Ken Griffey Sr., proud veteran of the Big Red Machine, likes to say that his son got the records, but he got the rings. Fair point: Ken Griffey Jr. was elected to the Hall of Fame this week but never did play in the World Series. Mike Piazza, who will share the stage in Cooperstown this summer, made it there once and lost.
Yet Griffey and Piazza each hit a defining home run with deep emotional impact, for very different reasons. Their moments left indelible imprints and stand today as essential threads in their Hall of Fame stories, unlikely to be duplicated, impossible to forget.