BLUE PLATE SPECIAL : Piazza’s Formidable Work Ethic Leads to Even More Formidable Performance

VERO BEACH, Fla. —  Mike Piazza awakes in the middle of the night, perspiration dripping from his body, fighting off images that have assaulted his senses.

He breathes deeply and fast, opening and closing his hands, reminding himself it was only a dream, the one that frequently haunts him but always inspires him.

“It’s indescribable,” Piazza says. “It’s like an addiction, this intensity to reach a higher level. My mind won’t allow me to rest.

“It would be so easy to say, ‘Hey, I had three pretty good years. I should relax a little, think about all I’ve accomplished.’ But I can’t do it. . . . I just can’t do it.

“It’s a fear of failure, a fear of everything, really. I know that one day this will all be gone. When it’s over, I want to say, ‘Hey, I made a pretty good run. I gave it all I had.’

“But until that day, I’ll never, ever, be satisfied.”

It’s that resolve that has made Piazza the best all-around catcher in baseball and one of the best players overall. He has hit more home runs, 91, in his first three seasons--two of which were strike-shortened--than any catcher in baseball history. Piazza’s power numbers his first three seasons, and .557 slugging percentage, also are the highest of any player in Dodger history.

“To me a pitcher never gets me out,” Piazza said. “I get myself out. That’s no disrespect to the pitcher, but there should be no excuse for failure. You can’t have an excuse to fail.

“My approach is to go out there and hit that baseball as hard and far as I possibly can. I can’t put it any more simple. When I see that ball, I want to crush it. It’s a way to get your aggressions out.

“That’s why I’m such a big hockey fan. It’s like a complete contradiction from baseball. If you get in a bad mood, you can just hit somebody.

“I can’t go out and charge Greg Maddux, although there are times I wish I could. Wouldn’t that be neat?”

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It would have been so easy for Piazza never to have bothered with this sport. He could have sat back in Philadelphia and been the spoiled son of a millionaire. He didn’t need the money. He didn’t need baseball. And baseball certainly didn’t need him.

“The only thing Mike ever wanted to do in life was play baseball,” said his father, Vince Piazza. “We had money, but we never flaunted it. I never wanted to put him in a position where he felt he was better than anybody else. That’s why we always had him go to public schools, so he could relate to everyone else.”

Piazza says that he never needed any further inspiration than his father. Vince Piazza is a high school dropout who parlayed a used-car lot into a $150-million empire. The son of a welder, Vince Piazza now has 25 car dealerships and a real estate and computer service company.

“I definitely got my drive through my father,” Mike Piazza said. “He has shown me what I can accomplish through hard work. He’s a workaholic. He worries me sometimes because he works so hard. He’s at an age in life [63] where he should be relaxing and taking it easy, but he’s working harder than ever.

“I know if I didn’t have the determination of my father, I wouldn’t be here today.”

No one really wanted Piazza out of high school. He ended up at Miami-Dade North Community College. He was a courtesy pick in the 1988 draft, selected in the 62nd round. There were 1,389 players picked ahead of him. He was cast aside in the minor leagues and became so frustrated that one day he quit.

The game of baseball tried to drive him off, but he refused. He spent extra hours in the batting cage each afternoon. He spent his evenings in the gym. He spent his winters playing baseball in the Dominican Republic and Mexico.

“If I couldn’t make it, I wanted it to be because I wasn’t good enough, not because I didn’t try hard enough,” he said. “I was going to give it everything I had, and if that wasn’t good enough, so be it.

“But nobody really knows the bitterness, the adversity, I went through.”

Today, he is earning $2.7 million in the final year of his contract, and the Dodgers are at his mercy. He could become the highest-paid player in Dodger history, commanding a salary of more than $8 million a season.

Piazza, 27, would like a multiyear contract at the end of this season, assuring that he does not have to endure the trouble of arbitration each season. It’s not the money, Piazza says. He is financially set for life.

“Nobody expects him to be the way he is,” said Dan Lozano, Piazza’s best friend and agent. “They look at a young good-looking, single guy who lives on the beach, and they think he’s just a Hollywood playboy.

“They don’t know that Mike studies literature, can talk about politics, and can carry on a conversation with any CEO in this country. He may read that sports section first in the morning, but I guarantee you he’ll have the front section and the business sections read by lunch.”

No one expects a guy who appears on stage with heavy metal groups Anthrax and Motorhead, who has appeared on “Baywatch,” and in cameo movie scenes, to be a staunch Republican.

He’s angry at the way the country is being run, wants to see President Clinton out of office, believes the welfare program needs an overhaul and quietly seethes when someone, such as Denver Nugget guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, would dare show disrespect toward the American flag.

“I think everybody should stand out of respect to those who died defending the flag, which gives us the lifestyles that everyone takes for granted,” Piazza said. “If it’s so bad here, go ahead and leave the country.”

Piazza is so frustrated by incompetence in politics, he said, that he has toyed with the idea of running for office when his career ends.

“I have the old-fashioned work ethic,” said Piazza, a military history buff. “Let’s be honest, a lot of people in this country have been a little bit spoiled. The government should not be a source of means as of which to survive. I think that’s something I would stress if I go into politics.

“I’m almost in the 50% tax bracket, and that’s not a complaint, but if I’m paying taxes, I want to see it go to more constructive things than where it’s going now. . . .

“There are legitimate people in need, but come on, we’re supposed to be helping drug addicts. To give cash to drug addicts is like giving them needles. There’s no incentive for them to change, to get out of that.

“It depresses me to see this liberal attitude that has kind of taken the country over. I have no compassion for people who are not accountable for their actions. A guy can go around and kill people and we turn it around and make it the victim’s fault. It’s ridiculous to see what’s happening in this country.”

The same incompetence, Piazza said, has nearly ruined baseball. It’s amazing, he said, that baseball has survived without a commissioner. There have been two consecutive strike-shortened seasons, one season without a World Series, and at least six franchises threatening to move.

“The biggest shame is that [Bart] Giamatti died,” Piazza said. “He would have put the game in the right direction. It’s a mess right now. Baseball has its problems. That’s why I’m convinced the showdown didn’t start Aug. 12 [1994] on the day of the strike. It started when they fired [former commissioner] Fay Vincent.

“I’m not saying everything we did was right, either. I had differences with the union as I have with the owners, but I do think it was a premeditated showdown. Instead of focusing their energy on increasing revenue, I think their real motivation was to bring salaries down.

“Don’t get me wrong, I feel that owners have the right to make money, but we’re the ones who put people in the seats. I just think the public has a resentment toward players making the money we do.

“I hear people criticizing players, and I want to say, ‘Look, put down your potato chips and get off your couch and try it. If you can hit .300, hit 30 homers and drive in 100 runs a year, you should be in this sport.’ It’s supply and demand. If there were so many people in this world that could do that, the money wouldn’t be there.”

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The Dodgers, of course, grasp that concept. No catcher can hit like Piazza. Fred Claire, Dodger executive vice president, said he’ll wait until the season’s conclusion to begin negotiations, but it’s no secret that Piazza will become the highest-paid player in Dodger history.

This is a man who plays baseball’s most demanding position, and yet, is a career .322 hitter, averaging 31 homers and 101 RBIs. Piazza hit 32 homers and drove in 93 runs last season in only 112 games, which projects to 46 homers and 135 RBIs over a full season.

Piazza’s offensive prowess inevitably brings up the debate whether he should be eventually moved to first base to lengthen his career. Piazza knows that one violent collision at home plate could end his season, possibly his career.

Yet he wants to stay put and is determined to quiet critics on his pitching staff who occasionally complain about his defensive skills.

“I’ve accepted the fact that the position I play is difficult,” he said. “It’s dangerous. It’s almost like being a race car driver, it’s possible your career could end at any moment.

“But I take a lot of pride in my defense. I think it’s cowardly for any pitcher to complain behind my back. Hey, if somebody wants to blame their failure on me, or criticize me, go ahead.

“I went through that stuff with Orel [Hershiser] and Kevin Gross. I’m not vindictive. I don’t hold grudges.

“I’m dealing with 11 different personalities out there, and guys who speak a few different foreign languages too. But I don’t have an ego. If it makes someone feel better to blame me for the pitch they throw, go ahead. I can take it.

“I can also show you just what I mean to this club.”

Manager Tom Lasorda says he can not fathom what life would be like without Piazza in his lineup, and perhaps most soothing to Dodger fans, Piazza can not envision playing in another uniform.

“I really want to stay in L.A.,” said Piazza, who could be eligible for free agency in two years, depending on the new labor agreement. “When we knocked off the Giants that final game in ’93 [led by Piazza’s two homers and four RBIs], from that point on, I knew this is where I wanted to play.

“I’m not saying there’s this great passion for baseball in L.A., but they respect you. I think they appreciate my work ethic and passion toward the game. I know I’m not from here, but it’s like they’ve embraced me as their adopted son.

“I’d love to reward them with the ultimate, and that’s to bring a world championship to L.A.

“I’m a guy who knows the work it takes to get there.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

A Fast Start Comparing Mike Piazza’s statistics during his first three full seasons to those of other players in three categories: catchers, leading home run hitters, and leading contemporaries: ALL-TIME CATCHERS

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Player R H HR RBI AVG Piazza 227 453 91 297 .327 Johnny Bench 247 488 86 320 .287 Carlton Fisk 175 315 59 158 .273 Yogi Berra 170 340 45 243 .289 Gary Carter 175 352 54 190 .263 Lance Parrish 181 357 57 188 .268

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LEADING HOME RUN HITTERS

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Player R H HR RBI AVG Piazza 227 453 91 297 .327 Hank Aaron 269 520 66 267 .310 Babe Ruth 438 515 142 422 .360 Willie Mays 301 507 112 305 .315 Frank Robinson 309 512 98 241 .295 Harmon Killebrew 276 410 119 307 .268 Reggie Jackson 262 390 99 258 .255 Mike Schmidt 244 372 92 263 .248 Mickey Mantle 260 398 57 244 .295 Jimmie Foxx 335 502 83 353 .339 Willie McCovey 137 218 51 155 .267 Ted Williams 400 563 91 378 .356

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LEADING CONTEMPORARIES

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Player R H HR RBI AVG Piazza 227 453 91 297 .327 Jose Canseco 286 493 106 354 .268 Mark McGwire 258 417 114 312 .261 Albert Belle 234 454 100 336 .277 Frank Thomas 318 537 97 352 .319 Juan Gonzalez 260 462 116 329 .277 Barry Bonds 268 388 65 165 .258

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