Rookie of the Year: Mike Piazza, 1993

Catcher, Los Angeles Dodgers

Age:  25 (Sept. 4)

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’3”    Weight: 200 

Prior to 1993:

A native of Norristown, Pennsylvania, Piazza developed his skills as a hitter from a young age. Playing first base at Phoenixville High School, he batted .442 as a senior with 11 home runs. Drawing little interest from major league scouts, he went on to the University of Miami after high school where he was a backup first baseman. Transferring to Miami-Dade North Community College after one year, he hit .364. A late-round selection by the Dodgers in the 1989 amateur draft, he signed for a $15,000 bonus and agreed to become a catcher. Piazza was first assigned to Salem of the Class A Northwest League in ’89 where he batted .268 in 57 games with 8 home runs and 25 RBIs. After spending time at the Dodgers’ Dominican baseball academy, he was with Vero Beach in the Class A Florida State League in 1990, where he hit .250 with 6 home runs and 45 RBIs. Moving on to Bakersfield of the advanced Class A California League in 1991, Piazza batted .277 with 29 home runs and 80 RBIs. After starting out the 1992 season in the Class AA Texas League, he was promoted to the Albuquerque Dukes of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League where he hit .341 in 94 games with 16 home runs and 69 RBIs. Called up to the Dodgers in September, Piazza started 16 games and hit his first major league home run while batting .232. He entered 1993 as LA’s starting catcher.

1993 Season Summary

Appeared in 149 games

C – 146, PH – 5, 1B – 1

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 602

At Bats – 547

Runs – 81

Hits – 174 [13, tied with Eddie Murray, Jeff Conine & Andres Galarraga]

Doubles – 24

Triples – 2

Home Runs – 35 [6]

RBI – 112 [4]

Bases on Balls – 46

Int. BB – 6

Strikeouts – 86

Stolen Bases – 3

Caught Stealing – 4

Average - .318 [7]

OBP - .370 [20, tied with Bernard Gilkey]

Slugging Pct. - .561 [3, tied with Matt Williams]

Total Bases – 307 [4, tied with Lenny Dykstra]

GDP – 10

Hit by Pitches – 3

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – 6

Midseason snapshot: HR - 18, RBI - 58, AVG - .317, SLG - .539, OBP -- .360

---

Most hits, game – 4 (in 4 AB) at Houston 5/16, (in 5 AB) at Colorado 6/15, (in 4 AB) vs. Pittsburgh 8/24

Longest hitting streak – 12 games

Most HR, game – 2 on five occasions

HR at home – 21

HR on road – 14

Multi-HR games – 5

Most RBIs, game – 5 at Colorado 6/15, vs. Houston 6/21

Fielding

Chances – 1009

Put Outs – 899

Assists – 99

Errors – 11

Passed Balls - 14

DP – 10

Pct. - .989

Awards & Honors:

NL Rookie of the Year: BBWAA

Silver Slugger

All-Star

9^th in NL MVP voting (49 points, 13% share)

 

NL ROY Voting (Top 5):

Mike Piazza, LAD: 140 points – 28 of 28 first place votes, 100% share

Greg McMichael, Atl.: 40 points – 29% share

Jeff Conine, Fla.: 31 points – 22% share

Chuck Carr, Fla.: 18 points – 13% share

Al Martin, Pitt.: 6 points – 4% share

Pinch-hitting – 0 for 5 (.000) 

---

Dodgers went 81-81 to finish fourth in the NL Western Division, 23 games behind the division-winning Atlanta Braves. The slow-starting Dodgers turned hot from mid-May to mid-June, going 20-6 with an 11-game winning streak along the way. After moving to 6 games out of first in the NL West, they lost 7 of 9 to drop well off the pace on the way to finishing with a break-even record.

Aftermath of ‘93:

Piazza followed up his outstanding rookie season by batting .319 with 24 home runs, 92 RBIs, and a .370 on-base percentage during the strike-shortened 1994 season and was the NL’s starting catcher in the All-Star Game. A capable backstop as well as an impressive hitter, Piazza hit .346 with a .400 OBP, 32 home runs, 93 RBIs, and a .606 slugging percentage in 1995 despite missing 22 games with a thumb injury. He placed fourth in NL MVP voting. In 1996, Piazza’s bat fueled the Dodgers in the early going on his way to finishing at .336 with 36 home runs and 105 RBIs. He was second in league MVP balloting. Piazza was runner-up in NL MVP voting again in 1997 as he batted .362 with 40 home runs, 124 RBIs, and a .431 OBP. He performed well behind the plate after having been occasionally criticized for his defense previously. Entering the final year of his contract in 1998, Piazza turned down a six-year contract extension during spring training. In May he was traded to the Florida Marlins for five players, and then a week later was dealt to the New York Mets. He performed well for his new club and finished the season with a combined 32 home runs, 111 RBIs, a .328 batting average, and .390 OBP. In the offseason he signed with the Mets for seven years and $91 million. His solid hitting continued in 1999 as he batted .303 with 40 home runs, 124 RBIs, and a .361 OBP. The Mets finished second in the NL East in 2000 but, qualifying for the postseason as a wild card, they won the league pennant. Piazza’s bat was a key to the club’s success as he hit .324 with 38 home runs, 113 RBIs, and a .398 OBP. In the World Series loss to the Yankees, he hit .273 with two homers and got into a notable verbal exchange with Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens. Piazza remained productive in 2001, batting .300 with 36 home runs, 94 RBIs, a .384 OBP, and a .573 slugging percentage. In an overall difficult season for the Mets in 2002, Piazza’s productivity declined somewhat to .280 with 33 home runs, 98 RBIs, a .359 OBP, and a .544 slugging percentage. His defense also came in for heavy criticism, especially his poor throwing, and New York tabloid newspapers raised questions into his sexual orientation (he remained a bachelor until 2005). Troubled by a severe groin injury in 2003, Piazza was limited to 68 games and batted .286 with 11 home runs and 34 RBIs. Splitting time between playing first base and catching in 2004, he appeared in 129 games and hit .266 with 20 home runs and 54 RBIs. Piazza spent one last season with the Mets in 2005 and batted .251 with 19 home runs and 62 RBIs while being utilized exclusively behind the plate defensively. A free agent in the offseason, he signed a one-year contract with the San Diego Padres. Appearing in 126 games in 2006 as a catcher and DH in interleague play, Piazza hit .283 with 22 home runs and 68 RBIs. Moving on to the Oakland Athletics in 2007, a shoulder injury in May put him on the disabled list for 11 weeks. He ended up playing in 83 games and batted .275 with 8 homers and 44 RBIs. Piazza announced his retirement in 2008, and for his major league career he batted .308 with 2127 hits that included 344 doubles, 8 triples, and 427 home runs. He scored 1048 runs and compiled 1335 RBIs, a .377 OBP, and a .545 slugging percentage. With the Dodgers he batted .331 with 896 hits, 115 doubles, 3 triples, 177 home runs, 443 runs scored, 563 RBIs, a .394 OBP, and a .572 slugging percentage. Appearing in 32 postseason games he hit .242 with 6 home runs and 15 RBIs. A 12-time All-Star, he also received 10 Silver Sluggers. The Mets retired his #31 and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016.

---

Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were recipients of the Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1947 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1948 and from 1949 on to one recipient from each major league.