The Seattle Mariners honored Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. with a celebration at Safeco Field Friday night.
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At a news conference Thursday, Piazza said that he will be the second player ever to don a Mets cap in Cooperstown, joining pitcher Tom Seaver.
Shortly after receiving his Hall call on Wednesday, Piazza hinted during an interview with MLB Network that he could go in as a Met, saying, “I’m under strict orders to keep this confidential until Thursday”.
The Mariners announced their plans just two days after Griffey, 46, became the first player to be elected to the Hall of Fame primarily because of his achievements as a Mariner. For The Hall of Fame That Aren’t Signs of Mental Illness.
Believe it or not, Griffey is the first No. 1 overall pick to be elected to the Hall of Fame. Griffey’s Hall of Fame whirlwind came back to where it all started, wh…
Griffey is the first player elected to the Hall of Fame primarily because of his achievements as a Mariner, and his plaque will be the first showing a Mariners cap.
Piazza’s election might signal a shift in the Hall of Fame voters feelings and open of the Hall door to some of the other “steroid-era” players, such as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. “They said we have a little surprise: ‘We are going to put your name up next up to Jackie Robinson.’ That’s when things hit me”. “I didn’t want to live”.
“Ken is the first Mariners player to have his number retired”, Mather said. Piazza, earning 83.0 percent of the writers’ votes, will be the 14th catcher to enter Cooperstown.
“I went, ‘huh?'” Griffey said. I felt being 19, they gave me an opportunity to play the game that I love. Piazza also spent limited time with the Athletics, Padres and Marlins, playing a combined 114 games between the three teams.
Griffey ended up in intensive care after swallowing the surplus of aspirin, which he told The Seattle Times was the only time he acted on his suicidal thoughts despite previously thinking about killing himself “with my father’s gun or something”.
Still, “Junior” finished with 630 home runs (6th all-time), 1,836 RBIs (15th), and 1,662 runs scored (33rd), while falling 219 hits short of the magical 3,000.
“I was able to sneak into this game, kind of limp in, if you will”, Piazza said.
While Griffey is the highest-drafted player to join the hall, Piazza is the lowest-drafted player to gain entry. You can be sure this summer Piazza will have his No. 31 retired by the ballclub.
“We’ve got big plans, ” Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon said.
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But he may perhaps be best known for leading the Mets back to the playoffs, especially during the historic Subway Series of 2000 against the New York Yankees, which the Yankees eventually won.
