Not nearly enough was made of the announcement, probably because it was long overdue. But Mike Piazza took the art of hitting to a level never seen before by a major league catcher.
I’m not going to try to argue that he was the greatest all around catcher of all-time. His defense would never hold up in the debate. But for fear of being pistol whipped by old schoolers, I will say he was a better hitter than Johnny Bench and Yogi Berra, both first ballot Hall of Famers. The numbers:
Piazza-.308 lifetime average-427 HR(396 as a catcher)-1335 RBI
Bench-.267-389(327 as a catcher)-1376
Berra-.285-359-1430
So much for the leader of the Baseball Bunch. PWNED.
Consider that Piazza is just one of 12 players in the history of the game to finish with a .300+ average and 400 home runs. There is no argument.
Piazza certainly had his ups and downs throughout his 15 years, especially off the field. Once he became a New York Met, he seemed to become a lightning rod for controversy.
Being falsely outed by the New York press. Getting drilled in the head by a Roger Clemens fastball and then dodging the shard of bat that Clemens chucked at him during a fit of roid rage in the 2000 World Series. Allowing runner after runner to steal on him and refusing to make the move to first base. But Piazza withstood all the criticism.
Name me one other player who could pull off a fu manchu and a mullet at the same time?
Piazza’s stretch from 1995 to 2000 is plain stupid.
1995-32HR-93 RBI-.346 AVG
1996-36-105-.336
1997-40-124-.362
1998-32-111-.328
1999-40-124-.303
2000-38-113-.324
Bench reached 40 homers twice in his career, but only sniffed .300 in an injury plagued 1981 where he only played in 51 games.
Berra had a better batting average, but his single season high in homers was 30, which he did twice.
The six year numbers Piazza put up at the end of the millennium will stand up as the best ever for a catcher. I really, truly believe that.
Consider that in 2008, the top catcher taken in almost every league was Victor Martinez. Currently in his ‘prime’, V-Mart’s 2007 stats left fantasy owners drooling.
25-114-78-.301. Whoop de freakin’ doo.
But the reason I felt compelled to write about Piazza is because of the impact he had on fantasy baseball. In 1998, Piazza did something that no other catcher ever has and probably never will.
In 1998, Piazza was the first overall pick in many a fantasy draft. Take that Brook Fordyce.
There were other options, as there almost always are every year. Barry Bonds and Larry Walker were coming off sick years. So were Ken Griffey and Jeff Bagwell.
But when you take into account position scarcity, Piazza was the logical choice. Especially if you were in an NL only league, where you typically need two catchers. Heading into the year, Jason Kendall was the second rated catcher, coming off a sparkling 8-49-.294 season.
Piazza’s statistical anomaly made the Tom Lampkins and the Kirt Manwarings look all that more horrific.
Consider that in a 10 team league, 20 catchers need to be drafted. The 19th and 20th ranked catchers in 1998 were Tony Eusebio and Jesse Levis, who the year prior combined to hit 2 homers, 37 RBI and a steal.
So, by going back and seeing how ridiculous Piazza was compared to the rest of the catchers in the league, I decided to take it upon myself to put together the greatest fantasy lineup of the past 30 years.
The lineup is not based on career numbers, but on piecing together the 23 greatest single seasons of the past three decades, filling a typical fantasy lineup. 2 catchers, 1 first baseman, 1 second baseman, 1 third baseman, 1 shortstop, 1 middle infielder, 1 corner infielder, 5 outfielders, 1 designated hitter and 9 pitchers. I’ll break the pitchers down to 6 starters and 3 relievers.
Here is what I came up with along with the player’s relevant fantasy stats for that season: HR, RBI, RUNS, SB and BA for hitters. Wins, saves, ERA, WHIP and K’s for pitchers.
C1-1997 Mike Piazza-40-124-109-5-.362
Consider he did this in pitcher friendly Dodger Stadium. I’ll forgive him for just 5 stolen bases.
C2-1999-Ivan Rodriguez-35-113-116-25-.332
Two years after Piazza’s monster, I-Rod discovers steroids.
1B-1999-Jeff Bagwell-42-126-143-30-.304
You don’t really think of Bagwell as a basestealer, but 30 swipes from your first baseman pushes him over the edge.
2B-2002-Alfonso Soriano-39-102-128-41-.300
If only Sori stayed a second baseman…he’d be a top five pick every year.
3B-2007-Alex Rodriguez-54-156-143-24-.314
Wish he stole a few more, but it’s the 156 and 143 which are really amazing.
SS-1998-Alex Rodriguez-42-124-123-46-.310
He changed the position…not Nomar. Not Jeter. Before A-Rod, all shortstops were supposed to be Walt Weiss.
CM-1999-Chipper Jones-45-110-116-25-.319
Another guy you forget used to steal. Like him or not, Chipper is going to the HOF.
MI-1990-Ryne Sandberg-40-100-116-25-.306
Phillies trading Sandberg was worse than any deal Randy ever made.
OF1-1985-Rickey Henderson-24-72-146-80-.314
Rickey had about 5 years where he could have made this list, but 1985 was the most balanced.
OF2-1987-Eric Davis-37-100-120-50-.293
He could have been Ken Griffey, only he was too brittle. Considering Junior’s injury history, that says a lot.
OF3-1988-Jose Canseco-42-124-120-40-.307
So what if he is a self centered rat. In 1988, Jose was Superman.
OF4-1997-Larry Walker-49-130-143-33-.366
Bet you didn’t remember this amazing season. He deserved that MVP.
OF5-2001-Barry Bonds-73-137-129-13-.328
I despise him as much as you, but still…73 home runs. Come on.
DH-2000-Frank Thomas-43-143-115-1-.328
With apologies to David Ortiz, Paul Molitor and Edgar Martinez, this was the best year ever put forward by a DH.
SP1-1985-Doc Gooden-24-1.53-0.96-268
16 complete games…8 shutouts…only 13 home runs allowed over 276 IP. Brett Myers gave up that many last week.
SP2-1985-John Tudor-21-1.93-0.94-169
Overshadowed by Doc, Tudor actually tossed 10 shutouts in ’85. He’d never win more than 13 in a season ever again.
SP3-1986-Mike Scott-18-2.22-0.92-306
Everyone said he was cheating, scuffing the ball somehow. He burned out quick, but when he was good, he was GOOD.
SP4-1995-Greg Maddux-19-1.63-0.81-181
Never much of a K guy, but if you post a whip of .81 over 200 IP, I’ll learn to deal with it. ’95 was the last of his four straight Cy Young seasons and, in my opinion, his best.
SP5-1999-Pedro Martinez-23-2.07-0.92-313
While the league went homer crazy, Pedro stymied them all.
SP6-2001-Randy Johnson-21-2.49-1.01-372
I wonder if we will ever see anybody reach 300 K’s again. Unit almost got 400.
RP1-1983-Dan Quisenberry-45 saves-1.94-0.92-48
Back when relievers were men. Quis tossed 139 innings in ’83 and walked 11 batters.
RP2-1990-Dennis Eckersely-48-0.61-0.61-73
Tough to pick one year for Eck, he was so dominant from ’89-92. But in ’90, Eck was the greatest closer ever. 73IP, 5 earned runs, 4 walks. His ERA and WHIP were identical.
RP3-2003-Eric Gagne-55-1.20-0.71-137
Sure, he’s rotten now, but the goofy looking Canadian was untouchable in ’03, striking out every other batter he faced.
It’s amazing looking back at the numbers over the past 30 years. The ebb and flow of great hitters and pitchers. 1997 alone provided 4 of the greatest pitching performances ever, between Pedro, Curt Schilling, Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens.
Then, once 2002 rolled around, those amazing outputs were gone. Johan Santana is the only one who even came close to cracking this list as a starter from the past 7 years.
I also never realized how really great Dale Murphy was. Rickey Henderson stealing 130 bases in 1982, while getting caught 42 times!!! 172 attempts in one season! Most guys don’t even get on base that many times in a year.
Its performances like these that make us really enjoy fantasy baseball. Who will be the next 40-40 player? Who will be the next Ellis Burks to come out of nowhere and belt 40 homers and bat .344? Can any shortstop drive in 150 like Miguel Tejada did back in 2004? Will there ever be another Mike Piazza?
2 comments:
I didn't even notice this when I posted the pic, but who plays baseball in bluejeans? The Baseball Bunch of Losers seems more like it.
Dude, not to take away Piazza's accomplishments, but he DID play in the steroids era. Do you think he might have had some help from some substances that either Bench or Yogi never had access to? I'm at the point now where whenever anyone that played between 1990-2007 is mentioned as "the best offensive...(fill in the blank)" I kind of raise an eyebrow and discount those claims.
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