Mike Piazza

catchers have tended to be lower over the years, Posada has never drawn comparisons as a hitter to Mike Piazza (2,127 career hits), Johnny Bench (2,048), or Ivan Rodriguez (2,711), who at 38 still has a chance at reaching 3,000 hits.  Posada’s supporters might point out that Roy Campanella collected only 1,161 career hits, but he also won the Most Valuable Player Award three times in a span of five years, and more importantly, missed out on years of big-league ball before African Americans were welcome.  Jorge Posada has had a solid career, for which I give him a lot of credit, but at this point in time, he’s not bound for Cooperstown.

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 The latest draft pick to make a name for himself, of course, is Mike Piazza, who was selected in the 62nd round in 1988.  Here’s hoping I have the privilege of watching Ivor fr

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recognizable names out of Team Italy’s 28 players, but the team’s hitting coach – Mike Piazza – will likely draw the most attention.

The team will train in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and play exhibition games against the Nationals, Marlins, and Mets before taking a charter flight to Toronto next Friday.  Italy is in a first-round bracket with Venezuela, Canada, and the United States and will face Venezuela in its opening game at the Rogers Centre, home of the Blue Jays.  Thankfully for everyone involved, it is a domed stadium.

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Mike Piazza announced his retirement on Tuesday, concluding a 16-year major-league career that includes 2,127 hits, a .308 batting average, 427 home runs, 1,335 RBI’s, 12 All-Star teams and one All-Star Game MVP, 10 Silver Slugger awards, a Rookie of the Year award, and one trip to the World Series during which he slugged two homers in the Mets’ five-game series loss to the Yankees.  Though he was known almost exclusively for his offense, Piazza actually caught two no-hitters, including the only one thrown at Coors Field in the thin Colorado air.

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