Piazza, Yoga, Media Dinosaur Update



Mike Piazza is a favorite subject at CSTB for some pretty simple reasons --- it's really easy to poke fun at his hairstyle, avowals of heterosexuality, crap taste in heavy metal, etc.

But all of that aside, I've got nothing but admiration for the guy, both as a ballplayer and as an individual who handles the spotlight with unusual grace, humility and humor.

Mike's recent foray into the world of Yoga with trainer/masseur Andy Bourell makes him a sitting duck, one I've been all too willing to aim at. But in all seriousness, the player deserves credit for thinking creatively about ways to extend his career. Given that the Mets have $30 million invested in Piazza over the next two seasons, for the player to spend his own loot on improving his flexibility (or whatever you might call it) shouldn't be so quickly ridiculed. If the goal of the 1B experiment is to keep Piazza's bat in the lineup more often, the yoga instruction is no more or less crazy.

Still, Mike can't win for losing. Bill Madden of the Daily News had a particularly hysterical column last Friday in which he portrayed Piazza as a brooding loner, one whose unorthodox training regiment served to distance himself from his teammates.

Looking around the Met clubhouse, where newcomers Mike Cameron and Kaz Matsui are now beginning to dominate with their effervescence and interaction, Piazza is even more conspicuous by his aloofness. He always has been an entity unto himself, sharing as little with his teammates as he does with the media.

His home run totals have declined in each of the last four years, and now he seeks to reverse this downward spiral through an unconventional diet of raw natural foods and the other bizarre nutrients prescribed by the man he calls "my yogi."

It's Piazza's right to be strange, just as it's his right to want to be left alone.




Friday on WFAN, Ed Coleman was interrogated by Mike Francesca and Chris Russo about Piazza's reliance on a kooky guru. Said (or rather, screamed) Russo, "Ted Williams didn't need a yoga instructor."

Quite true, but Ted Williams wasn't a catcher for 14 years, either. Through all of the outcry about Piazza's unwillingness to try playing at 1B, we've been reminded over and over again about the physical toll catching puts on the player. And reminded over and over again that no less a backstop than Johnny Bench had to change positions to prolong his career.

In short, Piazza deserves patience in his attempts to learn 1B --- maybe even as much slack as Todd Hundley got when he was thrown into left field. And all the power to Mike in his attempts to try something new (by baseball standards) and legal in his efforts to earn the king's ransom he's being paid.

Posted: Sun - March 7, 2004 at 08:09 AM      

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