Maybe Simon & Schuster has innocently planned the Piazza publication for soon after the announcement for marketing purposes, but it might just as easily have agreed to a post-election publication to insure that the book would not keep Piazza out of the Hall.
If, on the other hand, the book includes a steroids admission, all I can say is shame on Piazza and his publisher. With that possibility in mind, though, the voters would be wise to withhold their votes from Piazza until a future election. He will have 14 more chances.
Because it’s so STRANGE for a baseball book to come out in February! I mean, apart from the fact that every single baseball book ever has been released to coincide with pitchers and catchers reporting, this smacks of sinister intent!
Oh well, Chass is gonna Chass. He’s been obliquely accusing Piazza of being a steroids user for years now, claiming res ipsa loquitur regarding Piazza back acne he once witnessed in the clubhouse. Never mind that dermatologists do not agree with Mr. Chass that back acne he witnessed is dispositive of anything.
None of which is to say that Chass is wrong about this. It’s entirely possible that Mike Piazza took steroids. It’s entirely possible that his book is going to talk about it. But if Chass is right about it he’s just guessing here. If he had something more than a hunch and a guess, he’d report it. What would stop him?