It is time for reflection toward the Baseball Hall of Fame, which is coming off of a weekend where Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza were officially enshrined.
For Griffey Jr., this seemed to be almost automatic from the start. The son of former star, Ken Griffey Sr., was the first ever pick in the 1987 Amateur Draft and became the first overall pick to enter the Hall of Fame. He would join the Seattle Mariners at 19 years old and was a legitimate five tool player. His overall 22 year career saw Griffey Jr. smack 630 Home Runs, go to 13 All Star Games and win 10 Gold Gloves. He made history by receiving 99.3% of the votes, the highest ever by anyone.
For Catcher, Mike Piazza, the road wasn’t so easy.
Piazza was drafted in 1988, 1,390th overall, making him the lowest drafted player to make the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was lucky to even be drafted at all, as the choice was based on a good word from Tommy Lasorda, who was a friend of Piazza’s father. Switching from First Base to Catcher, Mike Piazza would eventually hit 427 Home Runs with a .306 Batting Average and went to 12 All Star Games.
It would take Piazza four times to make the Hall.
Worth noting, is that over 50,000 people attended the ceremony, the highest amount since 1999.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza for earning this prestigious honor.
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