MLB New York Mets

Mike Piazza Deserves To Be In The Hall of Fame

Fresh Videos

By @mturnerny

Mike Piazza Hall of Fame

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The finalists for the Hall of Fame were announced just a couple of days ago. Several of the new candidates are very likely headed for Cooperstown, including Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, Gary Sheffield and Carlos Delgado. But that excludes last year’s front runners Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza and Jeff Bagwell. Biggio seems like he will make it, falling only two votes shy last year. Piazza, however, is trending in the right direction, but with very tough competition this year, it’s not a definite thing that he has his bust in Cooperstown come Jan. 6.

He should be, though.

Piazza is, without a doubt, the greatest offensive catcher of all time. His defense was questionable at times, especially as he aged, but that’s not enough to keep him from the Hall. The only thing keeping him from being elected was the time in which he played. The 1980′s through early 2000′s are known as the Steroid Era, and for good reason. Piazza broke into the league in 1992, winning the Rookie of the Year, and played his final game in 2007. While he was never caught or suspended for using PEDs, his name will always, unfortunately, be linked to the Steroid Era.

Nonetheless, his 396 home runs as a catcher are the most all time (he hit 427 for his career) in addition to 1,335 RBIs, 1,048 runs and a .308/.377/.542 career slash line. He was a 12-time All-Star and won the Silver Slugger 10 times in his 16-year career.

In his first year eligible, he received 329 votes, or 57.8 percent of the total votes. In his second year eligible, he made a decent stride forward, receiving 355 votes for 62.2 percent of the vote. This year he’ll likely get into the 70 percent range, but will likely fall short due to the competition this year, which is ridiculous. He may have never won a World Series or an MVP, but he turned the New York Mets into a contender his first year with the team even reaching the World Series in 2000, and was considered for the MVP in more than half of the seasons that he played.

The voters need to look past the rumors and speculation and vote based off of proven results. Piazza is the greatest hitting catcher of all time; he has the numbers – and record – to prove it. They BWAA shouldn’t have to look much further than that to see he’s worthy of the Hall of Fame. If they were really worried he may have cheated, then there’s no explanation for why he receives more votes than Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.

The voters know he belongs there, but some of them are too nervous to pull the trigger. This should be the year that he finally makes it, but whether he receives the proper number of votes this year, one thing is for sure – he will be in the Hall of Fame one day. Sooner would be better than later.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball Reference.

Matt Turner is a New York Mets writer for www.RantSports.com. “Like” him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter @MturnerNY, or add him to your network on LinkedIn or Google.

Share Tweet
Trending Now on