By CARRIE FALCONE
Staff Writer
SOUTH BRUNSWICK — Mike Piazza received the highest honor a baseball player can attain when he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame during ceremonies July 24 in Cooperstown, New York.
Locally, the former All-Star catcher, who played for five teams during his career from 1992 through 2007, will have a corn maze designed in his honor this fall.
Piazza’s career featured his tenure catching for the New York Mets from 1998 through 2005. He powered the Mets to the 2000 World Series, where they fell to the New York Yankees. Piazza finished his career with 427 home runs, which included a record 396 at his catching position.
Piazza, a 12-time All-Star who compiled 1,335 runs batted in, also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Florida Marlins, San Diego Padres and Oakland Athletics.
His heroics in New York made an impression on some local fans who have deep roots as supporters of the Mets.
“My husband, son and the farmers are all diehard fans of the Mets,” said Cindy VonThun of VonThun Farms in Monmouth Junction. “We were really pleased by how far they had come before and during the 2015 World Series. We wanted to not only honor the team for their efforts, but we also want to honor Piazza’s accomplishments as a baseball player.”
VonThun Farms has designed a number of corn mazes every fall since 2007. In addition to the Piazza corn maze, the farm has also constructed mazes in the likeness of former Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter in 2014 as well as “American Idol” finalist Jax last year.
“Most of the corn mazes have been traditionally designed by tractors, but our farm has been using The MAiZE Company for help,” VonThun said.
The MAiZE Company is located in Spanish Fork, Utah. MAiZE relies on computer software to design and map out the mazes, path by path. Once the corn fields have started to grow, the designs are transferred to the field and the pathways are then cut, she explained.
“The process usually takes about three hours to complete,” VonThun said. “The company is spot on and they do a great job each time.”
This year’s Amazin’ field of dreams will be open in the fall, and general admission will range from $7.95 to $14.95, depending on date and activities. The maze will also be open from 6-10 p.m. Oct. 28 and 29 during the Moonlight Corn Maze event. Admission will be $8.95 per person. For information, visit www.vonthunfarms.com.
Contact Carrie Falcone at [email protected].