One of the stranger ​pieces of baseball memorabilia to go to auction, the barrel of Mike Piazza's broken bat, is set to be auctioned off live in New York in late February. The bat shard exists as a memento of the heated exchange between New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens and New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza during the 2000 World Series. During Game 2 of that series, Piazza shattered his bat on a pitch from Clemens. When the bat piece came flying toward the pitcher's mound, Clemens caught it and threw it in Piazza's direction. Claiming he thought the bat piece was the ball, the benches cleared but no punches were thrown. This came after Clemens hit Piazza in the head with a pitch during the regular season.

The heated exchange
The infamous bat shard has been sitting in the office of Jeff Mangold for the last 13 years. Mangold, who was a strength and conditioning coach for the Yankees at the time, collected the piece after the game that fateful night. in excellent condition, the piece is clearly stamped with Piazza's name and the Mizuno logo. Bidding has already started on the bat shard and experts say it could be expected to reach $10,000 by the time the bidding concludes. 

Mike Piazza's career
Originally drafted to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mike Piazza is known as one of the best-hitting catchers of all time. Traded to the Mets in 1998, Piazza was hailed as the savior of the Mets' less-than-stellar performance. His career with the Mets was highlighted by numerous All-Star appearances, as well as tying the franchise hitting streak record of 24 games. Aside from the fact that the broken bat barrel was involved in what was probably the most intense confrontation during a World Series game, its connection to star player Mike Piazza is enough to entice baseball fans.

Though the Mets would go on to lose to the Yankees in that World Series, this piece of sports memorabilia is truly one of the most unique to be sent to auction. Auctions are great opportunities for serious collectors and casual enthusiasts to acquire unique and exciting items connected to historic world events. Those interested in learning more about collecting or starting their own collections can head over to iCollector.com, where they'll have access to a large number of collectible auctions from around the world.