Written by Nick Cafardo at Boston Globe.com
Two of the most emotional Hall of Fame acceptance speeches given in recent years at the Clark Center couldn’t have come from two more opposite baseball players in terms of journeys.
Mike Piazza was the 62nd-round draft pick of the Dodgers in 1988, who basically got a look because his father, Vince, was a friend of Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda. He was a long shot. Ken Griffey Jr. was the top pick in the 1987 draft, the can’t-miss superstar.
As Griffey pointed out later, “I had to prove I was worthy of that selection every day of my career, while Mike had to prove people wrong about being a 62d-round pick.”
Piazza, who grew up in the Philadelphia area idolizing Mike Schmidt, gave an eloquent and emotional speech and mentioned several people linked to the Red Sox at one time. He mentioned a meeting with Ted Williams, when he was 15, and the scene was shown on the videoboard, Williams checking out a young Piazza working in the batting cage and saying to Piazza’s father, “I couldn’t hit like that when I was 15.”
Piazza, who is the owner of the A.C. Reggiana 1919 Italian soccer team, spoke glowingly of his first hitting coach with the Dodgers, Reggie Smith, the former Red Sox Impossible Dream outfielder. He also mentioned former Red Sox manager Kevin Kennedy as his first catching instructor. He also talked about former Red Sox pitching coach Dave Wallace, who worked for the Dodgers’ front office at the time, helping to convince him to return to the organization when things weren’t working out so well.
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