Mike Piazza, the Mets' All-Star bachelor and backstop, is getting married next weekend, sources confirmed Wednesday. Piazza will wed longtime girlfriend Alicia Rickter, a former Playboy Playmate and "Baywatch" actress, on Jan. 29 in Miami, where the future Hall of Famer owns
a condo in South Beach.
Piazza has been especially tight-lipped about his pending nuptials, and the Mets'
catcher could not be reached for comment yesterday. Among the guests, however, will be former Mets teammates Al Leiter and John Franco, as well as the club's popular equipment manager, Charlie Samuels. No other club officials are expected to attend the ceremony, which reportedly will be limited to a small group of family and friends.
Piazza was a regular club-goer in his bachelor days, and had a famous fling with another Playmate, Darlene Bernaola, before eventually settling down with Rickter. Despite his sightings with numerous women, Piazza was besieged by rumors that he was gay, and felt compelled to hold an impromptu new conference in 2002 before a game against the Phillies at Veterans Stadium when he was assumed to be the subject of a newspaper rumor suggesting he was gay.
Standing in the middle of reporters, Piazza flatly stated,
"I'm not gay," adding, "The truth is that I'm heterosexual and date women."