Which cap should Mike Piazza wear on his Hall of Fame plaque?
 

I don't want to bias this either way, so I'll ask it straight out...should Mike Piazza be pictured in a Dodgers hat or a Mets hat on his Hall of Fame plaque?

How about a Marlins hat?

he played for them for 10 days - but they got a couple of cards out in that uni
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Ha ha! Nice! I actually knew someone was going to bring up the Marlins or even the Padres or the A's…or just leaving the cap blank…but I had to go with the more appropriate options.

I voted Dodgers
 

but...

To answer your question of which hat SHOULD he wear I voted for LA. He made his name there, had his best years there, and as a Dodger fan he was an idol of mine.

However, I think he WILL wear a NYM hat. For unknown to me reasons, he seems to embrace his NY years over his LA years in his retirement.

I'm a lifelong Mets fan, so that's where my heart is, but I truly believe he should don the LA cap. Like you said, he made his name there. He was a titanic talent. He continued to produce hugely at Shea, but his days as a Dodger are too prominent to take a back seat.

One with a great big shamrock on top.

Unfortunately because of Carlton Fisk players no longer get to choose which hat to wear. That's why a guy like Leon Day who played 90% of his career with the Newark Eagles is wearing a Puerto Rican winter league cap instead of an Eagles one (I seriously doubt anyone at the Hall even knew what the hat represented anyway).

For those who don't remember, when Fisk was elected there was the question of whether he'd choose and Red Sox or White Sox cap. According to a few sportswriters I knew at the time, Fisk supposedly started a bidding war between Boston and Chicago - which ever city and team lavished him with more treats and goodies got the great honor of having that city's hat on his plaque. Chicago eventually tired of it and Boston won out. The Hall of Fame was pretty upset by the episode and after that no player was allowed to pick which team he was to represent.

Piazza
 

No idea how final this is but the HOF website has his primary team listed as the Mets. Plaque is blank, though.

http://baseballhall.org/hof/Piazza-Mike

And for the record, I don't care too much in his case since I think it's a pretty even split. He was a slightly better player with the Dodgers but played a little more with the Mets, reaching the World Series with them. This is one of those cases where you can make a good argument on either side.

When I think about him, the sniff test for me says he's a Dodger. But I know the Hall doesn't want a disaster and he's on the record as saying he doesn't want to go in as one. Since it's close and they can avoid controversy, I think the call will be the Mets.

Hof
 

i do not have a preference on Piazza but appreciate the dilemma it can cause for fans . As a long time Cardinals fan I worry Pujols will go in as an Angel....assuming he makes it

Just like the Rose HOF poll results this has me scratching my head........... Dodgers? He played for the Mets more games, had greater stats for them and appeared in way more post season games and more post season stats with the Mets.

I think you're safe there since he played 11 years in St. Louis and those were easily the most productive years he's had. He only has four so far with the Angels and even if he somehow got to 10-11 there, his better years were by far and away with the Cardinals. Piazza's production with the Mets was much closer to his Dodgers years than the Pujols split will be.

He stated that he wants to go in as a Met!

He has 'higher totals' with the Mets because he played more games there, but not better stats from year-to-year with them. He hit 35 points higher with the Dodgers, had a greater OPS, SLG%, and WAR with them as well. He also went to as many All-Star Games with LA and had more Top 10 MVP finishes and Silver Slugger Awards there, too despite playing fewer games with the Dodgers.

His career in LA was better than it was in NY despite the postseason games he made.

As much as I'd prefer to see a Dodgers hat, with the shabby way he was treated by the team at the end of his time there, I'd entirely expect him to want to go in as a Met.

I hate the Fisk rule. It punishes everyone for one player's greedy games. Let the player choose his hat subject to divestment of the choice if he behaves like a piggy in the process.

To answer the question I would say which ever one fits. I don't think any helmet or hat ever did.

Seriously watch a vid of him batting and his helmet was shaking every time he swung.

And the way he wore his hats, holy cow. He had to be at least 25% genetically cone head......his long hair wasn't a fashion statement, he was hiding cone.

When I close my eyes and you say his name I remember him as a Dodger, hitting all those deep Homers to right.. Quite the player..

I think of him first as a Dodger.

If you're a Phildelphia area person . No more comment needed .

Just checked his stats and was surprised that all his batting #'s (except average) were higher as a Met.
Granted he played 8 years in NY & 7 in LA
HR's 220 to 177
RBI 655 to 563
2B 193 to 115
Runs 532 to 443

So I have no issue w/ him going in as a Met

I think he should wear a top hat. Mike Piazza would look badass in a top hat.

He feels like a Dodger to me but on this one I am ok either way. I do like the Fisk rule though, though not necessarily as a means to prevent people from Fisking even though that is nice because that was a bit gross.

The HOF is a historical organization and what is represented should be the most accurate representation of history possible. If you let the players decide you might get a guy who played 15 years for one team (no WS titles) and his final 3 for a second (1 WS title) who elects to go in as a member of the 3-year team where he won the WS instead of the team where he spent almost all of his career (ie, not very historically accurate).

So the old story goes, Mikey was drafted by the Dodgers on Tommy LaSorda's recommendation (or in some versions as a favor to Mike's father). I suspect at that level in the draft, it was probably a favor. Looking at some of the names that were chosen ahead of him makes you wonder if the scouting system was broken that year or if he truly was a diamond in the very, very rough. Would he even have a career had it not been for the Dodgers? Might he have been drafted by another club later? Didn't feel like doing the research, but how much later would there have been if any?

I did see that Pete Rose Jr was taken well ahead of him for a fun fact.

I am a dodger fan and followed him in his early years as a Dodger, so of course he is a Dodger to me. I think the story plays out even better with him going into the HOF as a Dodger, the team that made it possible.

I am a lifelong Mets fan living in Los Angeles.

I recall in the 2000 season being at Chavez Ravine to watch the Mets play the Dodgers. Gary Sheffield, and his big violent swing accidentally came around on a Mike Hampton pitch and smacked Piazza across the head with his bat. Piazza was hurt, bleeding, and had to be helped off the field. I can recall the Los Angeles fans cheering for the fact he was hurt and shouting nasty, pathetic things to him as he was being helped off the field by the medical staff. They booed him every time he came up as a Met, but this particular incident was just sad and pathetic.

He carried us on his back, and without him we never would have reemerged from the depths of hell as a franchise. Class act all the way, and hit a homer so powerful I could literally feel it all the way across the country.

Great career with the Dodgers, but he wears the Mets hat all the way.

Derek

ESPN just announced he will wear Mets cap.

I'm a Mets fan but he should wear a BALCO cap,