Mets legend Mike Piazza will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on the 24th. But before Piazza enters Cooperstown, he spent his Friday taking part in a conference call.
Naturally, it didn't take long before someone quizzed Piazza about steroids. In fact, it was the first question asked:
Tough crowd: 1st question posed to Mike Piazza on Hall of Fame call was whether he used steroids: "I have addressed that in the past, sir.''
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 15, 2016
The reporter who asked was later identified as Murray Chass, which ties the whole thing together. For those not in the know, Chass has been obsessed with the idea that Piazza used steroids. This hasn't been a short-term development, either. Here's a snippet of a blog post he wrote in 2009:
Now as naïve as I might have been about steroids, the one thing I knew was that use of steroids supposedly causes the user to have acne on his back. As I said, Piazza had plenty of acne on his back.
Google around and you'll note that Chass never seems lets this drum rest for long. This is just his thing, apparently.
Piazza, for his part, handled the question well -- and much better than most of us if we'd been bugged by a persistent pest during what should be a high point in our life.
