Ornery, sabermetric-challenged former New York Times columnist Murray Chass, who now blogs, claims he tried to write about the glaring and grotesque bacne of Hall of Fame-lock Mike Piazza about 10 years ago. And the paper wouldn’t let him.

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.

Poor Mike Piazza. First the gay accusations, and now an extensive column exploring his bacne. What’s next, the trials and tribulations of dealing with a foot odor problem? At least he married a Playmate (NSFW).

Mike Piazza: His Bat and His Back (Murray Chass)