Meeting Mike Piazza and My Collection Of My Childhood Hero.

I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Mike Piazza at a book signing last night in Pasadena. Piazza was appearing and putting pen to paper on copies of his just-released autobiography, Long Shot. I purchased one copy and headed out to meet my childhood hero.

I met up with Arno from I'm Ballsy and also met Martin from True To The Blue for the first time. Only copies of the book were in play for Piazza's John Hancock and no pictures were allowed in order to keep the line moving. Well, they said no pictures but Mike was posing for quick photos. An employee took my camera and snapped a photo which was blurry as could be.

Oh well, I'll meet Piazza again some day in the future and get a nice photo with him. Though I would have loved to get a good photo and shake the man's hand, I was just happy he was on the West Coast and signing to begin with. I thanked him for signing and told him I appreciated his time, and Mike said "take it easy man." Or something along those lines.

While the event marked the first time I've met the former Dodger backstop and one of the greatest players to ever wear Dodger Blue, it is not the first Piazza auto in my collection. I've never posted what I have before so I figured what better time than the present and post-book signing.

Above is a sweeeeet bat signed by the 62nd-round pick in the 1988 MLB Draft. My pops picked it up for me when I was a young lad and it's been one of my prized possessions ever since. It does come with a COA which is cool.

My youth was also blessed by the presence of this fantastic sweet-spotted Piazza ball which was also acquired by my father. I may have the COA lying around somewhere, or it might not have even come with one, it's been so long. I choose to believe all Piazza memorabilia I have that was acquired by others to be legit.

Mike's John Hancock finds a home in my PC of the future Hall of Famer in the form of an 8x10 mounted on a pretty rad plaque. Regardless of what people say about Piazza or what he believes Vin Scully to have done, he'll always be my childhood hero as well as the favorite player of my youth and one of my all-time faves.

Finally, another bat, this one a team bat from the '97 squad that was yet another gift from my dad. I need to take pictures of the whole darn thing and get it posted.

A big thanks to Mike Piazza for signing a copy of his book for me - I need to find a second copy so I can actually read it - as well as to Vroman's bookstore in Pasadena for putting on the event and Vin Scully Is My Homeboy for the heads-up on said event.