The New York Mets celebrated the 36th anniversary of the sixth game of that glorious 1986 World Series on Tuesday.
Now, on Wednesday, it’s time for another anniversary, but this one is from a signing that helped shape the future of the franchise in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
“Today in 1998: Potential free agent Mike Piazza signs the most lucrative contract in major league history when he agrees to terms with the New York Mets. It was a seven-year deal, worth over $91 million,” Baseball Reference tweeted.
Today in 1998: Potential free agent Mike Piazza signs the most lucrative contract in major league history when he agrees to terms with the New York Mets.
It was a seven-year deal, worth over $91 million.@Mets | #MLB pic.twitter.com/ViIFGpO6ND
— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) October 26, 2022
Piazza was already a very good catcher during his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but upon signing with the Mets, he became a legend there.
He couldn’t win a World Series trophy, but the success of a player shouldn’t be exclusively based on that.
Piazza Was A Playoff Hero For The Mets
In fact, Piazza was part of two deep playoff runs with the Mets, in the two years after he signed his contract: 1999 and 2000.
In 1999, they lost in the National League Championship Series to the Atlanta Braves.
A year later, however, the Mets would go on to advance to the World Series: it would be against crosstown rivals, the New York Yankees.
The Subway Series was won by the Yankees.
Piazza, however, was marvelous during the entire playoffs: he slashed .302/.403/.642 with four homers and 11 RBI in 14 games.
Overall, in eigth seasons in Queens, Piazza slashed .296/.373/.542 with 220 home runs and a cool .915 OPS.
Those are some seriously good numbers that were eventually the foundation for him to be admitted at the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Piazza contract changed Mets history for the good: that’s a fact.
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