Mets fans can finally rejoice in welcoming Mike Piazza into the baseball Hall of Fame. On Wednesday it was announced that Piazza had received 83% of the vote (365 votes total) in his fourth year on the ballot. The fact that it took four years to elect him has had some fans irate, and to show you why, here are some of the legend's accomplishments:
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| credit: USA Today |
- 427 career HRs and most by any catcher in MLB history
- unanimous NL Rookie of the Year in 1993
- 10 consecutive Silver Slugger awards, most by anyone at any position (and most by any catcher)
- 7 time top-10 finisher in MVP voting (two 2nd place finishes)
- career .308 batting average
- "the HR that healed New York" (video)
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| analysis of 2013 HOF voting, credit: NY Times |
On paper Piazza was a shoe-in for the Hall and is considered by most the best-hitting catcher in history, but speculation of steroid use blocked his entry for three years. Now that he's been elected journalists have speculated that Bonds and Clemens will gain more votes, but there's a stark difference between those names and Piazza. As Bill Shaikin of the LA Times said, "Piazza...is not known to have failed a drug test. His name did not appear in the Mitchell Report. He never faced federal perjury charges. Bonds and Clemens did. Both beat the federal government in court."
Those who don't know better cite an excerpt from Piazza's book as proof he used PEDs, but what he acknowledges is briefly experimenting with amphetamines, a substance not banned at the time. He writes of the accusations, “Apparently, my career was a story that nobody cared to believe. Apparently, my success was the work of steroids. Had to be. Those were the rumors.”
The issue of steroid use is one the Baseball Writers Association of America continues to grapple with and without a unified front on the issue it's been left to speculation and debate. Opinion aside, Piazza's victimization shows how tainted the game was by PED scandals.
