New York Mets to retire Mike Piazza’s No. 31

CBS Sports

As part of a weekend long celebration in Queens, the New York Mets will retire Class of 2016 Hall of Fame inductee Mike Piazza’s No. 31 on July 30. The ceremony will take place prior to the 7:00 game against the Colorado Rockies.

The ceremony will be the middle piece of a three game honor for the catcher as on July 29, all fans in attendance will receive a replica Piazza jersey and on July 31, the first 15,00 fans will receive a Piazza bubblehead.

The ceremony will be part of a week of celebration as it follows Hall of Fame Weekend in Cooperstown.

Piazza becomes the fourth man to have his jersey number retired for the Mets, but only the second player after Tom Seaver (41). Managers Casey Stengel (37) and Gil Hodges (14) have also had their numbers retired and, of course, Jackie Robinson’s 42 is retired throughout baseball.

“It is such a tremendous honor to have my number retired alongside the great Tom Seaver. My time as a Met was truly special and I want to thank Fred, Saul, Jeff and the entire organization for this incredible gesture,” Piazza said in a statement.

No one has worn No. 31 since Piazza left the club following the 2005 season.

With the Mets, Piazza hit .296/.373/.542 (136 OPS+) with 193 doubles, 220 homers and 655 RBI. He led them to the NLCS twice and World Series once.