Hey Cansecoites,

I'm on my way home from an exciting week of scuba diving. I see Jose has
been playing fairly well while I was gone - when he's been in the lineup
anyway. It looks like he's been on the bench for a couple of games,
including on his 37th birthday on July 2nd. It doesn't sound like he's
thrilled about his lack of playing time (see articles below), but he has
been in the lineup for the last three games, so hopefully it was only
temporary. Through Friday's game (I'm on an airplane right now, so I don't
know what's going on tonight), Jose is batting .250 with 2 homers, 7 RBIs,
and 1 SB in 48 ABs. Those numbers aren't bad, but I suspect they will pick
up in the second half as he gets his timing back.

Jose now needs exactly one more stolen base to become only the eighth
player in history to hit 400 homers and steal 200 bases. All of the other
players in that group are either in the Hall of Fame or headed there (Barry
Bonds).

There is a HUGE Canseco collection for sale on ebay right now (from a
member of this list). It consists of over 1000 different cards and lots of
memorabilia, including autographed items. Check it out at:
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1163363236
If you have any questions, you can email DJ33-88JL@...

Support Jose! Go to http://www.donruss.com and on the right side of the
main page, vote for Jose to be included in the Donruss Fan Club set. Let's
show everyone that Jose is still a fan favorite...

-Mark

P.S. In completely unrelated news, my very good friends Mark and Amy Proper
gave birth to a healthy baby boy yesterday. I suspect Cole James Proper
will be a huge Jose Canseco fan after a little time spent with Uncle
Petrillo. Congratulations Propers!

==========
From the Chicago Sun Times:

GETTING IT RIGHT: Williams and Manuel are pleased with what they've seen so
far from Jose Canseco. The best sign: Canseco hitting balls to right field.

"With his history, you worry about him trying to hit homer after homer, but
he's shown he'll take the ball to right field," Williams said.

"It's more than I expected," Manuel said. "He's provided a spark. He's put
balls in play, and that was the thing we were concerned about--if the
strikeout rate would be high."

==========
From the Daily Southtown:
Feels like the first time

Designated hitter Jose Canseco, whom the Sox signed as a free agent June
20, made his Comiskey Park debut as a South Sider on Friday night.

"The ballpark here is great," said Canseco, who had been playing for the
Atlantic League's Newark (N.J.) Bears. "The guys have been accepting of me.
I just want to swing the bat well and get hot.

"I'm only 36. I think I still have two or three or four good years in me. I
still have an arm and I still can hit. I want to show everyone that I can
still hit, run, throw and do all of those things."

==========
From the Chicago Tribune:
Baldwin, Sox down Orioles

...In the second, Jose Canseco hit a one-out single off Willis Roberts
(6-7) and scored on Perry's fourth homer, hit just out of reach of right
fielder Larry Bigbie. It was Perry's first homer since May 13.

Konerko led off the fourth with his 16th homer, a shot to center off
Roberts. Canseco then walked, stole second and scored one out later on
Sandy Alomar's RBI single....

==========
From the Chicago Sun Times:

...Roberts lasted just 3 1/3 innings and was charged with all four runs,
the last coming when Jose Canseco walked in the fourth, stole second and
scored on Sandy Alomar Jr.'s single.

Canseco's theft was the 199th of his career. One more will make him the
eighth player in history with at least 400 homers and 200 steals.

"He has the green light [to steal]," Manuel said. "He's a good athlete--a
40-40 [home run-steals] guy. There are a number of things he can do and do
well. He's taken a walk and put balls in play and that's what we need."

Canseco had singled in his first at-bat in the second, ending an 0-for-7
stretch. But he has hit in six of eight games since joining the Sox.

"I think he needs these consistent major league at-bats to get in a flow,
but he can be frightening to an opponent," Manuel said.

==========
From the Daily Southtown:

..."I've got to do what I can do right now so I can find my rhythm up
there," said Canseco, who went 2-for-3 and scored two runs. "I'm trying to
get on base, steal a base here and there. Take advantage and score. I just
don't want to be seen as a one-dimensional player."

==========
From the Chicago Tribune:
Canseco's complaint: Timing is everything
By Paul Sullivan
July 4, 2001 10:16 PM CDT

Sitting on the bench is not the way for Jose Canseco to get back in his
home-run groove, at least according to Jose Canseco.

The recently acquired slugger hit his second home run Wednesday after
sitting out the last two games and said afterward that he can't get his
timing back if he doesn't play regularly.

"Hopefully the fans will understand that the timing is not there yet,"
Canseco said. "I don't know when it's going to get there or if it will at
all."

Does he feel it coming around at all?

"It's real hard to tell," Canseco replied. "It kind of gets a little better
and then you sit a couple of days. In the past, I've been the type of power
hitter who is streaky. I need to be in the lineup every day and take my
aggressive swings. Once you make a few hard contacts, then it just takes
off from there. I went through this last year with the Yankees. I guess I
don't do well playing every other day or two or three times a week."

Canseco said he doesn't plan to talk to manager Jerry Manuel about getting
more at-bats.

"I'm a newcomer here," he said.

==========
From the Chicago Sun Times:

CANSECO UNHAPPY: Designated hitter Jose Canseco hit his 448th career home
run but after the Sox' victory over the Twins, he complained about his
playing time.

"Play one game, sit two, really, I'm not used to this," said Canseco, who
hadn't started since Sunday. "I was put under those circumstances last year
with the Yankees and it was tough for me."

Can Canseco find his rhythm if Manuel starts him occasionally?

"No way," Canseco said. "I'm not that kind of player. I'm not a pinch
hitter and I guess I don't do well playing two or three times a week."

==========
From the Pioneer Plante:

...The Sox cut it to 2-1 on Jose Canseco's first home run at Comiskey Park
since signing on June 20. The two-out homer off Milton was Canseco's second
of the season and moved him 52 away from 500....

==========
From CNN/SI:

...Canseco hit a two-out shot into the first row of the left-field
bleachers in the bottom of the sixth for his 448th career home run.

"Milton is one of the best lefthanders in the league," Canseco said. "He's
got a changeup, a nasty cutter and a curveball. He's tough, so we were
fortunate to come out on top."

==========
From the Chicago Tribune:
Canseco goal: Full-time DH
By Paul Sullivan
July 5, 2001 10:51 PM CDT

When the White Sox signed Jose Canseco as their new designated hitter,
Canseco was under the assumption he'd play almost every day.

"When you sign with any ballclub, as long as you're healthy and with the
ability you have, you always hope you'll be the everyday DH, or combine DH
with some outfield," he said Thursday. "But obviously not."

Canseco joined Royce Clayton on the list of Sox players who don't care for
manager Jerry Manuel's musical-chairs lineups. But while Clayton whined
about not playing when he was still in the lineup, Canseco believes he was
misled into thinking he would play every day.

Does he have any regrets about signing with the Sox?

"No, none whatsoever," he said. "I'm happy to be here and so forth. I'd
just love to be playing every day."

Canseco said he doesn't want a pinch-hitting role and that it would be
"impossible" for him to become consistent without regular at-bats. Manuel
suggested Thursday that Canseco could go down to Triple-A Charlotte and DH
during the upcoming Cubs and Brewers series, where there will be no DH.

"I'm just being facetious," Manuel said. "I would ask him if that is an
issue. I don't think it is."

Canseco has a better idea.

"I played outfield every day in the minor leagues for 40 games," he said.
"Played some center field, didn't make any errors. I guess the buzz out
there is that I still can't play outfield or I have not played outfield. I
don't understand it, but it is what it is."

The last time Canseco played outfield on a semiregular basis in the majors
was in 1998 with Toronto, when he committed five errors in 73 games. He
still is stereotyped as the player who let a fly ball by Carlos Martinez
bounce off his head and over the fence for a home run in 1993.

"I guess nobody thinks I can play outfield anymore," Canseco said. "Maybe
I'll have to join a softball league or something."

Most 16-inch softball teams already have been chosen, but Canseco has a
better chance of finding a softball team than playing outfield under
Manuel. With the All-Star Game and Cubs and Brewers series, Canseco will be
off for nine days. Can he find a groove after nine days off?

"Impossible," he replied. "Last year I had that experience with the
Yankees. Under those circumstances it's just impossible. I'm not that kind
of hitter. Maybe some guys can do it-but for a power hitter, I need my
rhythm to get back into the swing of things.

"Once I get my rhythm and I'm locked in, everyone knows what I can do. I
can carry the team for a while. But to play one day and sit two, play two
and sit one. ... Obviously, with the National League [ballparks] involved
and I won't play for [six] games, it's going to be a big setback. I'm doing
the best I can."

Silent Paul: When Canseco was signed, Paul Konerko said it was a good move
as long as Canseco played.

"He's been around for a long time, but that still doesn't change the fact
that as a hitter you have to be in there every day, not in one day and off
two," Konerko said.

But Thursday it was Konerko who sat while Canseco was at DH, moving Jeff
Liefer to first. Unlike Clayton and Canseco, Konerko bit his tongue.

"Jeff Liefer right now is really swinging the bat well, and we're going to
give him most of those [DH] at-bats," Manuel said.

==========
Fropm the AP:
Canseco just wants to play ball
By RICK GANO

CHICAGO -- Jose Canseco grabbed his glove yesterday evening and headed to
the outfield during batting practice to shag fly balls.

It's something he'd like to do for real during a game.

The Chicago White Sox's new designated hitter wants to play ball. Not once
in a while, but every day, even when there's an interleague game that would
force him to become a position player.

"There's a buzz going out there that I can't play the outfield. I don't
understand it," the 37-year-old Canseco said.

"I guess nobody thinks I can play the outfield. I guess I'm going to have
to join a softball team to play the outfield."

Canseco said he had no trouble playing centre field while appearing in 41
games for the independent Atlantic League's Newark (N.J.) Bears before
signing with the White Sox on June 20.

In 1998, he started 73 of 151 games in the outfield for the Toronto Blue
Jays and had a career-high 46 homers with 107 RBIs, but last season he
fielded just five games with the New York Yankees.

Released by Anaheim in spring training, Canseco is still shaking off the
rust and readjusting to major league pitching. Chicago signed him, looking
for a DH with some punch after losing Frank Thomas for the season because
of a triceps injury.

Canseco, with his seventh major league team, hit his 448th career homer
Wednesday night against Minnesota after not starting the previous two games.

And sitting is not what he came to Chicago to do.

He called his part-time status with the Yankees last year "the most
frustrating time of my career."

And being a pinch-hitter when he's not in the lineup, he says, is "impossible."

"I'm a power hitter and I need my rhythm," he said. And if he doesn't play
in interleague games, "it will be a real setback."

"I feel sorry for the guys who are pinch-hitters. It's so hard you wouldn't
believe it."

Manager Jerry Manuel said he hadn't heard from Canseco about his need to
play every day. Manuel, with tongue-in-cheek, said that maybe Canseco would
like to go to the minors when the White Sox play six straight games in NL
parks after the all-star break.

That way he could get in his at-bats.

"I'm sure everyone would like to play every night and get their timing,"
Manuel said, adding that the White Sox have other hitters, including
left-handed swinging Jeff Liefer, he needs to find at-bats for.

"He (Canseco) has made no issue with me about it," Manuel said. "If he has
a problem, my office door is always wide open."

Canseco reiterated he's happy to have this chance with the White Sox and is
not trying to cause trouble.

"I'm not telling anybody what to do," he said. "I'm happy to be here. I
love to play every day. I want to play every day."

==========
From the Minnesota Star Tribune:

...Jose Canseco, saying he hopes to play every day -- even as an outfielder
during interleague games -- had a walk, two singles and a fly ball to the
fence as the DH. ...