May 15, 1998: The Los Angeles Dodgers trade Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile to the Florida Marlins, for Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson, Jim Eisenreich, and Manuel Barrios.
This trade seems to make no sense, especially since the Marlins, defending World Champions, have broken up the team and started all over, resulting in one of the biggest single-season crashes in both payroll and results in MLB history. If they wanted to cut payroll, why trade for Piazza? As it turned out, to use him as trade bait.
There was a reason the Dodgers made the deal: Piazza wanted more money than they were prepared to pay. The fans turned on him, and he personally blamed broadcaster Vin Scully for this. If there's one thing no Dodger player has ever done, it's win a popularity contest with Vin Scully.
Piazza played 5 games for the Marlins, then was traded again:
May 22, 1998: The Marlins trade Piazza to the New York Mets for outfielder Preston Wilson, and pitchers Ed Yarnall and Geoff Goetz.
Goetz never reached the majors. Yarnall hadn't yet, and would appear in 7 games, all for the New York Yankees in 1999 and 2000, impressing no one. Wilson, stepson of Mets legend Mookie Wilson, did all right for the Marlins, but his best years came after they traded him.
Piazza immediately became the team's most popular player, and eventually one of the most beloved players in Met history, the symbol of their 1998-2001 revival. He hit 427 home runs in his career, a record 396 of them as a catcher, and 220 of them for the Mets. He helped them reach the National League Championship Series in 1999 and win the Pennant in 2000, though they bowed out ignominiously in the next round each time.
When the Mets played the last game at Shea Stadium in 2008, and the 1st game at Citi Field the next year, both times, the ceremonial first ball was pitched by Tom Seaver, and caught by Mike Piazza.
When the Mets celebrated their 50th Anniversary in 2012, and fans voted for their all-time team, they chose Piazza as the catcher -- not Gary Carter, the one member of their 1986 World Series winners who had yet met the Hall of Fame.
The downsides? Piazza didn't help them win a World Series, and only the one Pennant. He was a born designated hitter: He could not field the position of catcher, and when they tried him at 1st base, he was even worse. And accusations of steroid use followed him, to the point where, in the infamous exchange with Roger Clemens in Game 2 of the 2000 World Series, it was Clemens who remained calm, and Piazza who acted as though he were in the middle of "roid rage."
The Mets named Piazza to their team Hall of Fame in 2013, and retired his Number 31 in 2016, the same year he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
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May 22, 1998 was a Friday. Football was out of season. The Stanley Cup Playoffs were between games. One game was played in the NBA Playoffs: The Utah Jazz beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 109-98 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Shaquille O'Neal scored 39 points, but no other Laker had more than 16. Karl Malone led the Jazz with 26.
And these Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Mets, not yet having Mike Piazza in uniform, beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-2 at Shea Stadium. Rick Reed was the winning pitcher.
* The New York Yankees lost to their arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox, 5-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Ramiro Mendoza had a fair start for the Yankees, but Mike Stanton allowed 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th. Tim Wakefield was the winning pitcher. Troy O'Leary hit a home run for the Sox, while Bernie Williams hit one for the Yanks. Derek Jeter went 0-for-3 with a walk.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Montreal Expos, 7-5 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Mark Lewis and Doug Glanville drove in runs in the top of the 10th inning.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 8-2 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. Sammy Sosa hit his 9th home run of the season. No one yet had any idea of how many homers he would hit that season.
* The Florida Marlins, now without Piazza, beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-1 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 9-7 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland.
* The Colorado Rockies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Riverfront Stadium (then named Cinergy Field) in Cincinnati.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 9-5 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Mark McGwire hit his 21st home run of the season -- and it wasn't even Memorial Day Weekend yet. Barry Bonds went 1-for-4 with a walk, but did not hit a home run. Ray Lankford also hit a home run. Ron Gant singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals, 13-10 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 9-6 at the Astrodome in Houston. The Padres got home runs from Tony Gwynn, Greg Myers, and 2 by Greg Vaughn.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers, now without Piazza, beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-0 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix. Darren Dreifort pitched a 6-hit shutout.
* The Anaheim Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 10-3 at Edison International Field (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-5 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum). Rickey Henderson went 1-for-2 with 3 walks and a stolen base. Cal Ripken Jr. went 3-for-5.
* And the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-2 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-3 with a walk. The night before, he had hit his 17th home run of the season.
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