The Needle And The Damage Done
I awoke this morning to find Twitter abuzz about Mike Piazza’s backne.
It seems that Murray Chass, formerly of the New York Times and currently a lowly blogger presumably writing from his mom’s basement (don’t we all do that?), wrote a blog this morning about his Hall of Fame voting process, who he’s voting for (Jack Morris), who he’s not voting for (everyone else) and why.
Chass is not voting for steroid cheaters. Which is fine. That’s his choice but the fact that he’s going by circumstantial evidence such as Mike Piazza’s backne – his words not mine – and not by actual failed test results or other concrete facts is highly amusing to everyone with a pulse.
And what’s with him checking Piazza’s back?
Chass also complained about how he was never allowed to link Piazza with steroids while he was with the Times because his editor wouldn’t allow it. Maybe because there was no real proof of it, perhaps? I also had backne when I was in my teens and 20′s – in the late 80′s/early 90s – and I wasn’t using steroids. I was just a hormonal mess of a young woman.
I can link his name to steroids, I countered, but I had to wait until I started this Web site to talk about Piazza’s acne-covered back, a generally accepted telltale sign of steroids use. Piazza’s passionate fans ridiculed me for that assertion (and surely will again) and ignored the fact that Piazza’s back cleared up as soon as baseball began testing for steroids.
I guess it’s good that Chass was closely examining Piazza’s back and not his testicles. Now that would have been an interesting piece.
And of course, Chass couldn’t go a whole blog post without bashing the “stats zealots” who don’t believe that Jack Morris belongs in the Hall of Fame.
I think I am safe in concluding that Morris did not cheat. I know the stats zealots don’t think Morris is a Hall of Famer because his rankings in their new-fangled ratings fall below their standards. But they don‘t have a formula for intestinal fortitude or determination.
Hey, stat zealots, can someone come up with a stat for IF+ and D/10*?
The bottom line is Chass is doing what every other Hall of Fame writer lacking self-awareness has done in the past few weeks, showing themselves to be the biggest hypocrites to walk the face of the Earth.
Where was this outrage when Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire were bashing 500 foot home runs with regularity? Oh right, it wasn’t there.
Carry on.
*Intestinal Fortitude and Determination per 10.
Hey Stacey – didn’t know you had your own place, I’ve been seeing you at the “other place.” Where – I made similar comments, and was immediately shot down by an “expert” who told me that anyone over 20 with backne either used, or had a “rare skin disorder.”
Hard to believe what folks will stoop to when there is no actual baseball going on.
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Which other place?
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So, after years of slamming bloggers for being unworthy of talking about or analyzing baseball and glorifying print journalists, Chass gleefully uses his blog to say Piazza used steroids without actually saying it after his former print editors squashed the story for being conjecture and slanderous. This is the most Murray Chass thing ever.
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It really is the most Murray Chass thing ever.
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“I also had backne when I was in my teens and 20′s”.
That’s the point, steroid use creates a mess in a person’s hormonal balance and a 30-something man shouldn’t have acne unless he has a hormonal problem; in men, acne usually clears when we hit mid 20′s, if it doesn’t then said person could have a hormonal problem.
IF Piazza had a back acne problem it was probably caused by a hormonal imbalance, which MLB should know because that type of imbalance can cause a positive in steroids tests (high levels of testosterone or high levels of progesterone, both used to mask steroid use).
So… Did Piazza had his back well into his 30′s covered in acne? I don’t know
Does back acne means that he was using steroids? Maybe, what it can mean is high levels of testosterone or progesterone (remember Manny?)
Does it shed a cloud of suspicion over Piazza? It could, unless MLB was notified of an underlying condition and that Piazza was taking medication. Otherwise it smells fishy.
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I just thought the whole, “Piazza had backne! And that’s how I know for a fact that he used steroids!!!” thing was hilarious.
I mean, to be honest, Mike Piazza probably did take steroids – a whole bunch of guys probably did but until there is actual proof beyond zits on a guy’s back, Chass shouldn’t be writing stuff like that.
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