The problem with the Internet is that it’s hard to pretend you didn’t see a story. There was a time when I could say I didn’t see the newspaper that day, or missed the item on TV. Now, if you miss something, it’s still there in a Google search.
Of course, it’s that much harder to pretend you didn’t see something when your blogging partner wrote it!
Earlier today, Squawker Lisa wrote about the allegations involving Mike Piazza and steroids that appear in Jeff Pearlman’s new book about Roger Clemens, “The Rocket That Fell to Earth.”
I really don’t feel like writing about anything that has Mike Piazza and steroids in the same sentence. I’m looking forward to the start of the season, when perhaps we’ll get to see Tom Seaver throw out the first pitch at Citi Field to Piazza, just like they did as Shea Stadium closed.
In fact, I’ve already written about this topic recently. I wrote that I hoped that any allegations about Piazza were unfounded, and that the best course for baseball was full disclosure. Release the names of the 103 players on the list and emphasize that they were just the ones who got caught and that the problem was much more widespread.
When the when the A-Rod steroid story broke, I wrote that it was unfair for A-Rod to be singled out. And I don’t want to see Piazza singled out, either.
Unlike MLB, Pearlman is not pretending that the problem is only with a couple of players. Pearlman believes that the PED problem in baseball is widespread. In an interview on “It Is About the Money, Stupid,” Pearlman says that he estimates that 70% of major leaguers were “using something more than Andro” duing the height of PED usage in the 1990s.
So even if we do learn the 103 other names besides A-Rod that are on that list, it won’t necessarily excuse Piazza or anyone else if they are not mentioned. But at least we’ll have proof for 103 players and lack of proof for the others.
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