The favors, though, ended there, as there was some resentment toward Piazza due to his family connection, and he even briefly quit while at Class A, though he was talked back by coaches Reggie Smith and Dave Wallace, returning with a chip on his shoulder, determined to prove all of the doubters wrong.
That he did. Piazza burst onto the national scene in 1993, winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award while hitting .318/.370/.561 with 35 homers for the Dodgers. Over the course of parts of seven seasons with Los Angeles, Piazza would finish in the top 10 of the NL MVP Award voting five teams, compiling a .