Piazza Helps Complete the Comeback

By Jay Horwitz

No one has hit more dramatic home runs than Mike Piazza. There was the late-inning blast in the Astrodome, the historic shot vs. the Atlanta Braves after September 11, 2001 and the three-run rocket he hit 21 years ago today at Shea vs. Atlanta.

That homer capped a 10-run eighth inning when we scored nine runs with two outs for an improbable 11–8 victory. We rode the momentum from that night to 94 wins, the pennant and a hard-fought World Series against the Yankees which we lost in five games by a total of five runs.

“After we won that Braves game a lot of us felt this was going to be a special season,” Mike told me. “I knew you can’t win the pennant in June, but sometimes there is a game that stands apart from other games. That win gave us the confidence that we could overcome anything.”