JUPITER, Fla. – This is part of the Steroid Era, too, now. A back field at Roger Dean Stadium. A conversation with Mike Piazza.
I can act like Piazza was not encased in suspicion when he played. But that would be dishonest. It was talked about. A lot. Because Piazza fit a certain prototype. He was drafted in the 62nd round, 1,390th overall in 1988, a favor by then Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda for his godson.
There are plenty of stories about late-round draft picks making good. Astros ace Roy Oswalt, who wants all of Alex Rodriguez’s accomplishments from 2001-03 banished, was taken in the 23rd round, for example. But Mike Piazza not only made good, he went from the black hole of the draft to greatness, the all-time homer hitter among catchers.
Thus, he did one of those near statistical impossibility things: He navigated from ultra-non-prospect to 427 career homers.
Again, I can pretend that while he was doing this people were not talking about certain physical quirks that raised suspicion, notably a back full of acne. But that, too, would be dishonest.
So Piazza is either creation or casualty of this age. Even still in retirement. Because, again, I can pretend that veteran writers don’t talk about his approaching Hall of Fame candidacy with uncertainty. That would be dishonest, as well. Many of us find ourselves thinking: A penalty is being levied in Hall voting on guys who have been outed such as Mark McGwire, and probably, eventually, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and – a long time from now – Alex Rodriguez.
But what do we do about guys who we suspect, guys the establishment of the game so strongly suspected? The Hall of Fame voting is not a court of law. We do not need “beyond a reasonable doubt,” though I think we have reached that level with McGwire, Bonds and Clemens. There are plenty of guys who are coming up on ballots now who have not been snared by BALCO or Mitchell or Canseco, who nevertheless cast the strong feeling of artificial success throughout the game. What do we do about them?
I figured job one was to ask Piazza, who is eligible for the Hall in 2013. He is the hitting coach for Team Italy for the WBC, and I heard that his squad was playing a B Game at 10 a.m. yesterday against the Marlins. And this is how I ended up on a back field at Roger Dean Stadium. In a conversation with Piazza about a subject that will not die.
For the record, Piazza says he was a clean player. “Absolutely” is the word he used. He claims he is not on the now infamous list of 104 failed steroid tests from the survey phase in 2003. “No, not that I know,” he said. The one-time Mets star offers a lot of explanations to explain his power, from hard work to the addition of forty-something pitchers during the term of his career via four new expansion teams.
“You can’t control what people think,” Piazza said.
I want to believe Piazza. I have always enjoyed conversation and a good relationship with him, and – even if I didn’t – I would not exactly go around hoping that someone cheated and was lying to me about it.
But Clemens, Jason Giambi, Andy Pettitte and A-Rod have lied to my face on this subject. So forgive me if I do not exactly bet the house on this one.
This is a major problem with the era now. We no longer fully accept anything we saw nor do we believe the testimony of anybody who played in the time. Derek Jeter expressed the frustration over this reality recently, that the broad brush gets everybody. He is right. But it certainly is going to get 62nd-round draft picks who hit 427 homers.
“It is unfortunate,” Piazza said. “I know the work I put in.”
I hope he is telling the truth. I hope, at some point, we have full grasp of the era, know exactly what the landscape was. Until then the broad brush paints and you end up on a back field at Roger Dean Stadium early in the morning.