why Mike Piazza will always own a piece of my heart
He was always one of my favoirte players on the Mets, one of my heroes during the Subway Series in 2000 -- who could forget the "bat incident" with Roger Clemens?
but what earned him that special place in my heart...
September 21, 2001. The first major sporting event in NYC after 9-11. A game at Shea involving solemn ceremony and players wearing the caps of NYPD and NYFD.
It wasn't very good baseball that night, neighter the Mets nor the Braves played particularly well that night....
Until Piazza hit a 2-run homer that gave the Mets a 3-2 lead, and which ultimatley won the game.
As we watched that ball sail over Shea we knew...we knew ...that no matter how much we we hurting, no matter how awful we all felt (you could still smell the burning at Ground Zero, after all)...that even though life would never be the same...somehow we'd go on, somehow everything would be ok. With one swing of the bat Piazza lifted the spirits of 8 million New Yorkers.
and for that one moment he has earned a special place in my heart.
but what earned him that special place in my heart...
September 21, 2001. The first major sporting event in NYC after 9-11. A game at Shea involving solemn ceremony and players wearing the caps of NYPD and NYFD.
It wasn't very good baseball that night, neighter the Mets nor the Braves played particularly well that night....
Until Piazza hit a 2-run homer that gave the Mets a 3-2 lead, and which ultimatley won the game.
and for that one moment he has earned a special place in my heart.
Mike Piazza earned a place in my heart his rookie season because he's gorgeous :-) I followed his career from the start and was thrilled when he spent a year here and when we had our picture taken with him. I remember that home run and how it impacted New Yorkers quite well. He'll be in the Hall in a couple of years and I hope he goes in as a Met.
ReplyDeleteI am sure you're right, on both counts.
ReplyDeleteHe's got a special place in my heart, too.
ReplyDeleteSee, when Chef was a baby, my brother in law was giving me a hard time that my kids weren't wearing any Mets gear when he and my sister visited.
I complained that Maryland retailers only sell Yankees merchandise, and I won't buy it.
Before I knew it, there was a box delivered from NY, and I had a full Mike Piazza kid size uniform for Game Teen and an infant sized Piazza Mets tee for Chef.
That beat any of the Yankees gear the stores had!
I never cared for Mike Piazza until that moment in time. You're right, there was a lot of hope in that particular swing of his bat.
ReplyDelete