It's turning out to be a pretty exciting year for Mike Piazza.
About six weeks before he enters the Baseball Hall of Fame, the former major league catcher announced Wednesday that he has agreed in principle to buy Italian soccer team A.C. Reggiana 1919.
Reggiana spent 2015-16 in Lega Pro A, the third tier of Italian soccer. The club had a brief run in top-flight Serie A in the 1990s.
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Piazza has had an eye on owning an Italian club for some time. He told Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport in 2015 that he was interested in buying the more high-profile club Parma, which was bankrupt at the time and subsequently dissolved and re-formed for this season.
Piazza was a soccer fan growing up, and he traveled to Brazil in 2014 to cheer on Italy in the World Cup. He also has played for and coached Italy in the World Baseball Classic.
