Mike Piazza Compares Steroid Scandal to Kennedy Assassination

Mike Piazza recently did an interview with BeliefNet.com, and it turns out he's an All-Star Christian. At least, that's what the headline tells us. Personally, when fielding my Christian All-Star team, I'd go with St. Peter behind the plate. That guy has a gun, and he's no chump with the bat in his hands either.

Anyway, during the interview, Piazza was asked for his take on the steroids scandal in baseball today.

"There is a lot of swirling and a lot of innuendo, a lot of rumor, a lot of hearsay. And, I think, to get back to balance on a larger issue, Major League Baseball has sort of admitted and sort of acknowledged that there could have been abuse by some players in the past.

"It's kind of like going back and reinvestigating the Kennedy assassination. It's impossible to really put a finger on where it derailed and where it went wrong. And I think that everybody, in a sense, was realizing that someone--the people and the higher ups--were looking the other way. And some of the players didn't really acknowledge that it was so much of a bad stigma. And so, I think that just the fact of not dealing with it at the time was probably the biggest issue that I see at fault. But I think now people--and especially in Major League Baseball--they've acknowledged it and we have very strict testing now. They were just testing the other day."

Piazza's right, it is just like the Kennedy assassination. Baseball is JFK, Bud Selig is Jackie, we are Texas Governor John Connally, and it's pretty obvious that Victor Conte was having some fun in the book depository. But who is that on the grassy knoll? Is it Barry Bonds? Mark McGwire? Sammy Sosa? Who!?

To be serious about this for a second, Piazza does have a valid point. Fans, media and the government can all argue about who's to blame from now until the end of time but it's not going to accomplish anything. In the end, President Kennedy will still be dead, and Bud Selig will marry some rich foreign billionaire. It's fate, people.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

7-11-2007 @ 2:02PM

himalaya playa said...

Everyone that is connected with Baseball , the commisioner , agents , and players are to blame for this juiced era in Baseball. For me as a Fan , baseball has lost the innocence it once had. The sad part about this era. In four or five years it will all be forgotten. Money at the Gates will always win

7-11-2007 @ 1:50PM

PostmanE said...

It's tough to really "deny" Peter's talent.

Zing!

7-11-2007 @ 1:58PM

Richard said...

A true living example of why so many people are uneducated in this world and why ignorance lives to rue the day. To even compare JFK to Steroids is not only assinine, it is incredulous and it is inane. Not worthy of a story, and not worthy of an intelligent response to such an ignorant statement.

7-11-2007 @ 2:01PM

Fornelli said...

Richard,

I think you misinterpret what Piazza is saying. He's not comparing steroids to JFK. He's comparing the way we all look at the steroids scandal to the way people looked at Kennedy's assassination.

A whole bunch of different theories that no matter how much we argue about, we'll never really know which, if any, are right.

7-11-2007 @ 2:36PM

lee b said...

they have yet to find barry bonds guilty of anything as well as mark mcguire.until then,i see no comparing this to the kennedy assasination.

7-11-2007 @ 2:38PM

they have yet to find bonds or mcguire and sosa guilty of anything.remember,innocent until proven guilty!

7-11-2007 @ 3:19PM

stanfordfan said...

Piazza was suggesting that we are never really going to know what we think we know or what we want to know or what we think we need to know about both the Kennedy assassination and steroids in major league baseball. It's a valid point. As of today there is insufficient evidence for the Justice Department to indict Bonds for perjury or for Major League Baseball to discipline Bonds or anyone else, except those who actually test positive for the stuff. Yet the rumors and innuendo are destroying a lot of people's reputations. Good point, Piazza.

7-11-2007 @ 4:17PM

Larry Brown said...

What do Mike Piazza's case of backne and opposite field home runs have to say about the steroids issue?

7-17-2007 @ 1:47AM

George B Vieto said...

Thank goodness the problem with steroids in baseball has not had the terrible consequences that steroids have done to many former professional wrestlers who died before the age of 50.

8-29-2007 @ 11:33AM

marija maris said...

Yeah. In the 90's he had bumps on his back a girl could lose her virginity to. I know for a fact he used equipoise. Now isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?