Throwback Thursday: Hall of Fame Edition

To honor the newest selections for the Baseball Hall of Fame, here's a look at the ballparks where they excelled. For Ken Griffey Junior, that means the Kingdome (above) and Riverfront Stadium, his home parks as a Mariner and Red. Arriving in Seattle in 1989 at age 19, he showed flashes of the greatness that would mark his career. Looking back through the lens of history: we know how special he became, yet he finished 3rd in the voting for AL Rookie of the Year. And it wasn't as if a fellow Cooperstown inductee edged him the honor. It went to the Orioles reliever Gregg Olson. Oh well...
"The Kid" went on to total 630 homers, winning 4 home run titles and being named to 13 All Star teams while playing in parts of four decades. What image of Junior pops up in your mind? Maybe it's the one from the 1st inning against the Angels on September 14th, 1990... when, just weeks after the M's signed his dad, Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. -- already having made history as the only father/ son combination to be teammates -- homered back-to-back!
Mike Piazza's major league journey began at Dodger Stadium (seen below in 1991, a year before he reached the majors). He posted his greatest regular season numbers here. From 1993 - '97, he put together the greatest five-year offensive stretch by any catcher ever: batting over .300, with at least 25 home runs, 90 RBIs and an on-base percentage of at .370. And the two seasons where he didn't reach 100 RBIs were shortened by a strike and subsequent lockout.
Following a five-day interlude as a Marlin, Piazza came to Shea Stadium in 1998. He quickly became the "final piece in the puzzle." He led a resurgent team to with a game of a post-season spot. A year later, he helped lead the Mets to the National League Wild Card and the 2000 NL pennant, where they fell to the Yankees in the most recent Subway Series. Is he also the greatest overachiever from the now 50 years of the baseball amateur draft? A 62nd round draft choice by the Dodgers -- partly due to his family's friendship with Tommy Lasorda's -- he became the greatest hitting catcher in baseball history and has now received the game's greatest lifetime honor.

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