By Michael Speziale

Evening Sun Contributor

Photo by Frank and Michael Speziale

…“I long for the days when athletes were revered. I want to see the romance return to sports, to see people enjoy the game purely for the game and the players.” – Mike Piazza

Well Mike, let me be the first to congratulate you today and say you are “revered”. As a 22-year-old native New Yorker, I grew up idolizing Mike Piazza. Not only was he one of the all-time best catchers for the Mets, and the National League, but he was a man that any seven year old boy could look up to. It was the 2000 “Subway Series” World Series against the well-regarded New York Yankees where I was first introduced to Mike Piazza. I was familiar with the name; he had been playing for the Mets since 1998 and was previously on the Los Angeles Dodgers. Nonetheless, it was with their loss at the World Series where I wanted to be just like Mike. Ironic isn’t it? I was just a kid, but he was perfect in my eyes.