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Mike Piazza Retires From Baseball

usatoday.com — Mike Piazza is retiring from baseball following a 16-season career in which he became one of the top-hitting catchers in history.

Bury
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  • juuble, on 05/21/2008, -1/+7Its kind of weird that I didn't even notice he wasn't playing. He did drift off after the years. Did he ever win a ring in his career?
    • shutaro, on 05/21/2008, -0/+11Not your fault for not noticing... He was DHing for the A's last season.

      And no, I don't believe he ever did.
    • arlok789, on 05/21/2008, -0/+2Piazza sure as hell could hit. I wonder if he has a coaching career ahead of him.
      • AlKo, on 05/21/2008, -0/+2I think so, takes some sharpness to be a good full-package catcher in the MLB. It's more than just sitting back there waiting for the ball.
  • daivos, on 05/21/2008, -11/+20Will he come out of the closet now?
  • MrBelding, on 05/21/2008, -1/+26As much as I like to rip on Piazza for his well manicured pencil thin mustaches, he did pretty damn well as a guy who was drafted as a favor to his family by Lasorda.
    • bullcutter, on 05/21/2008, -0/+1yeah, like in some crazy-high draft round number too. like 30th or something. Lasorda is his Godfather.
      • mizatt, on 05/21/2008, -0/+2Actually it was in the 62nd round or thereabouts. He was the last player the Dodgers selected
  • suzywang3000, on 05/21/2008, -1/+10he was a great hitter.
  • DirtPile, on 05/21/2008, -14/+5Is he a pitcher, or a catcher?
  • McRofl, on 05/21/2008, -6/+27Gay or not he was one of the games greatest hitting catchers.
  • AustinHannah, on 05/21/2008, -3/+8First ballot Hall of Famer, for sure.
  • alanr19, on 05/21/2008, -46/+2Really? Wow who gives a crap. All baseball players are fat drug fuelled benders.

    Baseball is just rounders for fat lads anyway.
    • Gogogo111, on 05/21/2008, -2/+10You see the word baseball? You don't like it? Avoid it. Go back to playing soccer.
    • acid0426, on 05/21/2008, -1/+2I guess handball is for British people that don't have the required skills to play basketball.
      • alanr19, on 05/21/2008, -2/+1Handball? WTF are you jabbering about?
    • arlok789, on 05/21/2008, -0/+2You sir are a soccer playing foot fairy.
  • chrisvanhornnnn, on 05/21/2008, -31/+2Who cares, baseball sucks.
    • AustinHannah, on 05/21/2008, -1/+5With a name like "Mike Piazza Retires From Baseball", I'd say its pretty easy to understand what it's about and ignore it.
  • trackerbishop, on 05/21/2008, -3/+24whenever i heard his name i immediately wanted a pizza. that's all i will remember him for
  • peterjmag, on 05/21/2008, -1/+6During one of his early seasons with the Dodgers, I went to a game with my dad and Piazza autographed a photo of himself for me. I was like 5 years old at the time, so I promptly lost it.
  • MrBabyMaan, on 05/21/2008, -24/+0Bravo for them even its a dvd in Amazon.com from him. I have submited 4 tips to save money while you buy this dvd:
    http://digg.com/music/4_Steps_To_Save_Extra_on_Mus ...
    • winmywii, on 05/21/2008, -1/+1People will probably digg those stories too.
  • leerayIG88, on 05/21/2008, -7/+5I really like pizza. Heh, who doesn't?
  • spaulo, on 05/21/2008, -5/+8Going into the Hall as a Dodger if there is any justice in this world. And there may well not be.
    • krahzee, on 05/21/2008, -0/+2read his press release. What do you think he wants to go in as? Mets!!!!

    • mizatt, on 05/21/2008, -0/+1I hoped so too, but the Dodgers really gave him a raw deal at the end there. We had some terrible GMs during that period. What a terrible trade :(
  • frelk, on 05/21/2008, -2/+15Greatest offensive catcher ever. If he hadn't been a catcher, he could have been one of the all time great hitters.
    • nemojonze, on 05/21/2008, -1/+1Johnny Bench? And the last 4 yrs Piazza wasn't catching. Not a first-ballot guy.
      • krahzee, on 05/21/2008, -0/+3Try his last year in Oakland only. San Diego is in the NL. When they talk about the record for HRś by a catcher they always show his total Vs. the number he hit in games he played catcher.
  • theillest1, on 05/21/2008, -2/+3I seriously didn't even realize that he was still playing. I never heard of the gay rumors either. Nevertheless he'll be a candidate for the Hall of Fame right?
  • heathuff23, on 05/21/2008, -4/+4Whats the point of having a sports category? Its like reading yesterdays newspaper. Its old news by now.
    • rukeypoo, on 05/21/2008, -0/+0If you're looking for sports news this is probably the last site you should be on.
  • chrgrose, on 05/21/2008, -0/+4Back in the early 90's he was one of my favorite players and I collected tons of baseball cards of him. They're still in the closet hopefully collecting value with all that dust.
    • KevinRWright, on 05/21/2008, -0/+5Still in the closet eh?...Aw ***** it, I'll let someone else take this one.
    • kurupttek, on 05/21/2008, -0/+2Ok like him
      • KevinRWright, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1You have the subtlety of a sledgehammer sir :)
  • NotSoHotPink, on 05/21/2008, -4/+5He was good in Married With Children.
    • MysticSavage, on 05/21/2008, -0/+5Frank Thomas was better.

      "Where the hell is Saberhagen with my lasagna?"
      • joel8x, on 05/21/2008, -0/+2Anthrax was the best.
        • MysticSavage, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1"These guys are eating mom's mystery pack. These guys are cool!!"

          'If it came out of the fridge, why is it hot?"

          love that episode.
  • oxygen728, on 05/21/2008, -3/+16I doubt he wants to go to the Hall of Fame as a Dodger. That team was so crappy it dragged Piazza's career down. He was never preceeded by or followed by a decent hitter to protect him. He was always pitched to as hard as it comes. The team's batting average was mid to low .200's while his was low .300's.

    Go as a Met
    • KevinRWright, on 05/21/2008, -1/+2It's not his choice, but he probably will get selected as a Met.
    • mizatt, on 05/21/2008, -0/+2He had Karros and Mondesi, both of whom were solid hitters for much of the time he was there. Karros was a regular 30HR/100RBI guy.
    • Dotdotdot, on 05/21/2008, -0/+1I want to see Piazza in as a Met, but your argument is somewhat wrong. Piazza had his best ever season on the Dodgers, and statistically he was best there. However, you are right in that on the Dodgers, he was another player, but on the Mets, he was THE player. A caller on WFAN said it best: he single-handedly made the Mets exciting to watch.

      So, let him in as a Met Hall of Famer!
  • mustang460, on 05/21/2008, -1/+1damn I remember his name from back in grade school. 16 years, must have been when he first started playing...man this makes me feel old lol
  • Papajohn56, on 05/21/2008, -11/+2........................./´¯/)
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    • bicyclethief, on 05/21/2008, -0/+2That better be for Roger Clemens from Mike Piazza...
  • richnojutsu, on 05/21/2008, -3/+8Here's to hoping he enters the Hall as a Met. And here's to hoping I can get a good chunk of change for this autographed home run ball.
  • speedk0re, on 05/21/2008, -1/+23i love how everyone calls him gay despite the fact that he's married with the 500th playboy playmate of all time with a kid.
    Cheers to one of the greatest Mets of my generation~
    • frelk, on 05/21/2008, -1/+4I wish I could digg this 50 times
    • CUNextuesday, on 05/21/2008, -6/+0Yes, because everyone knows that there are NO gay people in professional sports, and that closeted gay celebrities NEVER EVER marry and have kid to hide their true orientation.
      • bicyclethief, on 05/21/2008, -0/+3And because gays do hide their orientation and overcompensate, therefore any married man could be gay...

        Thanks for pointing out that nugget of info.
    • Takfam, on 05/21/2008, -2/+1Michael Jackson was married. Being married is not a show of how solidly het one is. I don't know if Piazza is into manbung or not, but marriage is not a valid argument as it pertains to his orientation.
  • olie_baba, on 05/21/2008, -5/+3once a dodger always a dodger.
    • bullcutter, on 05/21/2008, -0/+2given that today's players change teams more often than they change their underwear, that's like 40% of the current major league
  • Crosshare, on 05/21/2008, -0/+2I remember getting seats behind home plate at a Rockies Dodgers game years back with my friends. We heckled the crap out of Piazza. Good enough guy, he just turned around before his third at bad and laughed, giving us that stupid kids look.
  • NoLeafClover, on 05/21/2008, -1/+9As a Met fan, I'll remember him for turning around the franchise (as the big time Met trades / acquisitions almost never work out), hitting that 8th inning HR following 9/11, and most of all, the 2 standing ovations and curtain calls he received as a Padre when he hit 2 HRs of Pedro in Shea stadium. Tell me the last time an opposing player who just rocked your ACE gets not 1 but 2 curtain calls. He was certainly the best offensive catcher since Bench and Campanella, did most of his damage in only 130 games a season....a stand up guy, yet quiet and reserved superstar. He will enter the Hall as a first ballot HOF, and as a Met. God damn I love Mike Piazza, and Pert Plus.
  • iamgreg007, on 05/21/2008, -1/+7As a die hard Mets fan, I have always had a place in my heart for the Pizza-Man! He breathed life into a franchise that was fading into the landscape of a town painted in Yankee pinstripes. He brought credibility back to the Mets and, a mere year after his arrival, he helped bring them to the postseason. He was a leader, even if he wasn't super outspoken, as many younger guys looked up to him. Although he did have his single best season as a Dodger, he made the most impact as a Met, played more games in orange and blue and should, absolutly, go into the HOF in the first ballot as a New York Met!!!!
  • papipablo, on 05/21/2008, -8/+2And steroid dealers across the nation mourned.
  • nemojonze, on 05/21/2008, -7/+3tee hee "catcher..." tee hee
  • mrmorris, on 05/21/2008, -6/+1Pizza who?
  • serif69, on 05/21/2008, -1/+4His moustache retired in 2005.
  • juicycutlets, on 05/21/2008, -0/+3greatest hitting catcher ever. many memories of watching him at Shea.
  • cfleap, on 05/21/2008, -0/+1Worse yet, Piazza will probably be called the best hitting catcher to play in the MLB. To bad he is one of the worst defensive catchers to play in the MLB.
    • krahzee, on 05/21/2008, -0/+1Look at the numbers, if he wasn´t the best who was? As far as Defense goes, yeah he had trouble throwing runners out. That having been said, he blocked the plate extremely well, called a decent, and God help you if you tried to knock him over running down the third base line.
  • NextGenXbox, on 05/21/2008, -0/+4He'll always be a Dodger in my book.*

    *I don't have an actual book.
  • Chewie67, on 05/21/2008, -0/+2He was still playing?
  • KunoJ, on 05/21/2008, -5/+0What is this "baseball", you speak of?
  • Daniel591992, on 05/21/2008, -2/+2Who else made fun of his name in middle school?
  • jetblackz4, on 05/21/2008, -2/+1He can now go back to the Village People
  • krahzee, on 05/21/2008, -0/+2Here´s the scary thing about Piazzaś stats: He never player in hitter friendly parks. Dodger Stadium, Shea, & Petco are hardly easy places to compile HRś (Esp. Shea in April when the wind is still blowing in) . Yet Piazza still hit 427 HRś. As a catcher. Imagine his numbers if he had spent his career playing in some of the newer parks like Citizen´s Bank. He may not have hit 500, but he would have been over 450 at least.
    • akatherder, on 05/21/2008, -0/+1GOOD GOD WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR APOSTROPHES?
      • krahzee, on 05/21/2008, -0/+1Ubuntu is what is wrong with them. They look wierd on it for some reason. Just have not taken the time to figure out why since I upgraded to the newest release.
  • cathl, on 05/21/2008, -0/+1This makes me feel a bit nostalgic. The first game I'd ever attended was a Dodgers game back in the early nineties.
  • masterjjx, on 05/21/2008, -0/+0I really like Piazza when he was a Met but kinda drift away after he left but he was a fantastic player and will always be love
  • TheEndzor, on 05/21/2008, -0/+1In getting old :(
  • joel8x, on 05/21/2008, -0/+1I liked when he went on the radio in New York with Eddie Trunk and played the leaked Chinese Democracy tracks.
  • SugarCoatedBomb, on 05/21/2008, -0/+1Baseball player? I thought he was in Viagra commercials!
  • ericdano, on 05/21/2008, -0/+1Who? What? Buried
  • jbatad, on 05/21/2008, -0/+0I didn't realize he still plays baseball.
  • dgillz, on 05/22/2008, -0/+0Piazza was great, and will be a first ballot HOF, but Johnny Bench was the greatest catcher of all time.
  • gkiltz, on 05/22/2008, -0/+0Let's face it, he'll get into the Hall Of Fame! Hopefully he'll want to enter as a Dodger, because that's how most of his fans remember him.
    Don't be surprised if he does not make it in his first year of eligibility, since he played his best years on the West Coast, where the larger audience in the Eastern and Central time zones rarely saw him, but he WILL get there!
  • chitownwebman, on 05/23/2008, -0/+0Piazza was a 62nd-round draft pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988 who turned into a 12-time All-Star. He hit 396 of his 427 homers as a catcher during his 16-year career. Is that enough First ballot Hall of Famer?
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