We start with improbability. Mike Piazza simply being a major leaguer falls into unassisted-triple-play terrain for likelihood. That he was elected to the Hall of Fame is winning Powerball stuff. No one drafted as late — 62nd round and 1,390th pick — had ever previously gained Cooperstown induction.

Which makes his trade from the Dodgers to the Marlins to the Mets — in a one-week span of May 1998 — fitting. For there is a butterfly effect to it all: Remove one item from the chain of events and Piazza never gets from there to there to here. So much had to go just so for Piazza to come to New York: 1. Piazza was a free agent after the 1998 season. Piazza's representative, Dan Lozano, initially set the start of spring training as a deadline to have a long-term deal with the Dodgers. That was relaxed until Opening Day, but the negotiations were contentious in spring.

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Source: http://nypost.com/