Mike Piazza tried to get the crowd to get back in their seats so the game could go on, but Shea Stadium wouldn’t oblige.

The greatest catcher in franchise history went out for one curtain call, a second and then a third after a tribute video honored him during the seventh inning stretch of his 972nd and final game in a Mets uniform on Oct. 2, 2005. Chants of “Mike Piazza” echoed through the stadium in between as Piazza hugged his teammates in the dugout, some of the final snapshots of a storied eight-year run in Queens.

The last one came in the top of the eighth inning. As he caught the warmup pitches of Shingo Takatsu, Piazza kept looking over at the dugout until finally, after the Rockies’ batter was announced, manager Willie Randolph made the move and replaced him with Mike DiFelice. It gave the crowd one more chance to cheer Piazza before he walked down the dugout steps a final time.

“The response was unbelievable,” Piazza said after going 0-for-3 with three groundouts in the 11-3 loss. “I really didn’t expect it and it just kind of took on a life of its own.”

Piazza was scheduled to bat third in the bottom of the eighth, but Randolph opted to get him out of the game before one last trip to the plate.

“It was a blowout game, and we wanted to give him two or three at-bats and I just wanted him to be able to walk off the field and get his recognition,” Randolph said.

It wasn’t guaranteed to be Piazza’s final game as a Met, but it was widely expected as his seven-year, $91 million contract was set to expire and the 37-year-old’s performance had declined in recent seasons. He eventually signed with the Padres in 2006 and the A’s in 2007 before retiring and getting inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.

Before Piazza walked out of the spotlight at Shea Stadium, he had given Mets fans plenty to cheer about, from a trip to the World Series against the Yankees in 2000 to his game-winning home run in the first game back in New York after Sept. 11 in 2001.

Those highlights — not to mention the 220 home runs, 655 RBIs and .296 batting average in a Mets uniform along the way — made for an emotional sendoff.

“I had a couple moments coming to the ballpark, walking through the tunnel,” he said. “There was a moment, we had Mass here [yesterday] morning that I kind of went in the back and just had to kind of collect myself because I was getting a little emotional because this was a huge part of my life. It will always be a big part of my life. The fans and the great times and the tough times.”