Mike Piazza announces his retirement from baseball

Enlarge	By Kathy Willens, AP file
Mike Piazza waves to the Shea Stadium crowd after his final game as a New York Met on Oct. 5, 2005. He played nearly eight of his 16 major league seasons with the Mets and finished with 427 career home runs.

BEVERLY HILLS — Mike Piazza, 39, who hit more home runs than any other catcher in history, announced his retirement Tuesday after no team was willing to sign him and offer significant playing time.

"I knew this day was coming, and over the last two years, I started to make my peace with it," Piazza said in a statement. "It has been an amazing journey. … I walk away with no regrets."

Piazza was a 62nd-round draft pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988 who turned into a 12-time All-Star. He hit 396 of his 427 homers as a catcher during his 16-year career. He was willing to sign with a club that would provide playing time in at least half the games as a catcher or DH but received no offer, agent Dan Lozano said.

YOUR THOUGHTS: Do you have a favorite Piazza memory?

"After discussing my options with my wife, family and agent, I felt it was time to start a new chapter in my life," Piazza said in his statement. "It has been an amazing journey. … It has been a dream come true."

Tom Lasorda insisted the Dodgers draft the son of his hometown friend 20 years ago, and after hearing the news that Piazza was retiring, he had one last request.

"I would hope he would go into the Hall of Fame as a Dodger," says Lasorda, inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997 after 20 years as manager of the Dodgers. "We're the one who gave him an opportunity. Here we are, from the same town (Norristown, Pa.), watching him grow up, and now we'll be into the Hall of Fame together.

"It's one of the greatest stories in baseball."

Piazza now may be eligible for the Hall of Fame in the same class as sluggers Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa and pitcher Roger Clemens, who beaned him during the 2000 season and threw a shattered bat toward him during Game 2 of the 2000 World Series.

Piazza, who played for five teams, including the Oakland Athletics last season, has hinted that his preference is to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as a New York Met, with whom he spent eight years. The Hall of Fame determines the final decision.

"I have to say that my time with the Mets wouldn't have been the same without the greatest fans in the world," Piazza said in his statement. "One of the hardest moments of my career was walking off the field at Shea Stadium and saying goodbye. My relationship with (the fans) made my time in New York the happiest of my career."

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