New York Mets: Five best acquisitions by the team since 1980
3. Mike Piazza
The Mets desperately needed a big hitter and someone with star power. This guy had a falling out with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The fans wanted him, the team hesitated. Mike and the Mad Dog implored the team to make a move as the callers kept calling in and begging for it. The pressure is mounting. And then, all of the necessary parts came into place. Finally, the move that we had all been waiting for happened. On May 22, 1998, the Mets acquired Mike Piazza in a trade for Preston Wilson, Ed Yarnall and Geoff Goetz.
In 1998, Piazza played in 109 games for the Mets and hit .348 with 23 home runs and 76 RBI. It took some time for him to get in the groove in New York and he even heard some boos, but once he got going, he was off and running! Over the next four years, Piazza hit at least 34 home runs and drove in at least 94 runs. Not only did he hit a lot of home runs, he would hit clutch ones. There were too many to count.
Although, there was one pretty special one on September 21, 2001:
By far my favorite moment of Piazza’s career. Granted, I got engaged that night so I am biased, but it still counts. This shot was not only big for the team, it was big for the city of New York. It helped everyone heal after the horrible events ten days earlier. Besides being the best hitting catcher in MLB history, Piazza had a knack for the big play at the right time. Mets fans were lucky to have him wear the uniform.