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NEW YORK -- Mike Piazza glanced high toward his No. 31 that will forever hang over Citi Field and urged New York Mets fans, hoping to find faith in the most trying moments, to do the same.So every time these guys are down and you need a little bit of inspiration, just give a little peek up there to ol Mikey, he told an adoring crowd Saturday night.The Mets retired Piazzas number in a half-hour ceremony before playing Colorado, six days after he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.Speaking at a podium in center field, the 12-time All-Star catcher had to catch himself once, when the emotions started to well up inside him.Youve given me an honor that no man deserves and no player deserves, Piazza said.The tribute included his parents, family members, former teammates, friends and a lot of chanting and cheering. He ended his 6-minute speech with a shout of Lets go, Mets!The 47-year-old Piazza became the fourth Mets person to have his jersey retired by the team, joining pitcher Tom Seaver and managers Casey Stengel and Gil Hodges.Piazzas number now hangs in a big circle on the facade above the upper deck in left field.That means I will always be with you, he said, adding that when the Mets are struggling, know that Im back home watching you guys on TV, saying a lot of prayers -- praying for the Mets. And listening on the radio.Piazza became the fourth different major leaguer to have his No. 31 retired by a team. Greg Maddux (Cubs, Braves), Ferguson Jenkins (Cubs) and Dave Winfield (Padres) also received the honor.With light rain falling, the field was covered with a tarp that sported a big Piazza logo. A giant outline of home plate was cut into the grass in center field with his number and the Mets players wore uniforms that had a Piazza patch.The Mets gathered in the dugout to watch the ceremony, as did a couple of Rockies.Piazza hit .308 overall with 427 home runs and 1,335 RBI -- not bad for someone who didnt even make the varsity on his 10th-grade team and was only a 62nd-round draft pick.The video board showed his most famous home run, the go-ahead drive against Atlanta in the first big league game played in New York after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The homer is mentioned on his Hall plaque.A couple hours earlier, Piazza talked about what that moment meant to him and everyone in the ballpark, and beyond.As much as I hit the home run, he said, I felt it wasnt just me.The memory made him pause, and he asked to get a drink of water after the remembrance.Piazza made his major league debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1992, was traded to the Marlins in 1998 and swapped to the Mets a week later.When he came to the team, it meant the Mets were back, said U.S. Rep. Peter King of New York.King was raised in Queens, not far from Shea Stadium where Piazza played, and attended his pregame news conference.Piazza originally wore No. 25 with the Dodgers and shifted to 31 the next year.Anything 3 is kind of my lucky number, Piazza said. He wore 13 in high school, but its an unlucky number to many and doesnt have the best reputation.When he joined the Mets, former teammate John Franco gave up his number and presented it to Piazza.Hundreds of fans came to Citi Field wearing No. 31 jerseys in shades of blue, white, black, gray and with pinstripes, and the crowd began chanting Piazzas name well before he was introduced.Former teammates Al Leiter, Edgardo Alfonzo and Cliff Floyd sat near Piazza during the festivities. Piazza later stood on the tarp at home plate and tossed out the first ball to Leiter, who scooped the low throw before it bounced at the mound.Waving to the crowd, Piazza was driven off the field on a golf cart. But he promised to be back when 3-year-old son Marco was older.Then, Piazza said, he could point to his No. 31 above the ballpark and assure his day that your dad was cool once. Cheap Old Skool Wholesale . With their top three point guards and Kobe Bryant all sidelined by injury, the Lakers signed Marshall out of the D-League on Friday before their home game against Minnesota. Wholesale Old Skool .com) - The red-hot Los Angeles Kings will try to extend their winning streak to a season-high seven games when they visit the Edmonton Oilers for Sundays clash at Rexall Place. http://www.cheapoldskoolchina.com/ . It says Pocklingtons lawyer filed the appeal Friday in a California court. CTV Edmonton also says Pocklington gave a $100,000 cash deposit as part of the conditions of his bail, and that he will be out on bail until his appeal is heard. Cheap Old Skool China . The incident occurred at 19:56 of the second period of the Kings 4-2 road win over Edmonton on Sunday. Nolan punched Oilers forward Jesse Joensuu in the jaw in front of the Kings goal during a scrum. Old Skool Clearance .C. at the helm of the top team in the Eastern Conference. His tenure as the GM in Vancouver was all too brief. Though he led the Canucks to what was then a franchise record-shattering campaign in just his second season, Nonis was gone and replaced one year later. NEW YORK -The New York Yankees starting rotation, already reduced by injuries, ineffectiveness and a trade, suffered another blow on Tuesday when it was announced that Nathan Eovaldi would undergo extensive surgery on his pitching elbow to repair a torn flexor tendon and partially torn ulnar collateral ligament.The procedure includes Tommy John surgery to repair the UCL injury, the second time Eovaldi has had the surgery. The first time was nine years ago when he was a 17-year-old high school pitching star for Alvin (Texas) High School, the alma mater of Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan.Eovaldi has been on the disabled list since leaving after one inning of a start against the Red Sox in Boston on Wednesday, suffering what the team described as elbow discomfort.Eovaldi was sent for an MRI and, without announcing the results, the Yankees said Eovaldi would seek a second opinion. He got that second opinion on Tuesday from Dr. David Altchek, the New York Mets team physician, and it could hardly have been more dire: According to Eovaldi, the flexor tendon had been torn from the bone in addition to the new UCL tear.The recovery period is expected to be 14-18 months, meaning it is quite possible Eovaldis Yankees career is at an end. The 26-year-old right-hander is arbitration-eligible after this season and is scheduled to become a free agent in 2018.Asked whether it was likely the Yankees would non-tender Eovaldi this winter, making him a free agent, Yankee GM Brian Cashman said via text message, That is all for another day. Lets get him the best medical care possible and make decisions like that at a later date.Despite the severity of the injury, Eovaldi said he felt little pain, just a little pinch down there whenever I threw a fastball.Eovaldi said he first began to feel something unusual in his elbow while playing catch three days after an Aug. 4 start against the Mets in which he took the loss, allowing four earned runs in seven innings.I feltt like I couldnt really let my fastball go, Eovaldi said, and if I did, something bad would happen.dddddddddddde went ahead with his start against the Red Sox without informing the Yankees of his discomfort, but manager Joe Girardi and pitching coach Larry Rothschild immediately suspected something was wrong when Eovaldis fastball, which normally averages 98 mph, was down to 94 in his 12-pitch, 1-2-3 first inning.Rothschild asked Eovaldi several times whether anything was wrong, and after getting repeated denials, he finally changed tactics. What hurts? he asked Eovaldi, who admitted to some elbow discomfort. He was immediately removed from the game.Eovaldi said he was devastated by the severity of his injury. Its a huge blow, he said, And its my second one, so its a big deal. Hopefully everything goes well with the surgery, and Ill work hard to get back.Despite having the second-hardest fastball among big league starters -- the Mets Noah Syndergaard is ranked first -- Eovaldi has had an erratic big league career with three teams in six seasons. His career record is 38-46 with a 4.21 ERA, and in 2014 he led the majors in hits allowed (223) while a member of the Miami Marlins. This season he was 9-8 with a 4.76 ERA for the Yankees.The Mets?Zack Wheeler suffered a similar injury in March 2015, 17 months ago, and has yet to return to action, suffering several setbacks in his recovery.According to Eovaldi, Altchek (who performed Wheelers surgery) said the very best case scenario would be me making it back towards the very end of next year, maybe out of the bullpen.With Luis Severino demoted to AAA because of ineffectiveness, Ivan Nova traded to the?Pittsburgh Pirates?and now Eovaldi lost to injury, the Yankees will go?with rookies Chad Green and Luis Cessa in their starting rotation for the rest of the season. ' ' '