Mike Piazza's Bacne Was Legendary And Suspicious

Mike Piazza's volcanic back acne has been discussed on this site before and now, cranky old writer Murray Chass is enlightening us with his own (deleted) tales of Piazza's zit-covered past.

In his blog, Chass claims that Piazza's bacne was so startling that he felt compelled to write about it, but was quickly instructed not to by the New York Times, lest they'd imply that one of the Mets' most popular and productive players could be artificially enhanced.

When steroids became a daily subject in newspaper articles I wanted to write about Piazza's acne-covered back. I was prepared to describe it in disgusting living color. But two or three times my editors at The New York Times would not allow it. Piazza, they said, had never been accused of using steroids so I couldn't write about it.

But wait, I said, if I write about it, I will in effect be accusing Piazza of using steroids and then someone will have accused him of using steroids. No can do, I was told. I always took the veto to stem from the Times ultra conservative ways, but I also wondered if it maybe was the baseball editor, a big Mets' fan, protecting the Mets.

Whatever the reason, I never got Piazza's suspicious acne into the paper. Then all of a sudden the acne was gone. Piazza's back was clear and clean. There was not a speck of acne on it. His back looked as smooth as a baby's bottom.

Fascinating. Granted, Piazza could have merely started using a pumice stone and anti-bacterial loofah on his back coupled with daily Proactiv treatements, but it also totally could've been the 'roids. Or the gay sex — that'll cause a violent breakout as well.

Mike Piazza: His Bat And His Back [Murray Chass] (Via Big Lead)