Mike Piazza (Part One) Coming to the Mets

 In 1997 there were contract disputes with Mike Piazza and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers parent company News Corp. wanted to also secure a major TV deal in South Florida. With all this on the table, Piazza was traded to the Florida Marlins on May 15, 1998.

Piazza & future Mets teammate Todd Zeile went to the Marlins in exchange for Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson, Bobby Bonilla, and Jim Eisenreich. One week later, on May 22, 1997, Mike Piazza was traded to the New York Mets in exchange for Preston Wilson, Ed Yarnall & Geoff Goetz. It turned out to be one of the best deals in Mets history.

As soon as he arrived in New York, Piazza was a star who helped turn the team around. He became the face of the organization over the next seven years, making the All-Star team every year but one, that he wore a Mets uniform. 

Mets Career: Piazza debuted at Shea Stadium on May 23rd, in game against the Milwaukee Brewers. He arrived one hour before game time & when he appeared in the dugout, the Shea crowd of 32,908 gave him a standing ovation. In the 5th inning he doubled, driving in Matt Franco helping Al Leiter to a 3-0 four hit shutout. The Mike Piazza era had begun & he instantly put the Mets back on the map. His impact was felt at the box office as well, the Mets averaging 18,000 a game before he arrived & after the trade the attendance was averaging 34,000 per game.

Piazza hit safely in his first nine Mets games & 26 of his first 29 Mets games.

On June 1st he hit his first HR as a Met in Pittsburgh & came back the next day to hit another. On July 18th he had a two HR day against the Philadelphia Phillies at Shea Stadium. 

On August 7th he helped the Mets to an 8-7 win in Colorado with a three hit, three RBI day that included a HR. When the Rockies came to Shea Piazza continued to hit well against them. 

In the second game of an August 18th double header, he came to bat in the 7th inning, with the bases loaded & the Mets down 3-1. He cleared the bases with a double putting the Mets ahead for good. The next day he drove in one of the two Mets runs in the 2-1 win.

On August 22nd he hit a grand slam HR off Andy Benes of the Arizona Diamondbacks. That week he hit five HRs & drove in twelve runs. During the month of August He had nine multiple RBI games. 

That month he hit nine HRs & drove in 30 RBIs closing out the month batting .320. He started out the month of September hitting HRs in three straight games & having a ten-game hit streak. 

On September 16th, with the Mets down 2-0 in the top of the 9th inning at Houston, Piazza connected for a three run HR off Billy Wagner giving the Mets a 3-2 win over the Astros.

As a total in 1998 he hit .328 (4th in the NL) with 32HRs 38 doubles 88 runs scored a .390 on base % & 111 RBIs. His four grand slams in 1998 (with two different teams) led the majors. He also drew 14 intentional walks (3rd in the NL). With the arrival of Piazza, the Mets were now a new team back in contention; they missed the post season by just one game.

In the next two years Piazza helped the Mets to two consecutive playoff appearances. It was the only time in franchise history this was done 1999 and 2000.