Former Mets catcher Mike Piazza denies
persistent rumors that he is gay in his upcoming memoir, Long Shot
(Simon & Schuster).
In the book, previewed on Monday by the
New York Post, Piazza, 44, discusses the rumor, saying he
believes it started in 2002 after Mets manager Bobby Valentine said
in an interview that baseball was ready for an openly gay player.
“The whole episode was such a
strange, incredible phenomenon,” he wrote. “I still don't get
it.”
Piazza, considered a ladies man, said
he found the insinuation that he was lying about his sexuality to be
insulting.
“I found it hugely insulting that
people believed I'd go so far out of my way – living with
Playmates, vacationing with actresses, showing up at nightclubs –
to act out a lifestyle that would amount to a charade,” Piazza
said.
“If I was gay, I'd be gay all the
way,” he added.