Mike Piazza to be inducted into Mets Hall of Fame on Fan Appreciation Day
The New York Mets today announced that Mike Piazza, the greatest home run-hitting catcher of all-time, will be inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame on Fan Appreciation Day Sunday, September 29 at Citi Field. Piazza will become the 27th member of the Mets Hall of Fame during the Mets Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony prior to the 1:10 p.m. game vs. the Milwaukee Brewers.
Piazza hit 220 of his 427 career home runs with the Mets, ranking second in franchise history. He ranks first in team history with a .542 slugging percentage and is third in RBI (655). Piazza was a seven-time All-Star with Mets.
"Mike Piazza reinvigorated our franchise when we acquired him in May, 1998," said Mets COO Jeff Wilpon, who serves as Ex-Officio for the Selection Committee. "Mike is one of the greatest players in our history and we are thrilled to induct him into the Mets Hall of Fame."
Piazza set a team-record with 124 RBI and hit 40 home runs in 1999 and then finished with 38 home runs and drove in 113 runs in 2000 as the Mets qualified for the playoffs in back-to-back years for the first time in team history and reached the 2000 World Series.
Piazza hit his 352nd home run as a catcher on May 5, 2004 to break Carlton Fisk's major league mark. His dramatic eighth-inning home run in the first sporting event in New York City after the 9-11 attacks beat the Atlanta Braves and helped the city begin the healing process.
The 26 Hall of Fame members in order of the year they were inducted are: Joan Payson (1981); Casey Stengel (1981); Gil Hodges (1982); George M. Weiss (1982); Johnny Murphy (1983); William A. Shea (1983); Ralph Kiner (1984); Bob Murphy (1984); Lindsey Nelson (1984); Bud Harrelson (1986); Rusty Staub (1986); Tom Seaver (1988); Jerry Koosman (1989); Ed Kranepool (1990); Cleon Jones (1991); Jerry Grote (1992); Tug McGraw (1993); Mookie Wilson (1996); Keith Hernandez (1997); Gary Carter (2001); Tommie Agee (2002); Frank Cashen (2010); Dwight Gooden (2010); Davey Johnson (2010), Darryl Strawberry (2010) and John Franco (2012).
The five-member Mets Hall of Fame committee is comprised of a combination of Mets front office staff and media members with long-standing connections to the club. The members are: Jay Horwitz, Vice President, Media Relations who is in his 34th season with the team; former Mets pitcher and original Met Al Jackson, a pitching consultant who is in his sixth decade with the Mets; Marty Noble, the Mets.com writer who has covered the team for over five decades; Gary Cohen, a New York native and voice of the Mets on SNY, who is in his 25th season of broadcasting Mets baseball; and Howie Rose, a Queens native and radio voice of the Mets on WFAN who has covered the team since 1987.