Two of Mike Piazza's biggest milestones came during his season with the Padres
Eleven years ago, Mike Piazza agreed to a one-year deal with the Padres, with the hope of catching (nearly) a whole season. Seeing Piazza as a Padre is a little weird, like "The Office" without Steve Carrell or a certain CGI Grand Moff. But while his season with the Padres may have been a blip in his journey to the Hall of Fame (though not quite the same blip as his five games with the Marlins in 1998), it featured two of the biggest milestones of his career.
Piazza mashed 397 home runs with the Dodgers and Mets, already the most by a catcher in MLB history. He didn't slow down, though, homering on Opening Day and again against his former team a few weeks later. Then, on April 26, 2006, he launched a dinger into the upper deck at Petco Park and became the first catcher to join the 400 club:
Two months later, Piazza knocked a double against the Giants for his 2,000th career hit:
Piazza finished the season batting .283/.342/.501 with 22 homers, second on the team behind
