Hey everyone,

Sorry it's been a while since my last update. I was in Cozumel doing some
scuba diving, so I've been a little out of touch with the rest of the
world. Looks like Jose hit two long homers while I was gone!

I have a ton of articles and news to send out, so I'm going to do it in
installments. There are some rumors about the White Sox expressing
interest in Jose, but nothing at all substantial. I'll keep you posted on
that.

Many of you who have been going to the Newark Bears games have been writing
to me and telling me great stories and how it's been the time of your
life. It sounds to me like these Atlantic League games are a great
opportunity for fans to get up close with Jose. Thanks for all the stories
and photos (I'll try to get them posted one of these days) you've been
sending in. Keep them coming. In the mean time, here are some actual
emails I've received from fans recently. I'll send out all the articles I
have later, but I think these first hand stories paint the best picture of
what these games are like.

-Mark

P.S. I am going to include one Daily News article in this email too. It
does a good job of recapping Jose's current situation.

==========
From Mary Conrad (mary.conrad@...):

Mark -

I attended the open house for the Newark Bears. It was great. They had
many different kinds of FREE food to sample and all the players were out on
the field. Jose and Ozzie were both easy to spot. I enjoyed watching them
practice. I took lots of pictures. Then, about 6:10pm they took a break
from practice and started signing autographs. I have been a fan of Jose
Canseco since 1987 and had never been able to get his autograph at any
major league game, so I rushed over to where Jose and Ozzie were standing
and I was able to get both of their autographs!!! I am so happy about
this. I also was able to get close-up pictures of the two of them as they
were signing autographs. It was great. As soon as I get my pictures
developed, I'll scan them into the computer and send them to you.

Thanks alot for your terrific website and informative newsletter. Keep up
the great job.

Mary

==========
From Ben Trottier (ben_trottier@...):

Hi Mark,

Great news! I went to see Jose and Ozzie last night play against the Nashua
Pride and it was great. My fiance and I got there early and waited for he
and Ozzie to arrive. We waited a while and then saw them drive up in a
silver Nissan Pathfinder, Ozzie was driving. They saw the pile of people
waiting and left the parking lot. The returned about 10 minutes later and
parked at the end of the parking lot and ate lunch (looked like Wendy's
cheeseburgers to me) then, they finally drove up to the gate and quickly
got out and went in. I asked him to sign and he said "We're already late, I
will sign after the game". We then went to stand along the path that lead
from the visitor's clubhouse to the field, in Holman field there is no
tunnel from the clubhouse to the dugout : ) So, we got some great pictures
of him comng down the walkway, and taking the field. We also got great pics
of him in the on deck circle (until the people that actually bought the
seats showed up) and got Ozzie's autograph right before the game started.
Then we watched the game, Jose struck out twice, walked, and was hit by a
pitch, but Ozzie hit a homerun. At the end of the eight we went to the gate
to stake our claim to a position to get his autograph. We waited about 25
minutes after the game and he finally came out, and I finally got him to
autograph my "Diamond Collection" Devil Rays jersey. He also signed a
baseball for my fiance. It was so great, he signed for about 5 minutes. I
was so psyched, I have been bringing that jersey to games for 2+ years with
no luck, I was beginning to think it would never get signed. Well, I just
wanted to share my story with someone who could appreciate it! Oh yeah, I
am getting the pics developed today or tomorrow, would you like me to
e-mail them?

Talk to you later,
Ben

(p.s. I have a BGS 9.5 Donruss Canseco Rated Rookie I am thinking of
selling, do you know any one that might be interested?)

==========
From Ken Scourtas (Manzerick@...):

hi Mark,

i went to the newark game vs. the Nashua Pride.... Jose looked good
bating and fielding.... it was funny.... being in that minor league field
it was like the wwf... each batter had a theme song they came out
to... when Jose came out they played "Material girl". it was funny. the
best part of the day was the exiting of the stadium. the players exited the
same place as the fans.i was sitting second row behind the visitors
dugout(perfect Jose viewing spot) and i timed my departure with jose's and
kind of walked with him. i clamed up and couldn't say a word :(... but it
is well worth just being that close to him. Jose went 0-2 with a walk and
and was hit by a pitch..

talk to ya later,
Ken Scourtas

==========
From Joey Santer (santer36@...):

hey i just wanted to let you know i went to the newark bears game last
night (sat the 12th. and that was the best experience i have ever
had! for the first time i saw he was actually speaking in english to
everyone. he signed many autographs including one on my yankees jersey and
one on my tampa bay jersey! he hit a homer and not only did he hit it he
crushed it! afterwards everyone was chanting JOSE, JOSE for a whole nother
at bat but unfortunately he didn't come out for the curtain call. the best
part was seeing him talking with his brother, and giving it his all in the
outfield. i see a big difference in him out there! he hustled and his arm
looked good too! i wish i would have had a good picture of him and ozzie
when either of them hit their homers they do the arm bash and its just
great to see! then after the game there were fireworks and jose brought
josie out to watch with him. if you get the chance you have to get to a
bears game. everyone likes him there and you don't have to put up with
everyone yelling at him and calling him a bum and stuff like that. i did
ask jose what he thought about glenallen hill and all he said was "well
there's not much to say" and he shrugged his shoulders. i didn't expect
him to say what he really wanted. i have some digital pics if you want me
to send you some they are pretty good and in an hour i will get two more
rolls back i'm sure i have some good ones on there too. so let me know if
you want me to send you some! i'll just have to scan the others! see ya
and take it easy.

Joey

==========
From the NY Post:
Canseco Bucks the Odds
In minors, former Yankee fights steroid rumors
By LUKE CYPHERS
BRIDGEPORT, Conn.

Jose Canseco is stuck.

Absent from a major league roster for the first time since 1985, the
36-year-old Canseco, once one of baseball's most feared sluggers, is
playing for the minor league Newark Bears. He preps for games against teams
like the Bridgeport Bluefish - whose ballpark adjoins a ferry slip and a
train station - in hopes that the Hall of Fame will be his last stop.

Just 54 home runs shy of the magic 500 mark that would ensure enshrinement
in Cooperstown, Canseco is desperate to get back to the big leagues. "It's
so close I can just taste it," he says. "I could get there in one full
season, and part of another."

Yet Canseco, who rode the bench for the Yankees last year and was cut after
a limited tryout with Anaheim in spring training, remains in limbo -
partly, according to some major league sources, because of the rumors of
steroid use that have dogged the slugger his entire career.

In 1988, Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell said Canseco took the
illegal muscle-building drugs. Opposing fans have chanted "Steeerr-roids"
at him. Opposing players allegedly dubbed steroids "the Jose Canseco
milkshake."

And front-office types have whispered this year that perhaps steroid use
has broken down Canseco to the point where he can't endure an entire season.

Canseco says the rumors were never true, that he is healthy now, and that
his injury problems resulted from his unusual combination of speed and
bulk. "No. 1, they're all rumors," he says. "The truth is, I'm one of the
unlucky few who's been injured a lot. I think a lot of it may be
weight-related; I'm a guy with sprinter speed that weighed over 240 pounds.
When you try to move that kind of weight, things are gonna tear."

Major League Baseball has no drug-testing program, but players privately
say steroid use is fairly common, and even Mark McGwire's pursuit
record-setting 70-homer season was tainted by revelations that he took
androstenedione - a legal nutritional supplement the federal government is
now considering classifying as an anabolic steroid.

A weightlifting fanatic, Canseco admits he may have overtrained at times,
which could have led to some injuries. This year he cut 20 pounds, down to
240, and says he feels leaner and faster than he has been in years.

He says his more common game-related injuries, such as a broken hand, piled
on top of other ailments to leave a distorted picture. Last year, he was
healthy but had no role to play for the Yankees - who kept him on their
roster in part to keep him away from rivals.

"It's not fair," Canseco says of the perceptions, "but what can I do about it?"

Canseco says his career has been dogged by rumors of all kinds, partly
because his swiftness and size was ahead of its time, and partly because he
did not cope well with the spotlight as a young player.

"There have been so many rumors, so many different things said about me, it
would make your head spin," he says. "I was such an overwhelming player
visually, nobody could really believe it."

He has been dogged by rumors that steroids has shortened his career.
Nowadays, most every major leaguer is a muscly weightlifter, and the past
decade's increase in home runs is due in part to stronger hitters. But
Canseco was the first ballplayer to train and look like a middle
linebacker, and became the first man to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in
a single season.

He thinks he paid a price for being a pioneer. The year after Boswell
asserted that Canseco used steroids, Canseco says the writer apologized to
him. But by that time the slugger claims he had lost out on a
million-dollar endorsement deal with Pepsi.

"People would follow me, trying to find out what I ate, who I hung out
with, how I worked out, trying to completely dissect who I was," he says.
"I had trouble handling it at the beginning. I was shy, but if you don't
talk with the media, you're considered as arrogant."

Now, he's hoping that the unusual media scrutiny on the Atlantic League
Bears will help him and some fellow former big leaguers seeking a last shot
at the big time.

Jim Leyritz, the ex-Yankee whose home run in the 1996 World Series helped
usher in the current Bronx dynasty, wants to prove he can still play after
off-season shoulder surgery.

Leyritz will play three or four weeks, and if a team doesn't call by then,
it's back to Florida with his wife and three sons. "I know I gotta face the
music sometime," says Leyritz, the chatty catcher who ranks ahead of Babe
Ruth in the arcane statistical category of postseason home runs per time at
bat. "But I want to show teams I can still hit and throw and catch."

A smile emerges beneath his wraparound sunglasses as Leyritz adds, "I think
I have enough left that if I'm with a playoff team, I can extend my lead on
the Babe."

Somewhere between the driven Canseco and the fun-loving Leyritz is Lance
Johnson, whose baseball career began as a junior-college teammate of
retired Twins star Kirby Puckett.

Canseco was the first player to train and look like a middle linebacker,
and he thinks he has paid the price for being a pioneer. While the former
Mets leadoff man, who spent part of last season as a Yankees reserve, is
still plugging away, Puckett will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this
summer. "It's something else when you think about it, going from junior
college to pro ball to 12 years in the big leagues to being 37 years old,"
Johnson says. "But I've got five more years left, easy."

Newark manager Tom O'Malley thinks all three can find their way back to the
majors, and that Canseco will be ready soon. "All Jose needs is a month of
playing every day to show he can stay healthy," he says.

Canseco looked vigorous Wednesday night with a colossal home run. The
slugger made Bridgeport history by being the first to hit a ball off the
neighboring basketball arena in a game.

The 450-foot shot crashed so violently against the brick face of the arena
that it caromed back over the fence and onto the playing field - jumping a
gap of more than 10 yards.

Opposing fans who booed Canseco the previous night gave him a standing ovation.

Canseco can only hope that Major League executives eyeing him from afar
will react the same way.