Oakland Athletics Roundup: Mike Piazza Voted Into Hall of Fame

One-time A’s Slugger Mike Piazza Voted Into Hall of Fame
Oakland Athletics Roundup: Thursday, January 7

On Thursday, the 2016 Baseball Hall of Fame class was announced. In addition to Ken Griffey Jr., Oakland Athletics alum Mike Piazza was also selected. Piazza, who spent the majority of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, retired after spending the 2007 season in an Oakland uniform.

Although he’ll certainly be remembered for his accomplishments with the Dodgers and Mets, his time with the Athletics was fairly solid season for a sixteen-year veteran. He hit .275/.313/.414 and knocked in eight home runs in 83 games as the Athletics’ designated hitter. This is especially impressive when one considers that 2007 was the first year that Piazza played as a primary designated hitter. The first 15 years of his career were spent mainly behind the dish, as he became one of the best-hitting catchers in baseball history.

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By the end of his career, Piazza had a .308/.377/.545 line. It included 427 home runs and 1,335 RBIs – numbers that any player would be jealous of, let alone fellow catchers. Although Piazza has been periodically associated with PEDs throughout his career, voters seemed to overlook that, which should give players like Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds hope in the future (although they certainly have a much longer way to go to appease some voters).

One final note: Griffey Jr. appeared on 99.3 percent of ballots, which is the highest percentage of any first-ballot player in the history of voting. Of course, because the Baseball Writers’ Association of America is what it is, there has still never been a unanimous selection.

In Case You Missed It:

A Bullpen Full of Question Marks – Samantha Riley analyzes the chances of success for next year’s bullpen, after an extremely rough 2015 season that forced the Athletics to almost completely revamp their relief crew over the winter.

#Athletics

Next: The Top 50 Players in Oakland Athletics History

Around the Web

FanSided: 2016 Baseball Hall of Fame Coverage – For more coverage of the 2016 Baseball Hall of Fame voting, check out FanSided.com’s final vote counts and predictions for next season’s election.