by Riccardo Schiroli
Mike Piazza continues his relation with Italian baseball. The former All Star will travel to Italy on Wednesday 5/20 and will remain there for one week. Piazza will give a clinic to the players of the Italian Academy in Tirrenia (on hitting and catching) and then will move to Rome to participate in promotion of baseball in general and IBAF Baseball World Cup in particular. A soccer fan, Piazza has expressed the desire to watch live the Uefa Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona in the Olympic Stadium.
Piazza’s family originated from Sciacca (Sicily). Born 1968 in Norristown (Pennsylvania), Mike Piazza has been an outstanding catcher and hitter, making history as a player for the Los Angeles Dodgers (that picked him in round 62 of the 1988 draft) and the New York Mets; during his career he also wore the uniforms of the Florida Marlins, San Diego Padres and Oakland A’s. He hit 427 home runs (the most by a catcher in MLB history) and posted a .308 batting average in 16 big league seasons. This was worth $ 120 million in salaries through 2007, his last year.
Mike Piazza represented Italy as a player in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and as a coach in the 2009 tournament.
Mike Piazza is married to actress and model Alicia Rickter. The couple has a daughter (Nicoletta) and expects the second born in August.
Photo: © FIBS