All-Star Game Provides Needed Break for Piazza

Because Mike Piazza has experienced the unfamiliar this season, the New York Met catcher has learned to expect the unexpected.

He has been traded--twice--booed more at home than in his first five seasons combined and is perceived as the poster boy for the “greedy athlete,” in his opinion. And Piazza ended the first half of his dizzying season by suffering injuries in consecutive games.

The former Dodger franchise player has been battered, but Piazza insists he isn’t beaten. He has overcome obstacles while wondering how his difficult year will end--and where he will ultimately land.

Piazza will start at catcher tonight for the National League in the 69th All-Star Game at Coors Field. Piazza is playing in his sixth consecutive All-Star Game, the last five as a starter.

For many reasons, Piazza needed this season’s All-Star break.

“It has definitely been weird at times, the way things have kind of turned out this year, and the way they’re still turning out,” Piazza said during a rare quiet moment Monday before the NL team’s batting practice.

“I sure had a pretty tough week [last] week, but I think I’ve had a few other tough weeks this year.”

Piazza suffered a mild concussion Saturday after being inadvertently hit in the head with a bat in the second inning of the Atlanta Braves’ 4-1 victory. Gerald Williams struck Piazza with the barrel of his bat while following through on a swing.

Piazza returned for more punishment Sunday, suffering a deep right thigh bruise in a collision at the plate in the 11th inning of the Braves’ 3-2 victory. Michael Tucker scored on a sacrifice fly and cut Piazza’s thigh with his cleats while scoring the winning run.

And that was a fitting way for the first half to end with what Piazza has faced this season.

He was booed vociferously during the home opener at Dodger Stadium because fans were presumably angry at him for expressing his disappointment to The Times on opening day about his stalled contract negotiations.

Piazza was seeking a seven-year contract extension worth at least $100 million from the Dodgers. He rejected the team’s final guaranteed offer of six years at $79 million in early April, and instructed his agent, Dan Lozano, to end negotiations with the team.

That spurred the historic seven-player trade May 15 that sent Piazza and third baseman Todd Zeile to the Florida Marlins, and brought Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson, Jim Eisenreich and Manuel Barrios to the organization. Piazza was then traded to the Mets on May 22.

Along the way, Piazza was vilified nationally for turning down the richest contract in baseball history.

“I accept the fans’ perception, and I understand their feelings when you’re talking about the money that’s involved [in athletics],” Piazza said. “But there was more involved than just what you read about in the newspapers and see on TV, and everyone involved knows that.

“The situation could have ended a lot better than it did after all those years, of course. I wish it could have ended more amicably, but it didn’t. I have to deal in the here and now, and I’ve really moved beyond all of that stuff now.”

Well, almost.

Piazza is still disappointed about comments attributed to several of his former Dodger teammates in the wake of his departure. To hear some of them tell it, the Dodgers are better off without Piazza, who carried the team offensively throughout his phenomenal five-plus seasons in Los Angeles.

“You’re only human, and the negativity is something that’s disappointing,” said Piazza, who was the runner-up in voting for the most-valuable-player award the past two seasons. “The way people chose sides was something I didn’t expect.

“You hear things, and you wonder why there has to be so much negativity. But I didn’t allow myself to get caught up in all of that, because you have to be professional. I couldn’t concentrate on the job I have to do for the Mets if I got dragged into all of that.”

Piazza entered the All-Star break batting .308 (93 for 302) with 14 home runs and 48 RBIs. In 35 games with the Mets, he’s batting .341 (46 for 135) with five homers and 13 RBIs.

“The Mets and the fans in New York have been good to me, and I think I’ve started to settle in a little,” said Piazza, the MVP of the 1996 All-Star Game. “I’m getting comfortable, and that’s the main thing.”

But Piazza’s power numbers in the Big Apple haven’t been big. At least not as good as expected from someone considered the greatest offensive catcher in major league history.

“I’ve heard that stuff before when I’ve gone stretches when I haven’t hit a lot [of homers], but I just play and it always seems to work out,” Piazza said. “As far as driving in runs, you’re only as good as the people you have around you.

“It’s just a fact that we’ve been juggling our lineup a little, and our consistency maybe isn’t what it could be. Even Mark McGwire doesn’t drive himself in every [at-bat], although I guess he comes pretty close.”

McGwire, Piazza and Ken Griffey Jr. are among many players fans are expecting to put on a show today. Piazza hit a 496-foot homer at Coors Field on Sept. 26 last season--the longest in the stadium’s four-year history.

“I don’t mind playing here,” said Piazza, smiling. “Just the whole All-Star Game experience is great. It’s a time when you can just focus on giving the fans something to feel good about, and having a good time.”

Of course, the break won’t last forever. When play resumes Thursday, Piazza’s contract situation will again become an issue.

Piazza is making $8 million in the final year of a two-year, $15-million deal. The Mets haven’t offered Piazza an extension, which has fueled speculation that the 1993 NL rookie of the year might rejoin the Dodgers in the off-season.

Interim General Manager Tom Lasorda is among the closest friends of Piazza’s father, Vince, and it’s no secret how Lasorda feels about Mike.

“There’s obviously been a lot of talk about that, but it wouldn’t be fair to the Mets for me to even comment on the speculation,” Piazza said. “I hope to be with the Mets this season and beyond.

“But I will say I’m not closing any doors on the future, and I’m not ruling anything out. You can’t do that in this game.”

Lasorda is holding the door open. “I love Mike Piazza, and there’s nothing I want more in this world than for him to be happy,” Lasorda said. “Mike is happy in New York, and I think he’s going to sign with the Mets.

“But how do I know what’s going to happen in the future. The only thing I know is that anything can happen.”

Piazza knows that as well.