“He has a short swing for a power hitter.” “He came down here and dominated excellent pitching,” Sun Cities manager Jerry Royster said. “He hit a home run on a breaking ball down and in that I thought was a good pitch,” Phoenix manager Scott Ullger said. Piazza, 24, had nine extra base hits and 14 RBIs in 84 at-bats while sharing time on a catcher-heavy Sun Cities team that includes Brook Fordyce (Mets) and Derek Parks (Twins). The heir apparent to Mike Scioscia has done nothing to hurt his future. After a tremendous 1992 season at Double-A San Antonio and Triple-A Albuquerque, he went to the Arizona Fall League and impressed, making our Top 10 AFL Prospects List at No. 1,390 overall) as a courtesy to then-manager Tommy Lasorda, who was a childhood friend of Piazza’s father, Vince.Īfter two mediocre seasons in short-season ball and the Florida State League, Piazza began showing something with the bat at high Class-A Bakersfield in 1991, when he hit 29 homers and had an OPS of. As is well-documented, Piazza was drafted by the Dodgers in the 62nd round (No. But the righthanded slugger was a long shot to make the majors or even get drafted out of Miami-Dade CC in 1988. Considered the best offensive catcher in baseball history, Piazza ranks first in homers by a catcher (396 he hit 427 overall), OPS+ (143), first in slugging, first in offensive WAR and fourth in slugging. Mike Piazza, the all-time leader in homers by a catcher, was among two players to be voted into the Hall of Fame Wednesday.
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