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Say it ain’t so -- Mike Piazza wants to go into the Hall not as a Dodger but a Met

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Mike Piazza wants to go into the Hall of Fame as a Met.

Really?

Tommy Lasorda’s godson wants to have a Mets’ cap on his bust? He wants to spurn the team that took a flier on him as a 62nd-round draft pick and groomed into the most fear-hitting catcher of his era?

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Apparently the fallout from News Corp.’s ridiculous May trade of Piazza to the Marlins continues.

Piazza was one of the most popular Dodgers of the last 20 years. His idiotic trade -- it was actually engineered by News Corp. executives Peter Chernin and Chase Carey, and not general manager Fred Claire -- would cause organizational struggles for the next five years.

Now certainly Piazza had some great years with the Mets. He actually was a Met one season longer. And it should be noted that he’s an East Coast guy, born and raised in Pennsylvania.

But Piazza had most of his finest years with the Dodgers. He was the National League Rookie of the Year as a Dodger. For six consecutive years, he was an All-Star and won the Silver Slugger with the Dodgers. Twice he finished second for the N.L. MVP with the Dodgers.

Is it so provincial to think of him first as Dodger? I don’t think so. Certainly, most of his still-loyal fans in L.A. wouldn’t think so.

Yet in the end, what matters is not so much what Piazza wants or L.A. fans think. The final decision will be made by the Hall itself. He becomes eligible in 2013.

Like many a star, Piazza was discovered in Los Angeles. It’s where he burst upon the baseball scene. And the way he should ultimately be remembered.

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-- Steve Dilbeck

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