Phoenixville Little League’s Mike Piazza elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

Mike Piazza, the top offensive catcher in baseball history, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday.

Ken Griffey, Jr. joins Mr. Piazza in the Class of 2016, who will be enshrined in Cooperstown, N.Y. in a ceremony on July 24.

Mr. Piazza got his baseball start as a member of Phoenixville (Pa.) Little League, but went on to become a 12-time MLB all-star with 10 Silver Slugger awards and a .308 career average.

“What an amazing life that I’ve had in baseball,” Piazza told MLB.com. “The memories, to me, I almost can’t capture. It’s truly a blessing and I’m very, very grateful.”

Fellow Little League alumni Jeff Bagwell, Trevor Hoffman, Tim Raines, Gary Sheffield, and Curt Schilling were among the finalists not selected for induction.

Mr. Piazza joins 20 others who got their start in Little League to be honored among baseball’s all-time greats in the Hall of Fame:

Roberto Alomar (Class of 2011)
Wade Boggs (05)
George Brett (99)
Steve Carlton (94)
Gary Carter (03)
Bobby Cox (14)
Rollie Fingers (92)
Tom Glavin (14)
Randy Johnson (15)
Greg Maddux (14)
Jim Palmer (90)
Cal Ripken, Jr. (07)*
Nolan Ryan (99)*
Mike Schmidt (95)*
Tom Seaver (92)*
Don Sutton (98)
Frank Thomas, Jr. (14)
Joe Torre (14)
Carl Yastrzemski (89)
Robin Yount (99)

* Little League Hall of Excellence enshrine