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Piazza did himself no favors on that score in his new book, "Long Shot." In the book, he blames iconic Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully for turning fans against him during the contract stalemate that preceded his trade to the Florida Marlins in 1998.

With the Major League Draft just days away (June 4-6), I thought it would be fun to look back at some of the draft booms, busts, and never-were’s.

After starting his career as the 1,390th player chosen in baseball's 1988 amateur draft, Mike Piazza has gone on to defy expectations and become one of the top major-league catchers of all time. Piazza won the 1993 Rookie of the Year Award, has been chosen for a dozen All-Star games, and holds the record for most home runs by a catcher. Piazza is also a devoted Catholic and appears in the documentary "Champions of Faith," which profiles Christian baseball players. Currently playing for the Oakland A's, Piazza spoke about forgiving his opponents, praying (or not) for home runs and passing...

<p>March 22, 2003 -- PORT ST. LUCIE - Mike Piazza won't sensationalize it, but he says "I was close" to enlisting in the military before deciding on a baseball career.</p> <p>Piazza took the U.S. Armed Forces officer's test as a senior at Phoenixville (Penn.) High School circa 1986, and was "highly recruited" by the military, the Met catcher said yesterday.</p>

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 20, 2002 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II received New York Mets baseball catcher Mike Piazza who, overwhelmed, fell to his knees. The American ballplayer, whose family is of Sicilian origin, drew a broad smile from the Pope today when he gave him a baseball shirt at the end of the general audience. Piazza is currently traveling in Europe to promote baseball.

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 20, 2002 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II received New York Mets baseball catcher Mike Piazza who, overwhelmed, fell to his knees. The American ballplayer, whose family is of Sicilian origin, drew a broad smile from the Pope today when he gave him a baseball shirt at the end of the general audience. Piazza is currently traveling in Europe to promote baseball.

Mike Piazza, The Pastor: I'm Gay DALLAS (Wireless Flash) -- New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza vehemently denies rumors he's gay, but a reverend also named Mike Piazza is outing himself. This Mike Piazza is a 46-year-old pastor in Dallas, who has been with the gay and lesbian church Cathedral of Hope for 15 years. Piazza says he doesn't know if his notoriety started the rumors for the baseball player but he feels compelled to set his own sexuality straight because baseball player Piazza's statements have people assuming Pastor Piazza is straight too. Most recently, the pastor says while...

Is Mike Piazza, or any other baseball player for that matter, gay? I DON'T CARE! I am so tired of hearing about homosexuality, who is and who isn't. Do I agree with it? No, I believe it is wrong. Do I hate the people who are? No, I have a difference of opinion with them. I am not egotistical enough to judge others based on what they do in the bedroom. Everyone of us will one day meet God and we will be judged for all of the things that we took part in in this life. Let him decide....

Mets backstop Mike Piazza, who's walking down the aisle with one-time Playmate Alicia Rickter next weekend, is the latest in a long line of athletes to fall hard for a beauty who has posed in the buff before millions of, ahem, readers.

I do not think Barack Ombams is gay. He was raised a Muslim and had an African Muslim father and step-father. He was raised a muslim until the age of 10 when his mother's family put him into a private Hawaian school where he was ministered to by the United Church of Christ. He went to colege at Yale and was able to kick a coke habbit. He has two young children. Not much is said about his life before he was 40.

Since Watergate, establishment American journalists have taken as their first commandment, Marx’ eleventh and last thesis on Feuerbach: “Philosophers have only interpreted the world in different ways, but the point is to change it.”Marx was calling for revolutionary action. Today’s pampered, pc journalists engage instead in radical misrepresentation, act as mouthpieces for their revolutionary allies, and silence their opponents. And so it is, with radical homosexuals’ attempt to destroy, or as they would say, “transform,” civilization through its most fundamental institution, marriage. And the mainstream media have signed on to the program.On Thursday, February 26, WNBC-TV’s 11 p.m. news devoted...

In their quest to "queer" America, radical homosexual activists in the media destroy lives, as they manipulate the principle of privacy, and make war on traditional masculinity, sports, and even the truth. In late April, Sen. Rick Santorum (R, Pa.) got a taste of what awaits anyone who opposes the gay agenda. After explaining to Associated Press reporter Lara Jakes Jordan (who is married to Sen. John Kerry’s (D, Ma.) campaign manager, Jim Jordan) his opposition to any pro-gay laws or court rulings that might weaken the family, gay activists demanded that Santorum resign. But the Santorum case was only...