LONG SHOT TO COOPERSTOWN

In the 62nd round of the 1988 MLB Draft, the Los Angeles Dodgers selected catcher Mike Piazza as a favor to Piazza’s father, a friend of Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda. The pick proved inspired as Piazza went on to win the 1993 NL Rookie of the Year Award. In 1998, Piazza arrived in New York and helped lift the Mets to back-to-back playoff appearances and a NL pennant. When he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016, the Mets celebrated by retiring his No. 32.