BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.(AP) Mike Piazza is retiring from baseball following a 16-season career in which he became one of the top-hitting catchers in history.

"After discussing my options with my wife, family and agent, I felt it was time to start a new chapter in my life," he said in a statement released Tuesday by his agent, Dan Lozano. "It has been an amazing journey ... So today, I walk away with no regrets.

"I knew this day was coming and over the last two years. I started to make my peace with it. I gave it my all and left everything on the field."

The 39-year-old Piazza batted .275 with eight homers and 44 RBIs as a designated hitter for Oakland last season, became a free agent and did not re-sign. He was not available to discuss his decision, according to Josh Goldberg, a spokesman for Lozano.

Taken by the Los Angeles Dodgers on the 62nd round of the 1988 amateur draft, Piazza became a 12-time All-Star, making the NL team 10 consecutive times starting in 1993.

He finished with a .308 career average, 427 home runs and 1,335 RBIs for the Dodgers (1992-98), Florida (1998), New York Mets (1998-05), San Diego (2006) and Oakland (2007).

His 396 homers are easily the most as a catcher, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Carlton Fisk is second with 351, followed by Johnny Bench (327) and Yogi Berra (306).

Piazza thanked his family, teams and managers, some of his teammates _ and even owners, general managers, minor league staffs and reporters.

"Within the eight years I spent in New York, I was able to take a different look at the game of baseball," Piazza said. "I wasn't just a young kid that was wet behind the ears anymore _ I was learning from other veteran guys like Johnny Franco, who taught me how to deal with the pressures of playing in New York, and Al Leiter, who knew what it took to win a world championship."

In May of 1998 when the Mets traded for Piazza, you just knew we were getting something special. After spending the previous 8 seasons in the cellar with old, overpaid washed up losers like Saberhagen, Bonilla and Coleman, it was a blessing in disguise to get the best offensive catcher in the history of baseball in his prime.

The dividends paid off too. We contended most years under Piazza's contract and had a few playoff appearances and a world series appearance. (in a season where piazza's career was jeopardized by some pedophile, steroid using loser)

I for one hope that Mike will grace the walls of Cooperstown with a Mets hat--especially for what he did for the franchise when we needed it the most.

Furthermore, it would be nice to see what baseball abilities he has as a coach. I would like to see that maybe next year during spring training.

Kudos to a great career Mikey!


Josh

Good luck to Mike in his future endeavors. He was a class act and truly a sportsman.

I do wish for him to go to Cooperstown in the blue & orange and for #31(and #17 for that matter) to be retired at CitiField.

Best of luck Mike. You gave me many memories.

I agree with the sentiments about Mike Piazza. He was a dominant catcher for a decade and a good guy as well. Now if he would just come back to his roots in Norristown so I can see him again.

Thanks for posting the article tealsea, but the tag "is he gay" is a bit sensationalist after all the debate, his press conference, marriage, etc....

he's retiring and you're asking if he's f**king gay?

unreal.

Piazza was a great catcher, who had a fierce passion for the game. He was the face of the NY Mets, much as Tom Seaver once was. He was also more likable than Seaver. And I'm not sure that anyone has taken their place in that role yet. Wright is getting there, but he has to have a few more years under the belt for that.

A straight buddy was out in California and went to see either San Diego or Oakland play. He was seated quite close to the dugout. He told me that he couldn't believe how tight Piazza's uniform was, commenting "He must think it's still the 80s or early 90s!" I wish I could have been there!

EXCUSE ME SIR, THE 2 THINGS ARE NOT RELATED. Just because the words were written as a subtopic does not mean anything, other than the question is posed. I originally wrote that I thought he was one of the most handsome ball players I had seen, but thought that too shallow. Apparently that would have been more appropriate. Keep your stupid profanity out of here.

I did not mean to be sensationalistic by posting the question. I just always wondered. I did not know there was any kind of investigation. My gaydar went off, that's all. If anyone knows how to get that subquestion off of there, I'd be happy to have it off. I still would have asked it in a post. Isn't that one of the things you guys like to discuss here....

Huh? As someone who grew up a Seaver idolator, I obviously disagree. What'd he do to you?

I'm glad another Mets position player will follow Gary Carter into the Hall, but Piazza's ridiculous "I'm straight" announcement and assorted other elements of his Republican bullsh*t didn't make him particularly likable off the field.

I'm glad that you enjoyed Seaver as a player. To me, listening to him as a commentator for the Mest, it appears that his pomposity knows no bounds.

Piazza put the Mets back into contention. For once, in a very long time, that other NY team had to share the headlines on the Sports page. Piazza was responsible for that.

I never found his "I'm straight." statement offensive. He addressed, when asked, stories in the NY tabloids about him. It certainly cannot be interpreted as homophobic.

As for his politics...well, I really don't care. I'm not looking to professional athletes in considering how I vote.

Didn't he follow that up by talking about having a gay teammate wouldn't be a big deal? Something about how, in this day and age, people should just get over it.

Also, PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE IN REPUBLICAN IDEALS NON-SHOCKER.

Anyway, leaving all that off-the-field BS out of it, I can say that Piazza is responsible for making me love baseball the way I do, and I've followed his entire career and it's been inspiring, to say the least. I do hope he makes it into the HOF as a Met instead of a Dodger, and judging by his statement, he does too.

I run into him around Miami every so often.
He always seems like a decent person. Congrats on a great career.

shut up! what kind of idiocy is that? if they're not related, why even bother writing it?

keep your gossip mongering outta here.

You might be able to remove it by editing your post. If not, don't worry about it. The only complaint I have about the question is that it's been asked and asked and asked to death, especially when the NY paper printed the blind item that seemed to point to him and he made his famous denial.

I think he was a great player. I admire him as an athlete and a future husband - I don't worry about what his political beliefs are, unless I was going to vote for him. Same thing with Barbara Streisand or Tom Hanks- to me their politics are seperate from their art. I may like one or the other's beliefs but I still see their movies and/or buy the cds because I think they are both very talented.

Look, I don't care either -- the guy was the best-hitting catcher ever, which is why he's a sure Hall of Famer despite his lousy defense.

I disliked Seaver as a broadcaster too, Cowboy. However, that was 20 years removed from his playing career, and basically irrelevant to my view of him.

You have a good point, Bill. Though I have to correct you...it's been more than 20 years! Still, I can remember being a kid of 5 or so, when the Mets won and going around saying, "You gotta believe!"

I associate Piazza with a time of my life, where I had just lost my Dad, and he would have loved to see the Mets on top again. Also, when he hit that homer after 9/11, it meant so much to the city and the outlying 'burbs and beyond. I was out to dinner that night, and the place stood in ovation.

Tealsea, don't worry about the being sensational with your post. It's part of the record on him. There's no need for ad hominem attacks on you.

I tried, trust me. When I read the first attack. Lest I offend! I even wrote to the Board manager. Did not receive any assistance.

You guys know very well we all speculate and discuss whether some of these people are gay or not! And this man obviously has been questioned. ALTHOUGH I did not know that until I read many of your posts about it. This is not gossip. I am not a gossip monger. I follow sports.
I just thought since I saw the article and knew it would be news, I would post the announcement. Obviously it has sirred discussion about his playing years, and that is how it should be. I will not stop from speculating whether or not someone is gay, or closeted, or anything like that. Gawd, you'd think I had called him a f__t or something. I admire the man. That is why the article struck me. I always enjoyed his playing and knew nothing about his personal life I just thought he was attractive and looked sort of like he might be gay. I will not grovel for forgiveness for my subline. Thank you to the gentleman who was mature and mannered enough to tell me not to worry about it.

Looked sort of gay? Really?

Yup. Just like Portia de Rossi looks sort of like a lesbian.

I think he's referring to the really atrocious facial-hairscaping Piazza wore over the years. Even worse than his taste in bad heavy metal, and gayer.

I believe 'he' is a she. And hell, I liked that Fu Manchu!

mea culpa on the poster gender.

Also, Seaver retired after '86, so WHEN he was in the Mets booth, it was 20 years or less.

LOL

Mike was a great player and he seems like a pretty good guy.

I'm not a player, I just crush a lot.

Sorry couldn't resist .

Hey,anything that takes the combative edge off this thread is worth it!

I just noticed an article on the OUTSPORTS main list --
" Mike 'I'm not gay' Piazza retires"

So...I see that my subtopic wasn't so off base. Too bad you had to bully me. Would you have done the same to the author of the article?



Well she doesn't at all, so your attempt at humor doesn't make sense.

Tealsea- You are right, 100% right, always right and infallible.

Well, he did retire from playing baseball more than 20 years ago. As for announcing...that's another matter. No baseball player ever retires really...They spend the rest of their lives reliving their years of glory!



No, again I will say that what you said was valid, part of the public record, but the main thrust of any article on him should be his performance on the field. His off-field life was of interest, because of the celebrity-driven popular culture we live in and the blurring of the divide between what is public and private. How do I account for the speculation surrounding his sexuality? It may be due to his so-called metrosexual persona. It may also be explained by our desire as gay men for role models. As a gay sports fan, I'm glad that Piazza did not react with horror that he was thought to be gay. Do I wish that he had answered by leaving the questioned unanswered? Hell, yeah. But that answer is going to have to come from an individual who is completely comfortable in his own skin, as the French say. And for a player, who is gay, to come out of the closet while still playing...well, I don't know if I'll see that any time soon.

All I do know is that I have to live my own life as truthfully as possible. It is in the every day, ordinary ways that show to the world that I should be, to paraphrase Martin Luther King, Jr., judged by the character of myself, not by anything else. I won't look to sports, entertainment, or celebrity figures to provide the model for that.

Sorry, if I ramble on!