Michael Joseph Piazza was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, on September 4, 1968, to Vince and Veronica Piazza. He played 16 seasons, from 1992 to 2007 for the New York Mets, and Los Angeles Dodgers, while also having brief stints with the Florida Marlins, San Diego Padres, and Oakland Athletics. A 12-time All-Star and 10-time Silver Slugger Award winner at catcher, Mike produced strong offensive numbers at his position; in his career, he recorded 427 home runs—a record 396 of which were hit as catcher—along with a .308 batting average and 1,335 runs batted in (RBI).

He was drafted by the Dodgers in the 1988 MLB draft as a favor from Tommy Lasorda to Piazza's father. He made his major league debut in 1992 and the following year was named the National League (NL) Rookie of the Year and was an All-Star for the first of 10 consecutive seasons. He was also voted onto the 1993 Topps All-Star Rookie Team. His best year as a Dodger came in 1997 when he batted .362, hit 40 home runs, and had 124 RBI, leading to a runner-up finish in voting for the NL Most Valuable Player Award. In 1996, Mike was named the All-Star Game MVP.

In 1998, he was traded to the Marlins and then a week later to the Mets, with whom he spent most of the remainder of his career. He helped the Mets reach the 2000 World Series, the only World Series appearance of his career. Piazza's game-winning 8th-inning home run in the first professional baseball game played in New York following the 9/11 attacks has been called iconic, therapeutic, and symbolic. After the 2005 season, he left the Mets to play one season each for the Padres and Athletics before retiring after the 2007 season.

Piazza is regarded as one of the best offensive catchers in baseball history. He had at least one RBI in 15 straight games for the Mets in 2000, the second-longest RBI streak ever. In 2013, the Mets inducted Mike into the New York Mets Hall of Fame. In 2016, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as a Met.

Piazza owned the Italian soccer team A.C. Reggiana 1919, which played for two seasons (2017–2018) in Serie C under his leadership before its non-registration due to continued financial troubles. He is currently the manager of Italy's national baseball team.

(excerpted from Wikipedia, BR Bullpen & SABR)