With Two Homers, Emotions Go Deep for Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza

henrydaas (ny)

I was at Shea that night. I get chills....

JimD (Virginia)

Great article.

Brian P (Austin, TX)

I love baseball because it is hard. Every player must learn to succeed despite repeated, endemic failure -- just like life. Fail only one of every three attempts and you are a hero. That's nuts! And yet these two guys understood that and communicated that as well as any two players I got to watch. Coaches will tell players to "stay within yourself." These guys lived it. Griffey was prodigiously talented but chose Cincinnati over a payday because it was home and home and family were the only things he cared about. Piazza had to build his talent brick by brick with hard work, and all that work taught him humility. Did anybody ever hear the man brag or talk trash? I sure didn't. They did what people who work do: they carried it with them. Thank you, gentlemen.

quadgator (watertown, ny)

Congratulations to Mr. Met, Mike Piazza, Baseball Hall of Fame inductee 2016.

Thanks Mike for all you did, both on the diamond and in the parking lot of Shea Stadium after that horrific day.

John Ombelets (Boston, MA)

These players and what they do are why we're fans. Thanks, Mr. Kepner, very well done.

Bill (<br/>)

I was in Shea that night. It's been almost 15 years and it still stirs emotions reading about it.

Jeff Werthan (Bethesda)

A moving article about two fine players, written by a fine writer.

cirincis (Southampton)

That Piazza homerun is perhaps my most vivid and powerful baseball memory. all these years later, I still get teary and goose bumps when I remember it.

So glad Mike is going in as a Met!

jfr (De)

It's about time the writers got something right! Two fantastic picks.

Here (There)

Very dubious about the election of Griffey Jr. whose stats never translated into leadership or a ring. I realize he's popular in the press, which is leading to this lavish, slobbering coverage (Piazza's only useful as a distraction). In this day and age, though, things like media-voted Hall of Fame elections don't mean very much when statistical analysis is at the fan's fingertips.

nimbleland (seattle)

I was there for many of Griffey's games. If you saw how he played day in and day out for the years he played with the Seattle Mariners, you would realize how unique he really was as a player.

In 1995, the Seattle Mariners were going to leave, but Griffey and the rest of the team went on a wild ride and from 13 games back went into a one game playoff with the Angels. A friend and I went to that game. It was the very first time we made the playoffs. I was also there for all of the Yankee games and witness Edgar Martinez's hit to left and Giffey's run home.

Yes he left Seattle to play for the team his father played. Yes he hit a ton of home runs that got him close to 600; but he came home to the Mariner and stayed one season too long, but the year before I was there when they lifted Giffey on the team's shoulders and marched around Safeco Field.

If you did not see Griffey win the Home Run Derby, if you did not see hit the building outside Camden Yards, if you did not see him take away sure hits, even home runs day after day, if you saw father and son hit back to back home runs which will never be duplicated, this is why he is voted into the HOF in his first year. Think about this. Only 3 did not list him on their ballot. Look up Griffey on the Internet. Just the video highlights would be enough.

In Seattle we are not just happy. Griffey was a leader and a savior of baseball in Seattle and clean player in the steroid era. We celebrate Griffey who earned this honor.

em (New York, NY)

"Bah! Humbug!"

Nicholas Conticello (New Jersey)

Piazza will be remembered for that September homer, but the one I will treasure was one he hit on Friday, June 30, 2000. Atlanta had built an 8-1 lead by the time the Mets came up in the bottom of the eighth. When Piazza had his second at-bat of the inning, the Mets had already scored seven runs to tie the game. Piazza jumped on the first pitch from Terry Mulholland and hit a laser beam down the left field line for a three-run homer and the Mets held on for an 11-8 win. After that game you felt that this could be the year they would finally get past the Braves. Atlanta won the division by a thin game, but the Mets won the pennant.

Al V. (Greenville, SC)

I remember watching that game on TV. With Atlanta building that big lead, I changed channels. Some time later, I switched back assuming I would see the game wrap up, but instead caught Piazza's homer.

Gil R (New York City)

Sweet remarks by both players. And nicely captured by Kepner.

j.r. (lorain)

Junior and Roberto Clemente are the two best players I have ever witnessed playing the game. Bench and Piazza are the two best catchers I have seen play. All four in the HOF. I feel very blessed.

S.G. (<br/>)

That was a very touching article. Unless you are Jesus, please refrain from your usual negative, resentful comments.

vacuum (yellow springs)

A pair of class players. Glad for both of them.

Den (Ohio)

Baseball icons and excellent role models. Class acts.

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