Mike Piazza was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame last summer for his vast accomplishments that spanned a 16-year career. He was just the second player to be inducted with a New York Mets cap on his plaque, joining Tom Seaver (1992).

Piazza's Mets debut came after an eventful eight days in 1998:

• On May 14, Piazza was traded from the Dodgers -- with whom he hit .331 with 177 home runs over 726 career games -- to the Marlins, along with Todd Zeile, for Manuel Barrios, Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich, Charles Johnson and Gary Sheffield.

• Piazza played five games for the Marlins, going 5-for-18 with no home runs and five RBIs.

• On May 22, Piazza was traded from the Marlins to the Mets for prospects Preston Wilson, Ed Yarnall and Geoff Goetz.

• The youngsters who attended the Brewers-Mets game the next day got a free pair of Mets shorts (the ones in the photo on the right). They also got to say they were at Piazza's Mets debut.

Hitting cleanup, the catcher went 1-for-4 with an RBI double in his third at-bat. That plated the second run of the game for the Mets, who won 3-0 over the Brewers at Shea Stadium. Al Leiter, who attended Piazza’s Mets number retirement ceremony last July, threw a shutout -- the first of seven in his Mets career, all of which came with Piazza as the starting catcher.

An auspicious beginning, sure, but just why is the Hall of Famer’s career with the Mets worth recounting?

• Piazza played in 972 games for the Mets, spending seven full seasons and more than half of another with the club.

• He started 815 games behind the plate for the Mets, second in franchise history only to Jerry Grote (1,102), who spent 12 years with the Mets to Piazza’s eight.

• His .542 slugging percentage is the best by a Mets player all time.

• He hit 220 home runs with Mets, the third most in franchise history behind Darryl Strawberry (252) and David Wright (242).

• He made seven All-Star appearances with the Mets and played in the 2000 World Series as well as the 1999 postseason with the club.

• He hit at least 30 home runs in four straight seasons (1999-2002), the longest such streak in Mets history.

• His iconic home run on Sept. 21, 2001, to beat the Braves in the first game in New York after the 9/11 tragedy provided an iconic moment, the signature one of Piazza's career.

And all of that began 19 years ago today.