Mike Piazza: Newest Member of the Hall of Jim

Mike Piazza, considered by many to be the greatest hitting catcher in Baseball history, was elected today to the Hall of Jim, which honors truly elite players.  His hall-of-fame resume is as follows.

-9 seasons with 30 or more home runs

-13 seasons with 19 or more home runs

-10 consecutive seasons (1993-2002) with at least 24 home runs, during which he had a batting average of .322.

-Had what many consider the greatest offensive season by a catcher in history in 1997 with 40 home runs, a .362 batting average, an OPS+ of 185, 124 RBIs, an OPS of 1.070, and an OBP of .431.

-1993 national league rookie of the year

-7 top-10 MVP finishes

-10 time silver slugger award winner

-12 time all-star

-Led Mets to a national league pennant in 2000 and a playoff series win in 1999

-427 career home runs

-396 career home runs as a catcher, 1st all time

-.308 career batting average

-.377 career OBP

-Career offensive WAR of 63.2

-1335 Runs Batted In

-Never struck out 100 times in a season

Piazza was elected with 98.31% percent of the vote, second only to Tom Seaver’s 98.84 (1992).  Reactions to the announcement of his election were universally positive, with one tweeter even going so far as to say, “Any Hall of Fame without Mike Piazza in it shouldn’t call itself a hall of fame at all, and whoever does the electing for that hall of fame should be arrested for criminal stupidity.”  His sentiments were shared by the electors of the Hall of Jim, who unanimously agreed before today’s announcement to resign if Piazza was not elected.

Greg Prince indirectly contributed to and approves of this report.