Mike Piazza’s autobiography “Long Shot” is unusual for baseball autobiographies in that Piazza and his author Lonnie Wheeler truly cover EVERYTHING in a player’s career- it’s a whopping 350+ pages that covers his family, childhood, road to the big leagues, all 16 seasons, all controversial newspaper articles and reports, contract negotiations, player and official relationships, and what he’s doing now. It’s also an emotional journey of one man’s passion to prove everyone wrong.
Mike Piazza is an Enneagram Personality Type 9. You can read about the Enneagram here. I have to admit, although I enjoyed every page and it was entertaining and I was amazed at his detail and archival research, I was extremely frustrated with going on his ride with his Average Type Nine struggles. It wasn’t only him saying “whatever” and “dude” or shrugging his shoulders at criticism even though he’s hurt on this inside. When I read an autobiography, I pretend I am the person, so it was mind-numbing to experience so much bitterness, persecution, victimization, contradictions, being dominated by father and agent, and worst of all- not knowing why people reacted negatively to him. Long Shot
Only in the epilogue did Piazza give me a little faith that he has some self-awareness of how he acted like a “jerk sometimes”, and he hinted that for a time he was living his life to please his dad, but unfortunately I was left with the impression that he still carries a grudge against anyone who ever criticized him [even Tommy Lasorda!], and he rationalized conspiracy theories about how sports writers don’t like him (he used his lack of MVP votes as the main body of evidence), Vin Scully was with ownership to push his out of Los Angeles or at least force him to settle for less money, and that Latino pitchers targeted him. He believes those three things. Barring Scully sitting down face to face one of these days before he dies and explaining the situation to Mike and asking for peace, I doubt Piazza will EVER change his mind about the sportswriters or Latino pitchers, especially with getting snubbed to the Hall of Fame on the 1st ballot.
Speaking of the Hall of Fame, Piazza exalts his accomplishments and achievements to no end. In fact, he pretty much prepared his case for not only the Hall of Fame but also as being the greatest hitting catcher who ever lived. It reads like a court case. Of course, using the language of an Enneagram Type Nine, Piazza had to preface his case by saying (paraphrased): “Look, I admit Johnny Bench is the best catcher of all time, but…” And then Mike would go into great detail about how Piazza hit in a pitcher’s ballpark his entire career and still had better numbers than Bench or Berra or Pudge or Carter or Fisk. Piazza even uses a stat head from Hardball Times who used to work for the Dodgers to submit a proof that Piazza saved more runs than Bench, ergo Piazza is the most underrated defensive catcher in history. In short, although Piazza couldn’t run or play any other position, he was the greatest hitting catcher of all time, and wasn’t that bad defensively. I think he justified all the stolen bases he allowed by saying it was only 8% more runners or a number like that (sorry, I returned the book to the library and don’t have it in front of me anymore.)
Piazza’s book also reads like a defense attorney put together a case that Piazza is indeed a straight man with no gay background and no bisexual activities. Well, I finally believe it now. So no more Piazza gay jokes, because it really pisses him off and there’s no evidence. The Sam Champion rumors are frivolous.
I had thought Piazza had forgiven Roger Clemens for attempted homicide; a few years ago on the now defunct Beliefnet, I had read an article in which Mike came off as a Born Again Christian [he's not; he's a raised diehard Catholic] and talked about turning the other cheek and how he has no ill-will towards The Rocket. I guess he was feeling spiritual that day, because he does still hold a grudge, although he won’t come out and say it.
But if there’s one thing that Piazza dislikes more than being called gay or dealing with Roger Clemens or Pedro Martinez headhunting him, it’s the way the Los Angeles Dodgers treated him from Day One until The End. He says his association with Tommy Lasorda actually worked against him. It seems to be the entire theme of the book: that due to the perception of favoritism, Piazza was seen as someone who never belonged in the big leagues even though his hitting talent was off the charts. Many scouts disrespected him, and some of his rookie league managers, coaches, and his teammates didn’t take him seriously. So Mikey developed a chip on his shoulder from the get go.
Piazza justified why he asked for so much money, why he came off like a stereotypical conceded jock, and why he was never a team leader. He wanted to do all of his talking with his bat. Those arguments may work with the stat heads (“Here you want me to lead? He’s 41 HRs and a .360 batting average!”) but his attitude and speech didn’t fly with some fans, reporters, teammates, or managers. And Piazza still doesn’t get why. [READ] Long Shot
Piazza muses or hints throughout the book that perhaps people didn’t like him because he came from a rich family, that Lasorda pulled strings to get him drafted, was paid a lot of money, didn’t argue with getting a day off, did a Paul O’Neil impersonation in the dugout when making an out, didn’t fight Roger Clemens, was very successful- which breeds jealousy, was a Union guy, loved his agent, had his own definition of loyalty, or wasn’t an official spokesperson for his teams even though he was the anchor. But he never quite comes to terms with taking responsibility with drawing negative responses.
Piazza’s goal of the book is to set the record straight, but he also says the motive behind it is to inspire the reader that a kid from a small town can work his way up and triumph over adversity. The adversity- I guess- is not being appreciated by scouts, ownership, or reporters. But don’t EVER say he feels “underappreciated”. He specifically addressed that word and definitely is against that adjective to describe his self-image and feelings.
What I believe the strong reason behind the book is to make the case to the “evil” sportswriters for his Hall of Fame candidacy. So he devotes much time to discussing and downplaying his use of performance enhancing…nutrients and workout routine. He used a bunch of over the counter supplements and andro, like many gym enthusiasts. He never failed a test. He doesn’t regret taking any PED because he also views cortisone shots, greenies, and probably coffee as PEDs. The future may one day be on his side (indeed the athletes I know here in Florida have similar workout regiments and have no moral issues about it- only Bob Costas and friends do) but Bud Selig’s rules are presently strict.
Although I wasn’t inspired by Piazza’s words, he did present enough evidence on every issue of his career to sway opinion for next year’s Hall of Fame ballot, and his election may open the door for others who used andro and GNC supplements.
In the end, based on his pleading his case, I was convinced that: 1) Mike Piazza is not gay; 2) Mike Piazza is a Hall of Famer; 3) Mike Piazza is one of the Top 5 catchers of all time; 4) Mike Piazza was given a favor to get drafted, but he earned everything else and it wasn’t a typical case of nepotism or cronyism where the worker didn’t deserve a chance; 5) Mike Piazza was screwed by the Dodgers which resulted in his trade to the Marlins; 6) Mike Piazza shouldn’t be faulted for not being a “ra ra” team leader (a la Jorge Posada) or even a politically correct public speaker (a la Derek Jeter).
So what can I blame him for? 1) Piazza is a follower who had won’t act without blessing from authority figures throughout his life. From his dad to Tommy Lasorda to his agent to his wife; he needed them for emotional support, motivation, and professional advice. It’s not something that I am personally attracted to. 2) Piazza has thin skin, but says he doesn’t. 3) Piazza doesn’t speak much to his former colleagues, and that says more about him than them. 4) Piazza was a high maintenance snobby player who was motivated by being treated like an exception to the other guys and required direct macho confrontation to be humble even though he gave the impression he was standoffish. He would deny this. 5) Piazza seems confused about everything and why things happened to him. He considers himself an innocent nice guy. WHY ME????? That frustrates me. 6) Piazza just isn’t a masculine. I know that’s a tough accusation and probably not fair, since anyone could choose to act masculine or feminine. But when it comes to being a powerful athlete, it was disappointing to me how he suppressed his aggression and secretly sensitive he is.
Anyway, it’s a great book, great psychological case study, lots of info about team he played for, and a great skewed point of view bout how an egotistical player interacts with General Managers, coaches and players. No offense to Mike, I’m sure we can talk for hours about pro wrestling and travel to Italy.
