Ten fun facts about Mike Piazza

Fact 1
He played in his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, San Diego Padres and the Oakland Athletics.

Fact 2
A 12-time All-Star, Piazza is often regarded as one of the best-hitting catchers of all time and holds the record for home runs hit by a catcher, with a career total of 427.

Fact 3
On Jan. 29, 2005, Piazza married Playboy Playmate Alicia Rickter at St. Jude's Catholic Church in Miami, Florida.

Fact 4
Piazza is of Italian and Slovakian ancestry.

Fact 5
Mets teammate Tom Glavine called Piazza a “first-ballot Hall of Famer, certainly the best hitting catcher of our era and arguably the best hitting catcher of all time.”

Fact 6
He is known to be a fan of heavy metal music, and is featured on the CD Stronger Than Death by Black Label Society.

Fact 7
He won the 1994 ESPY Award for Breakthrough Athlete.

Fact 8
He won the Ted Williams Award, presented by CNN/SI and Total Baseball in 1997.

Fact 9
Piazza was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame on September 29, 2013.

Fact 10
Piazza has appeared in the movie Two Weeks Notice and has acted in a number of TV shows and commercials.