It’s been a wretched Met season in so many ways, because Mike Hampton left and A-Rod never came and Fonzie hasn’t hit and so on and so on.
But while the Mets are virtually unwatchable as a unit, one player remains riveting.
Mike Piazza, as usual, has been above reproach, unless, of course, your purpose is to shake him down for souvenirs.
Think back to 1998, when Piazza came over from Los Angeles via Florida and the Shea faithful booed him almost as lustily as they booed Hampton on Tuesday night.
Now Piazza’s about the only thing worth cheering at Shea.
On Tuesday night, the 32-year-old crushed his 300th homer as a catcher. He had already reached 300 career homers, so he rightfully downplayed the milestone as a “footnote.”
What might be worth tracking is how high Piazza’s numbers can climb in the last 5½ weeks of the season.
With the Mets (57-68) going nowhere, and with 37 games left entering yesterday, professional pride is all players like Piazza have left.
“It’s easy to let the negative take over, but you have to try to eliminate it,” Piazza said. “You can’t get depressed and stuff. You have to go out and play hard.
“The people who come out to these games still want to see a good game, and they want to see a good effort. You take that into consideration, and you focus.”
After a 2-for-4 Tuesday, he raised his average to .295. His 436-foot blast off Hampton was his 30th homer of the season, and he’s one of only four players to hit 30 in seven straight years. Among active players, Barry Bonds has done it for a decade, while Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa have also accomplished the feat.
“I don’t have specific goals where, ‘I have to hit 30 home runs,’ or, ‘I have to hit .300,'” Piazza said. “I want to do those things, but I don’t have a concrete goal.
“If I don’t reach them, I won’t be depressed. I just want to have the best numbers I can have to help the team.”
While so many people in this society are pessimistic, “the glass is half-empty” mopes, Piazza has been unapologetically positive all season. The .328 career hitter isn’t sure if this has helped his recent tear. In his last 40 games with an at-bat, he is 49-for-137 (.358).
He looks forward to playing playoff teams in San Francisco, Philadelphia and Atlanta, but not because of any “spoiler” role the Mets would play. He doesn’t need the extra motivation, but doesn’t begrudge teammates who do.
For him, it’s the competition.
“No one wants to go out there and get rolled over,” Piazza said. “You don’t want to give the teams a welcome mat to the playoffs.
“You want to play hard and make them earn it. If they deserve to win, if they beat you, that’s the way it is.”
Piazza learned this under Tommy Lasorda as a rookie in 1993. The Dodgers played the juggernaut Giants in the last weekend of the season. San Francisco had 103 wins that year but didn’t win the NL West because L.A. played hard until the 162nd game.
“We beat them the last day to keep them out of the playoffs,” Piazza said, still with a hint of pride.