I ever thought I would be here with you was if I bought a ticket”.
Griffey Jr said out his 22 years playing, he leaned that a player’s first team will treat him the best, before taking a Mariners hat out from under his podium and proudly putting it on, backwards of course. Two years later, he was taken in the 62nd round by the Los Angeles Dodgers as a favor to manager Tommy Lasorda, a story that has often been told.
Of his youngest, 14-year-old Tevin, he said, “Seeing you for the first time made my life complete”. In the ALDS that year, Griffey became just the second player in major league history to hit five home runs in a postseason series.
Mike Piazza also has been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
And now Griffey is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame – as if it was ever doubted -and the first to go in with a Seattle Mariners cap.
Then again, we should expect this type of thing from Griffey. I was just fortunate that I had great coaches and people looking out for me to encourage me to go back.
Griffey, who hit 630 home runs and spent the majority of his career with the Seattle Mariners, rose to stardom quickly as a No. 1 overall pick.
“Just play the game”, said Piazza.
Though my parents likely felt a little embarrassed that their kid was on the field crying, I’ll never forget how teammates, friends and spectators from both sides came over to console me. Thank you dad. We made it, dad. But his brief stay ended in such acrimony that Henderson was the only player for the 2000 NL champions who was not given a ring by the team; he was cut that May and got $1.8 million in termination pay.
Piazza, the second Hall of Famer sporting a Mets hat, hit 220 homers in seven-plus seasons in NY following a blockbuster trade in May 1998. “I got up and bought a new TV”.
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If you saw me on the street and asked me about my family, I could keep it together and share some pretty amusing stories.
