Grandstanding

Mets catcher Mike Piazza deals with the same workplace issues that once challenged another Fu-Manchued-bachelor-about-Gotham, Joe Namath. No, it's not the difficulty of finding a good pair of extra-large sheer panty hose that resists runs. It's the wind at Shea Stadium that swirls off Flushing Bay through the open end of the ballpark. "I hit three or four balls last April that I absolutely crushed, and the wind knocked them down," Piazza says. "I wouldn't call [Shea] a good hitter's park."

Built in 1964, Shea is old school: The home run revolution hasn't hit there yet. The most dingers struck in one season at Shea is 206, in 1975, when Del Unser was playing centerfield for the Mets and Joe Willie was quarterbacking the Jets. No other ballpark has a home run record that has held up that long. Indeed, all but three other parks have set their marks within the past four years.

Even losing home runs to the fickle Shea winds, Piazza, with 24, is on his way toward breaking his personal high of 40 and the record for home runs by a catcher, 41. That mark was set by another Shea tenant, Todd Hundley, now with the Dodgers.

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