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Mike Piazza's Hall of Fame plaque mentions his post-9/11 homer

liz roscher
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Mike Piazza speaks during an induction ceremony at Clark Sports Center on Sunday, July 24, 2016, in Cooperstown, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)
(AP Photo/Mike Groll)

There are a lot of outstanding moments from Mike Piazza’s Hall of Fame career that could have been mentioned on his Cooperstown plaque. They managed to cover quite a few of his incredible highlights, but a very special one made the cut.

The plaque reads:

A durable and prolific power-hitting catcher who belted 427 career home runs, including a record 396 at the position. Caught at least 100 games 11 times, leading N.L. in putouts on four occasions. The 1993 N.L Rookie of the Year and a 12-time All-Star, named Game MVP in 1996. Led Mets to the 2000 Subway Series, and helped rally a nation one year later with his dramatic home run in the first Mets game in New York following the 9/11 attacks.

Piazza’s post-9/11 homer, which he hit on September 21, 2001, was a defining moment of his career. He discussed it and how much it meant to him during Hall of Fame festivities over the weekend, and how much it meant to the fans. But now that moment has been forever immortalized on Piazza’s Hall of Fame plaque, and he paid it tribute during his emotional speech.

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Piazza was overcome by tears several times during his speech, but one of the most moving moments was when he spoke about 9/11. He specifically mentioned the sacrifice that many first responders made that day, and how much that continues to mean to him nearly 15 years later. Considering how much emotion and feeling Piazza has for his post-9/11 homer (and everything surrounding it), it’s more than appropriate that it’s the last highlight on his Hall of Fame plaque.

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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher