With Piazza’s retirement in the books, we’re left to wonder what would have happened if Piazza’s father wasn’t close friends with Tommy Lasorda.  It was a poorly kept secret that the family relationship made the catcher one of the last picks for the Dodgers in the ‘88 draft. 

Upon reflection, I’ve concluded something off the beaten path: Mike Piazza and Jeff Garcia are verrry similar. Â Â Â 

• Both men are in their late 30s.  Piazza 39, Garcia 38.
• Both men got their first (major sports) gig with teams on the West Coast, the Dodgers and 49ers.
• Both men are/were very close to the cornerstones of their teams.  Piazza was drafted because he’s the pseudo-godson of Lasorda.  Garcia and his family were friends with Bill Walsh, which ultimately landed Garcia with the 49ers in 1999.
• Both men, while straight, have been investigated and hounded by the gay police throughout their careers.  Piazza had to publicly denounce his perceived gayness, and Garcia has always resembled Boggs from the Shawshank Redemption, he of the sore-reared Bull Queers.  In addition, Garcia has the squeaky voice and his good friend Terrell Owens questioned his sexual orientation in a Playboy interview.
• Both are married to Playboy playmates - and I might add, the two females are EXTREMELY talented.  Alicia Rickter and Carmella DeCesare are just two diamonds in the jewelry store front window of life (links midly nsfw).

Safe to say, Garcia and Piazza are the Rod and Richie Belding the sports world never had.  As for my original question about the Piazza/Lasorda relationship, I just used it to set up the Piazza/Garcia analogy. 

Unrelated: I used a form of the name Piazza nine times in this post.