Hall of Fame Faith

Richard A. Sokerka

Growing up, Mike Piazza thought he had as much of a chance of being elected to Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame as he did of being canonized a saint.

But on July 24, one of those longshots came in when he was enshrined as one of the newest inductees into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. The other longshot — canonization — still remains just that — a longshot. But Piazza is quick to credit his strong Catholic faith for his being able to go from being a 62nd round draft choice — the 1,390th player selected — to being the lowest draft pick in the history of baseball to make the Hall of Fame.

True to his Catholic roots, Piazza attended the 7:30 a.m. Sunday Mass July 24 at Our Lady of the Lake Church in Cooperstown and afterward asked for a special blessing from the celebrant, Father John Rosson.

“Yes, it was quite humbling,” Father Rosson said on the parish’s website. “Mike was very humble…I was tongue tied when he asked for a blessing and I did not realize that I had a live ‘mike’ on.”

Piazza also took time to sign autographs and took pictures with parishioners after Mass.

A few hours later, in his Hall of Fame speech, the former N.Y. Mets star proudly mentioned his Catholic faith in references to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, his mother, Veronica, and father, Vincent.

“My mother gave me the gift of my Catholic faith, which has had a profound impact on my career and has given me patience, compassion and hope,” Piazza said. “My father’s faith in me, often greater than my own, is the single most important factor of me being inducted into this Hall of Fame. Thank you, Dad.”

In quoting Pope Benedict XVI, Piazza said, ‘One who has hope, lives differently.’

And because of his strong Catholic faith, Piazza carried that hope all the way to Cooperstown.