Michael Joseph Piazza...he and his wife, Alicia, make their offseason home in Miami Beach, FL...graduated from Phoenixville (PA) High School, where he was named league Most Valuable Player in baseball...also was an American Legion MVP...played one year at Miami-Dade North Community College...was the Dodgers' 61st selection (62nd round), the 1,390th overall pick, in the June 1988 Free Agent Draft...a total of 1,433 players were drafted in 1988...received personal instruction from the late Hall of Famer Ted Williams at his backyard batting cage in Pennsylvania when he was 12 years old...participated in the US-Japan Professional Baseball Exhibition Series November 1-November 10, 1996 in Japan with then-teammate then-Hideo Nomo and 24 other Major League All-Stars...batted .429 (6-14) with four RBI in seven games, and tied for the team lead in home runs (two) and runs scored (four)...from 1994-2004, participated in the Annual Pepsi All-Star Softball Game in Palm Springs, CA to raise money for the International Juvenile Diabetes Foundation...was the recipient of two awards from the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of American on February 4, 2001...shared the Toast-of-the-Town Award with the Yankees' Derek Jeter and was the winner of the first annual Yogi Berra Award, given to the best baseball player in New York...was the winner on Jeopardy in February of 2001 beating Jane Krakowski ("Ally McBeal") and Kevin Sorbo ("Hercules")...honored in December of 2001 by the Police Athletic League for his contributions to the community...from 1998-2001 donated over $100,000 to the Mets' Takin' it to the Fields program...The funds were distributed in the form of grants to Youth Baseball Leagues to repair and improve their playing fields...toured Europe, including Germany and Italy, for Major League Baseball International in the Fall of 2002...on the tour, Mike hosted numerous clinics for children and met Pope John Paul II while in Italy.

2003

Ended the year with an eight-game hitting streak...Hit .375 (12-32) with five runs scored, a double and two RBI in those contests.

Moved to first base in the ninth inning of the September 25th game vs. Pittsburgh...Recorded all three putouts...It was his first appearance at first base since July 26, 1993 as a member of the Dodgers vs. San Francisco...That was his only other appearance at first base in the majors.

Drove in his 539th RBI as a Met on September 26th at Florida to move past Edgardo Alfonzo (538) on the Mets All-Time List...Ed Kranepool is third with 614 RBI.

Singled in the first inning on September 21st vs. Montreal, off Tomo Ohka, for his 1,700th career hit.

Collected his 1,101st career RBI with a three-run home run on August 26th at Atlanta (Reynolds), making him just the eighth player, whose primary position is catcher, to reach the 1,100 RBI plateau...Yogi Berra is first with 1,430 RBI, followed by Ted Simmons (1,389), Johnny Bench (1,376), Carlton Fisk (1,330), Gary Carter & Bill Dickey (1,209) and Gabby Hartnett (1,179).

Placed on the 15-Day Disabled List on May 17th with a grade three strain of the right groin...Was injured while batting against Jason Schmidt in the first inning of the May 16th game at San Francisco...Was activated on August 13th...Played in five Major League Rehabilitation games with Norfolk (AAA)...Was 3-17 (.176) with two runs scored, a home run, two RBI and one walk.

Collected the 32nd multiple-home run game of his career May 13th at Colorado (Chacon).

Hit his 350th career home run, April 22nd, off the Astros Scott Linebrink...Was also his 73rd home run at Shea in a Mets uniform, tying him for third on the Mets All-Time List for home runs by a Met at Shea with Dave Kingman...Darryl Strawberry is first with 128 and Howard Johnson is second with 90...Now has 76 homeruns as a Met at Shea.

Missed four games from April 2nd-April 5th, after being suspended for his actions in a spring training game, March 12th at St. Lucie vs. the Dodgers.

Is second on the All-Time Home Run List for catchers with 347 home runs...Carlton Fisk is first with 351.

For the year, he had 17 multiple-hit games, 11 games with two hits and six games with three hits...Also had six multi-RBI games, one with two RBI, four with three RBI and one with five, August 13th vs. the Giants.

His two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning on May 10th gave the Mets a 4-2 victory over the Padres...It was his sixth career walk-off home run and first since July 29, 2001, when he touched up Philadelphiabs Rheal Cormier in a 6-5 win.

His three-run home run in the first inning on August 26th propelled the Mets to a 6-5 victory at Atlanta.