Mike Piazza Says He Will Enter Hall of Fame as a Met

What does Ken Griffey Jr. mean to you?

“For them to say, we don’t want anybody to wear this number, it’s overwhelming and scary”, Griffey said. It’s the Mariners’ first homestand following the Hall of Fame induction ceremony on July 24 in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Griffey was the first player to be a teammate with his father when both were outfielders with the Mariners in 1990 and 1991.

Did you know that Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza were recently elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame? “Weekend” at Safeco Field on August 5-7 in a series against the Angels. Hall of Fame Bobblehead Night with the first 20,000 fans receiving a bobblehead. In the closest pursuit yet toward a unanimous choice in National Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Griffey Jr. missed by only three votes of a ideal score in the 2016 balloting.

Regarding the intertwined baseball matters of glory, election, and enshrinement, what follows is a 10-minute video that features photos and footage (some footage that this scribe has never seen before) of every Hall of Famer who played in the major leagues.

There had been speculation Griffey could become the first unanimous selection. Baseball-wise, yeah, you can look at the numbers and things like that. “But the way (Robinson) went about his life, and the things that he did off the field, nobody can compare to that”.

Of the 440 ballots submitted, Griffey was named on 437, which accounted for 99.32 percent of the vote, the highest plurality in the history of the election that dates to 1936. And, more importantly, while the two lived together in Seattle, Junior got to tell dear old dad, “While you’re in my house, you live by my rules”. “But the instincts were there, too”.

Griffey Jr. set a record earlier this week when he received 99.3% of the vote in his first year of Hall of Fame eligibility.

On Thursday, Griffey confirmed his intention to enter the Hall wearing a Mariners’ cap at a news conference in NY.

My person highlight came when Griffey discussed the late, great Dave Niehaus, who he will be joining in Cooperstown. She knew if I was fielding right…. “That’s just how I feel”. When it comes to Piazza, I always respected him as a player despite the fact that he terrorized my Atlanta Braves as a member of the New York Mets for a large portion of his career.

Going on his career average, OBP, and SLG, a case can be made that Piazza should’ve gone in as a Dodger.

The press also asked how he felt about the Mariners retiring his number. He can wear a track suit or he can wear a tuxedo, but he’s all class – especially considering how the Mariners welcomed him on Friday.

“No player in our entire organization will ever wear No. 24 again”, Mather said.

Griffey ended up in intensive care after swallowing the surplus of aspirin, which he told The Seattle Times was the only time he acted on his suicidal thoughts despite previously thinking about killing himself “with my father’s gun or something”.