From the AP :

Mike Piazza is retiring from baseball following a 16-season career in which he became one of the top-hitting catchers in history.

“After discussing my options with my wife, family and agent, I felt it is time to start a new chapter in my life,” he said in a statement released Tuesday by his agent, Dan Lozano. “It has been an amazing journey … So today, I walk away with no regrets.

“I knew this day was coming and over the last two years. I started to make my peace with it. I gave it my all and left everything on the field.”

Piazza thanked his family, teams and managers, some of his teammates — and even owners, general managers, minor league staffs and reporters.

“Within the eight years I spent in New York, I was able to take a different look at the game of baseball,” Piazza said. “I wasn’t just a young kid that was wet behind the ears anymore — I was learning from other veteran guys like Johnny Franco, who taught me how to deal with the pressures of playing in New York, and Al Leiter, who knew what it took to win a world championship.”

Yes. For someone other than the Mets. From October 2, 2005, here’s an old post entitled “Waving Goodbye To Metal Mike” :



Mike Piazza has experienced a fine last few weeks to cap a (mostly) terrific run as a New York Met. The loss of Preston Wilson and Arnold Gooch (ahem) aside, does anyone doubt that the Mets’ 1998 acquisition of Mike Piazza was the single biggest move in making the club a contender from ’98-2000? Or that whether he was holding a press conference to proclaim his heterosexuality, leaking the ‘Chinese Democracy’ demos on Eddie Trunk’s show, or subsequently getting Eddie Trunk fired, Mike Piazza has been an consistently entertaining public figure, if not the greatest hitting catcher of his age?

I’m just hoping the Rockies don’t choose to run on him all day today.