The post-New York Times career of columnist-turned-relucant (don’t call him a) blogger Murray Chass (above) has mostly been typified by score-settling, Sabermatrician-baiting and most reliably, continued assertions that newly elected Hall Of Famer Mike Piazza achieved his gaudy statistics with aid of performance-enhancing drugs (Piazza’s allegedly acne-scarred back being the oft-cited smoking gun). On Friday, Chass took the occasion of a media conference call prior to Piazza’s enshrinement to call out America’s most decorated Kings’s X fan, as The New York Daily News’ Anthony McCarron details :
The first question to Piazza was about steroids. He was asked to comment on the speculation by Murray Chass, who won the Hall’s J.G. Taylor Spink Award in 2003.
“Is there a question?” Piazza initially responded.
“The question is, can you comment on the steroid speculation?” Chass replied.
“I think at the end of the day, Major League Baseball took steps to implement testing,” Piazza said. “I think there’s no question the game has moved on and it’s better because of that.”
Asked by Chass to talk more specifically about “whether you used steroids,” Piazza replied, “I’ve addressed that many times in the past, sir. Thank you.”