Piazza leaves strong impression on d’Arnaud

NEW YORK — It would have been nearly impossible to grow up a baseball fan in Southern California in the early 1990s and not revere Mike Piazza. He was an instant celebrity, shining even brighter than the other National League Rookie of the Year Award winners the Dodgers were pumping out on a yearly basis at that time. Piazza was both a pure hitter and a slugger, playing a position in which hitting for power was a foreign concept. And he was, most famously, a 62nd-round Draft pick.

“He was the ultimate underdog story,” said Travis d’Arnaud — not merely one of those Southern California kids, but a successor to Piazza behind the plate for the Mets. “To come up and just make an immediate impact with the team that my dad had us grew up watching was huge. I pretty much just tried to do everything like him, and imitate him in every way possible.”

Over the years, d’Arnaud’s relationship with Piazza has developed from fandom to friendship, with Piazza annually giving him tutorials during Spring Training. For d’Arnaud, a better mentor would be hard to find; Piazza is set to enter the Hall of Fame this weekend, with coverage beginning on MLB Network and MLB.com at 11 a.m. ET Sunday. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony for both Piazza and Ken Griffey Jr. starts live at 1:30.

2016 Hall of Fame Inductions Watch live coverage of Sunday’s Hall of Fame inductions on MLB Network and MLB.com starting at 11 a.m. ET.

• Complete Hall of Fame …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com