Mike Piazza earned enshrinement into the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on Wednesday alongside Ken Griffey Jr. While Piazza went onto becoming the best hitting catcher of all time, his career had to start somewhere, and there was a little Chicago Cubs impact on it.
Piazza was drafted in the 62nd round of the 1988 MLB draft as a favor to his father. Imagine needing to sit through 62 rounds of drafting? I mean eventually I don’t even know if the teams knew the players any longer, they just threw darts at the wall and whomever it landed on was their draft choice.
To put it into perspective, baseball doesn’t even have 62 rounds any longer! Just how many Mike Piazza’s are sitting through 62 rounds of picks, undoubtedly getting hemorrhoids, just to find out that they weren’t drafted.
But that’s not why you called…
You wanted to find out the Cubs impact on Mike Piazza’s career. Here was the first.
Not too shabby, stating his career with a walk, then a double to the ivy in Wrigley.
One big moment that I remember – because I was there – is when Mike Piazza hit a grand slam off Chicago Cubs rookie flamethrower, Kerry Wood.
It was April 24th, 1998 in Los Angeles. I was stationed out there, and some friends and I decided to go to the Dodgers vs Cubs game. I was excited because I heard Cubs rookie sensation, Kerry Wood was going to be on the mound. I was also excited to go to Chavez Ravine (called that at the time) to see the Cubs, who I hadn’t had the opportunity to see live for some time.
Oh boy did Kerry Wood not disappoint… in the first inning. He mowed down the first three Dodgers batters he faced, striking out the side.
That second inning though…
Wood walked and hit Dodgers batters to the point in which there were 3 runs scored against him, and I don’t believe a single hit yet. That is when Mike Piazza stepped up, and blasted a ball down the right field line, hugging the line, GONE!!!
A GRAND SLAM!!!
Well at least I got to try a Dodger-Dog (its just alright).
The Cubs would eventually lose 12-4 that day, and we went back to the hotel and played drinking games.
Oh… and two starts later, Kerry Wood tied a major league record with 20 strikeouts in a one-hitter against the Houston Astros.
