Piazza to Write Memoir

From the Associated Press:

Baseball great Mike Piazza, a home run slugger and 12-time All Star widely regarded as the best hitting catcher in history, is working on a memoir.

"I look forward to having the chance to take people behind the scenes and to talk about the many great people and characters I've played with and for over the course of my career," Piazza said in a statement issued Tuesday by Simon & Schuster, which plans to release the book in 2010.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Piazza, who retired earlier this year after a career spent mostly with the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers, had a .308 lifetime batting average, 427 home runs and 1,335 RBIs. Along with his many triumphs, he will also write about such controversies as pitcher Roger Clemens throwing a shattered bat at him during the 2000 World Series between the Mets and New York Yankees, and the 2002 news conference in which he denied rumors he was gay.