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Piazza, Ken Griffey Jr. deliver emotional Hall speeches

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - It was the Hall of Fame induction ceremony that made the baseball draft look silly, but nobody in the sun-drenched crowd of an estimated 50,000 really cared Sunday. They just wanted to pay tribute to Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza for all they did after they were drafted.

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - It was the Hall of Fame induction ceremony that made the baseball draft look silly, but nobody in the sun-drenched crowd of an estimated 50,000 really cared Sunday. They just wanted to pay tribute to Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza for all they did after they were drafted.

Griffey, selected by the Seattle Mariners in 1987, became the first No. 1 overall pick in history to land in Cooperstown and if that seemed like an indictment of the draft process, it could not even begin to compare with Piazza's crazy story.

Griffey was the first pick in 1987 and he will soon be joined by Chipper Jones as a first overall selection when the former Atlanta Braves star becomes eligible for election in 2018. Piazza, on the other hand, will likely be waiting forever for the next 1,390th pick to join him.

The 12-time all-star catcher admitted to crying when he was not drafted out of Phoenixville High School in Chester County in 1986. He said his three brothers consoled him. Two years later, he was taken in the 62nd round by the Los Angeles Dodgers as a favor to manager Tommy Lasorda, a story that has often been told.

Neither the 62nd round of the draft nor the 1,390th pick still exists.

Piazza's autobiography is entitled Long Shot, and when you consider the path he took to stand alongside baseball's immortals Sunday it probably should have been "The Longest Shot."

Consider this: A total of 1,067 players have been drafted in the 62nd round or later and only 12 of them signed with the team that selected them and went on to become major-league players. Piazza, of course, went on to become something far more, which is probably why he was so emotional during his induction speech.

He lost it completely when he acknowledged his father, Vince, a longtime developer and auto dealer in the Philadelphia area.

"My father's faith in me, often greater than my own, is the single most important factor of me being inducted into this Hall of Fame," Piazza said.

He also became emotional when referencing a game-winning home run he hit in the New York Mets' first game after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York.

"Your families and those left behind are always in my prayers," Piazza said in tribute to those who lost their lives that day. "I pray we never forget their sacrifice and work to always defeat such evil."

Griffey, whose 630 home runs rank sixth on the all-time list, became the first player to go into the Hall of Fame as a member of the Seattle Mariners. He played the bulk of his career in Seattle and Cincinnati and was known as the Kid after coming to the big leagues at the age of 19.

He ended his speech by putting on a Mariners hat and turning it backward, a trademark of a great playing career that was derailed in its latter stages by injury.

bbrookover@phillynews.com

@brookob