Baseball Guru
05-17-2003, 03:40 PM
May 17, 2003
SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) - Mike Piazza's pursuit of Carlton Fisk's home run record for catchers has been put on hold - perhaps for the remainder of the season.
Eight homers shy of matching Fisk for the most homers all time among backstops, Piazza was placed on the 15-day disabled list after suffering a right groin tear in the New York Mets' 7-5 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Friday night.
Piazza suffered the injury in the top of the first inning while trying to avoid getting hit by an inside pitch from Giants starter Jason Schmidt. Piazza was in obvious pain and was helped to the dugout and carried into the locker roon by teammates.
"We'll have to put Piazza on the disabled list," Mets manager Art Howe said. "It was bad. It's a definite tear in the groin, but we don't know how severe. He will have an MRI (Saturday)."
Howe also indicated Piazza could be sidelined for an extended period.
"He was in an awful lot of pain," Howe said. "He said he felt something pop. He couldn't put any weight on it at all. It will likely take a while for him to get back."
The injury will halt Piazza's march toward Fisk. He has 343 career homers as a catcher and had hoped to catch and pass Fisk this season. In an attempt to ease the toll catching has taken on the 34-year-old Piazza, the Mets have asked him to begin practicing at first base, a move he has made reluctantly.
After a slow start, Piazza had begun to turn things around. In his last seven games, the slugger was hitting .500 (12-for-24) with four homers and nine RBI.
"He's been swinging great, so it's another physical setback for our ballclub," Howe said. "I thought it couldn't get any worse, but I guess it could."
Overall, Piazza is hitting .333 with seven homers and 15 RBI in 32 games this season.
Losing Piazza is another blow for the disappointing Mets (17-25), who have lost four straight games and are in last place in the National League East.
With Piazza sidelined, Vance Wilson will assume the starting role. Wilson is hitting .275 with four homers and 12 RBI in 20 games this season.
SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) - Mike Piazza's pursuit of Carlton Fisk's home run record for catchers has been put on hold - perhaps for the remainder of the season.
Eight homers shy of matching Fisk for the most homers all time among backstops, Piazza was placed on the 15-day disabled list after suffering a right groin tear in the New York Mets' 7-5 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Friday night.
Piazza suffered the injury in the top of the first inning while trying to avoid getting hit by an inside pitch from Giants starter Jason Schmidt. Piazza was in obvious pain and was helped to the dugout and carried into the locker roon by teammates.
"We'll have to put Piazza on the disabled list," Mets manager Art Howe said. "It was bad. It's a definite tear in the groin, but we don't know how severe. He will have an MRI (Saturday)."
Howe also indicated Piazza could be sidelined for an extended period.
"He was in an awful lot of pain," Howe said. "He said he felt something pop. He couldn't put any weight on it at all. It will likely take a while for him to get back."
The injury will halt Piazza's march toward Fisk. He has 343 career homers as a catcher and had hoped to catch and pass Fisk this season. In an attempt to ease the toll catching has taken on the 34-year-old Piazza, the Mets have asked him to begin practicing at first base, a move he has made reluctantly.
After a slow start, Piazza had begun to turn things around. In his last seven games, the slugger was hitting .500 (12-for-24) with four homers and nine RBI.
"He's been swinging great, so it's another physical setback for our ballclub," Howe said. "I thought it couldn't get any worse, but I guess it could."
Overall, Piazza is hitting .333 with seven homers and 15 RBI in 32 games this season.
Losing Piazza is another blow for the disappointing Mets (17-25), who have lost four straight games and are in last place in the National League East.
With Piazza sidelined, Vance Wilson will assume the starting role. Wilson is hitting .275 with four homers and 12 RBI in 20 games this season.