Is this the year Mike Piazza finally makes it into the Hall of Fame?
Mike Piazza, the best power hitting catcher in history and one of the best all-around hitters the game has ever seen, is on track for Hall of Fame induction in 2016.
By
Mike Axisa
•
3 min read
We're zeroing in on the Jan. 6 reveal of the BBWAA 2016 Hall of Fame class, one certain to include Ken Griffey Jr. and maybe another player or two. As we lead up to the announcement, CBS Sports' Eye on Baseball scribes are running through the serious candidates one day at a time.
More HOF: One-and-dones | Kendall | Griffey | Hoffman | Edmonds | Wagner | Trammell | Smith | Garciaparra | McGwire | Sosa | Clemens | Bonds | Schilling | Martinez | Mussina | Walker | McGriff | Sheffield | Kent | Raines | Bagwell
Despite being a 62nd round draft pick, Mike Piazza is inarguably one of the best hitting catchers in baseball history. The now 47-year-old Piazza hit .308/.377/.545 (142 OPS+) with 427 home runs and 59.4 WAR in parts of 16 seasons, mostly with the Mets and Dodgers. He's the all-time leader in homers, slugging percentage, OPS+, and offensive WAR (65.9) among catchers.
During his peak from 1993-2000, Piazza hit .330/.394/.584 (157 OPS+) and averaged 35 home runs and 109 RBI per season. (His three-year peak was an insane 175 OPS+ from 1995-97.) Piazza is a 12-time All-Star and a 10-time Silver Slugger. He was named the 1993 NL Rookie of the Year, and while he never won an MVP, Piazza received votes in nine seasons and had four top four finishes in the voting.
Signature moment? Piazza has one of those. He hit one of the most emotional home runs in history. On September 20, 2001, Piazza clubbed a go-ahead two-run home run in the eighth inning against the divisional rival Braves in the first professional sports game in New York following the September 11 attacks.
The only arguments against Piazza's Hall of Fame candidacy are based on his defense and flimsy performance-enhancing drug suspicions. Piazza was not a good defensive catcher. No one would argue otherwise. He threw out only 23 percent of attempted basestealers in his career, well below the 31 percent league average. Piazza was also routinely among the league leaders in wild pitches and passed balls.
As for PEDs, Piazza never failed a drug test and he outright denied using banned substances in his book Long Shot. The speculation is based on hearsay and the fact Piazza fits the stereotype of a PED user as a physically big guy who hit a lot of home runs. Jeff Bagwell has fallen victim to similar suspicion. There is no hard evidence Piazza used PEDs whatsoever.
Piazza's offensive dominance as a catcher makes him a first ballot Hall of Famer -- Jay Jaffe's JAWS system says Piazza far exceeds the established Hall of Fame standards for catchers -- yet he is on the ballot for the fourth time this year. The PED suspicion has kept him out of Cooperstown. The good news is Piazza's support has grown each year.
2013: 57.8 percent
2014: 62.2 percent
2015: 69.9 percent
A player needs to receive 75 percent of the vote for induction and Piazza is inching closer and closer each year. That's a positive.
As of this writing, Piazza has appeared on 125 of the 143 public Hall of Fame ballots collected by @NotMrTibbs, or 87.4 percent. It's important to note those ballots represent only 30 or so percent of the voting body, so it's a small sample. This doesn't necessarily mean Piazza will sail in.
That said, Piazza has gained seven votes among the public ballots this winter, meaning seven voters who did not vote for him last year did so this year. (No one who voted for him last year declined to vote for him this year.) Historically once a player gets to 70 percent on the ballot, he makes it in with a year or two. Piazza was right there at 69.9 percent last year.
Between the public 2016 ballots and his increasing support from 2013-15, it appears Piazza is in very good shape to be voted into the Hall of Fame this year. He should have been in years ago, but better late than never, I guess.
