MLB History 2. Mike Piazza
Carter wasn’t the only catcher who helped take a New York Mets team to that next step. Mike Piazza was not going to re-sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers, so they flipped the former 62nd round pick to the Florida Marlins. Well, he wasn’t staying there long as they flipped him to the Mets a few days later in 1998. The rest, as they say, is history.
Piazza was an absolute offensive machine. He won the NL Rookie of the Year in 1993, posting a .318 average with a .932 OPS, 35 homers, and 112 RBI. He finished top 10 in NL MVP voting seven times.
He was an All-Star every year from 1993-2005 except for one. He was never the best throwing catcher, but he could block the ball well and was excellent at going after foul pop-ups.
He had two 40 homer seasons and had seven other seasons where he hit over 30 homers. He drove in over 100 runs six times. He had 11 seasons where he hit over .300.
Among catchers with over 1,000 games played, he’s fourth in average, first in OPS with .922, fourth in RBI, first in homers with 427 and fifth in WAR.
Piazza would be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.