Hey everyone,

Jose is definitely heating up. He had his second straight start in right
field today, and he's proving his worth. Last night, he had two walks, a
double, and scored two runs, and today he had two more hits, including a
434 foot home run. Jose is 10 for his last 26 (.385) with 4 homers.

For the season, Canseco is batting a very impressive .302 in 63 at bats,
with 5 homers, 11 RBIs and 11 runs scored. He also has 4 doubles, 1 stolen
base, and is sporting a solid .603 slugging percentage. Sweet.

Jose's been complaining a lot lately about wanting to play the field again,
going so far as to guarantee he would get 40-40 again if some team would
let him play the field every day. He even went so far as to challenged any
player over 230 pounds (not sure how many people that is) to a
race. Personally, I think Jose should be happy to be back in the majors
and just concentrate on his hitting. If he wants to try to showcase his
fielding skills for some team next year, great, but right now, I think he
should just be grateful to the White Sox for giving him a chance to play
baseball again.

As always, all the latest news is below...
Mark

P.S. Don't forget to go to www.donruss.com to vote for Jose to be placed in
a special set of cards. Show the world he still has lots of die-hard fans!

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From the Chicago Sun Times:
(2nd Half Dos and Don'ts)

DO: Keep Jose Canseco in the lineup during the upcoming six games in
National League parks. It will be tricky with Canseco's history of high
jinks in the outfield. But in a wild-card run, the Sox will need a sharp
Canseco. Manuel should keep Canseco in the fifth spot to put a scare in
opposing pitchers and to set up the top of the order.

DO: Find a way to say goodbye to Harold Baines. The veteran designated
hitter, who is on the disabled list because of a severely pulled left
quadriceps, is no match for Canseco. Baines, 42, is a touchy subject
because chairman Jerry Reinsdorf is his biggest cheerleader, even though he
has nothing more to offer the Sox.

(Keys for Success)

JOSE CANSECO: Did his five-game hitting streak entering the break earn him
a start at Wrigley, where designated hitters aren't allowed? It's an issue
Manuel wrestled with during the break.

The Sox needed a power threat to replace Frank Thomas in their lineup and
after hitting two home runs Sunday, Canseco has shown he can fill that
role. He also has made it clear that a six-game stretch of pinch-hitting
duty would set him back greatly.

Canseco gives the Sox an exciting presence, and he was signed to give them
a final push. He can't do it sitting on the bench waiting for one late-game
at-bat.

==========
From the Chicago Daily Southtown:
Keep the glove ready

While slugger Jose Canseco wasn't in the starting lineup Thursday - he
grounded out pinch-hitting for Valentin - Manuel didn't rule out the
possibility of starting him in the outfield for one of the two remaining
games against the Cubs.

The last time Canseco started in the field was with the Yankees near the
end of last season, as a left fielder.

==========
From the Chicago Tribune:
Canseco pushes for good shot as outfielder
By Paul Sullivan
July 16, 2001 11:17 PM CDT

MILWAUKEE - In 1988, Jose Canseco became the first major-league player with
more than 40 home runs and 40 steals in the same season.

Now 37, Canseco would like another shot at 40-40, but thinks the only way
he can accomplish it is by playing in the outfield. Manager Jerry Manuel
inserted Canseco into right field for the first time Monday, but only to
get him some at-bats in a National League ballpark.

"I truly believe that if I played outfield every day, I'd be a 40-40 guy,"
Canseco said. "No doubt about it because I know what my legs felt like when
I was playing outfield with the Newark Bears. If someone would even take a
look at me, give me a week in the outfield-just one-and then watch me and
decide. . Fair is fair, right?"

Canseco said he's "depressed" about sitting on the bench when he knows he
can play the field.

Has Canseco been stereotyped as a bad outfielder since the infamous day of
May 26, 1993, when a fly ball by Cleveland's Carlos Martinez bounced off
his head and over the fence for a home run in old Municipal Stadium?

"If that's the reason, that's ridiculous," he said. "Obviously no one is
sticking up for me, so I guess I'll have to stick up for myself. I know
that if I'm hot, I can carry a team."

When Canseco was playing for independent Newark earlier this year, an
opposing team played the video of his "header" in Cleveland on the
Jumbotron. The team's general manager sent Canseco a letter of apology.

"I feel like people are saying 'You stink-you're the worst outfielder in
baseball,'" Canseco said. "I know that I'm not. I wish someone would just
say, 'Jose, you're too old.'"

No promises: Canseco hasn't played outfield regularly since 1991 with
Oakland. Manuel said that's the reason why he doesn't play there anymore.

"That's 10 years [ago]," Manuel said. "It's the same reason why Harold
Baines [was] not out there. I don't think [Canseco] was promised outfield
play when he came here. He was promised to be a presence in the lineup
against some American League teams, and that's what he's doing."

Canseco joked that if he gets into the Hall of Fame, he'll wear his Newark
Bears cap. His pursuit of 500 home runs has been in slow motion, and he
called this "the most frustrating time" of his career.

"If I do reach 500 home runs, I'll probably be the only guy in history who
has to pinch-hit to get there," he said.

If anyone really wants to know how hard it is to be Jose Canseco, they'll
have to wait for his autobiography, which is already in progress.

"How many players in the history of the game, of note, in this decade, have
gone through more than I have and accomplished more than I have?" he said.
"Sure, you have your great players who have maintained that greatness
through their whole careers, but how many players do you have that can
enter the 500 home run category or go to the Hall of Fame, and the same
player is disregarded as a bum, released, then got the chance to play
again, won comeback player of the year a few times, and still has a chance
to reach the 500 home run level?

"In all of history that has never happened. So when I retire from baseball,
you'll know the truth of who I really am."

==========
From the AP:

...Canseco played six innings in right and didn't get any chances.

Notes:Canseco has been lobbying manager Jerry Manuel for more playing time
and has been flagging fly balls during batting practice. Manuel said before
the interleague game that it was a rare opportunity to give Canseco his wish.

==========
Sun Times:
Frustrated Canseco wants more
July 17, 2001
BY CHRIS DE LUCA

MILWAUKEE--Shortly before leaving the clubhouse to make his first start in
the outfield for the the White Sox, veteran Jose Canseco issued a stiff
challenge Monday.

''I'll say this: Any team that lets me play the outfield every day, I will
accomplish 40-40 again,'' said Canseco, who in 1988 became the first player
to hit at least 40 homers and steal 40 bases in the same season.

It might be too late for a 40-40 effort saving the Sox, but Canseco was
glad manager Jerry Manuel showed enough confidence to start him in right
field and give All-Star Magglio Ordonez a night off.

Since signing with the Sox on June 20, Canseco has insisted he can still
play the outfield based on his 41 games for the Newark Bears of the
independent Atlantic League. He has been puzzled at the Sox' reluctance to
give him a glove.

''I don't know how you can judge me as an outfielder when they put me out
there once every five months,'' Canseco said. ''You'll never know how
frustrating it really is, especially when you are healthy and you can help
the team with one swing of the bat.''

Canseco, 37, called his 37-game stay with the New York Yankees last season
the most devastating stretch of his career. He then compared it with his
stint with the Sox.

''Being completely healthy here and showing that I can be healthy and play
the outfield every day [in Newark], it is devastating again,'' Canseco
said. ''It's like what I was telling a friend last night. If I do reach 500
home runs, I'd probably be the only guy in history who had to pinch-hit his
way to 500. It is the most frustrating time of my career.''

Canseco--the 1988 American League MVP--says he is frustrated because he
knows his skills haven't diminished that much.

''I've said it before and I'll say it right now. I'm the fastest man in
baseball for my size,'' Canseco said. ''I challenge anyone in baseball, 230
[pounds] and up. Just bring your paycheck. I'll take it from you.''

Has Canseco been surprised at the Sox' reluctance to use him in the outfield?

''Not as much surprised as ... maybe depressed,'' he said. ''I feel people
are saying, 'Jose, you can't play the outfield. You are the worst
outfielder in baseball. You stink.'

''I wish somebody would come up and say, 'Jose, you're too old. You're no
good.' If that's the reason. Obviously, no one else is sticking up for me,
so I have to stick up for myself.''

Well, there was that time in 1993 in Cleveland that Carlos Martinez's fly
ball plopped off your Texas Rangers cap and went over the wall for a home run.

''If that's the reason,'' Canseco said, ''that's ridiculous.''

Manager Jerry Manuel explained that Canseco's inexperience as an outfielder
in recent years is the key reason the Sox want him to primarily be their
designated hitter. Canseco said he last regularly played the outfield in
1991 for the Oakland Athletics.

''For the most part, baseball, the major-league industry, has dismissed him
as an outfielder,'' Manuel said. ''He hasn't been out there in 10 years.
It's the same reason I don't want Harold Baines out there. I don't think he
was promised outfield play when he came here. He was promised to be
somewhat of a presence in the lineup against American League teams, and
that's what he has been.''

Canseco knows he is more than just another bat in the lineup.

''I've always been the type of guy who sold tickets,'' he said. ''Guys want
to see what I look like, to see if I'm a freak. A guy asked me once, 'What
do you eat?' I eat food. I'm a human being. I have a daughter [Josie]. But
I guess I'm still a freak.

''I don't know how I exactly got to this position in my life. ... Can
anything else go wrong? Read the book when I write it.''

And if he does reach 500 home runs and gets voted into the Hall of Fame,
''I'm going to have to wear 10 different caps,'' he said with a laugh.
''Maybe the Newark Bears.''

Definitely not the White Sox.

==========
From the Chicago Daily Southtown:
Book it: Canseco frustrated
Tuesday, July 17, 2001
By Joe Cowley

MILWAUKEE - His book isn't close to being finished, but White Sox slugger
Jose Canseco began promoting it Monday.

Before taking the field against Milwaukee for his first start in the
outfield since late last season with the New York Yankees, Canseco
discussed how his career has disintegrated into a frustrating job of late.

He also promised much more to come in a book on his life that's currently
in the works.

"You'll never know how frustrating this is," Canseco said. "Especially when
you know you can help the team with one swing of the bat. It's been the
most frustrating time in my life. This (with the Sox) and the Yankees (in
the second half of last season)."

Canseco began complaining about being left out of the lineup just before
the All-Star break. He had a two-homer game on July 8, but fell victim to
interleague play on the road last week and was out of the lineup again
because the Sox could not use the designated hitter.

Sox manager Jerry Manuel finally gave him a start in right field Monday
night. The move was made to give All-Star Magglio Ordonez a rest and get
Canseco some at-bats before Cleveland and Boston come to town.

Canseco said reports that he can't play the outfield are unfounded. He even
went as far as to issue a challenge to all of baseball.

"If I do reach 500 home runs (he needs 50 more), I'll probably be the only
player in the history of this game that has to do it as a pinch hitter," he
said. "I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm the fastest man in
baseball for my size. I challenge anyone in baseball 230 (pounds) and up.
Just bring your paycheck. I'll take it from you."

Canseco insisted he ran a 4.39 in the 40-yard dash as late as last season,
and that he ran a 4.40 40 with the Newark Bears of the independent Atlantic
League "a couple of months ago."

"If no one is going to stick up for me, I will," Canseco said. "I don't
know how I got to this point in my life. Read the book when I write it. It's
probably going to be a best seller."

The 37-year-old Canseco entered Monday's game hitting .281 with four home
runs and 10 RBI since joining the Sox on June 20. He finished last season
on the bench with the Yankees, and was released by the Anaheim Angels this
spring because they said he lost his power.

"He was in the independent league, and we didn't get any reports of his
outfield play," Manuel said. "We were more concerned with the bat. Baseball
... the major league industry has dismissed him as an everyday outfielder."

The last time Canseco was an everyday starter in the outfield was back in
1991 with Oakland.

"That's 10 years," Manuel said. "He hasn't been out there (on a regular
basis) in 10 years. I don't think he was promised the outfield when he came
here. He was promised to be a presence in the middle of the lineup against
American League teams."

Canseco said there were a couple of reasons why he is where he is at this
point in his career. One reason is that being one half of the famous "Bash
Brothers" (along with former Oakland teammate Mark McGwire) made him larger
than life.

Back in the early years, because I was so big and fast, it was like I was a
freak," Canseco said. "People would ask me what I ate. I eat food. I have a
daughter. I'm human. We (he and McGwire) became some kind of legends.
Non-human ... bigger than life."

He also said one reason he doesn't get a chance to play in the outfield is
the memory of the ball that went off his head for a home run in Cleveland
when he was with Texas. That piece of film still appears on bloopers in
every ballpark.

"If that's it (why teams are afraid to start him in the outfield), it's
ridiculous," Canseco said. "If a team puts me in the outfield as an
everyday player I will accomplish 40-40 (40 homers and 40 stolen bases)
again. No doubt about it."

Canseco became the first player in major league history to accomplish the
40-40 feat when he did it in 1988.

"All I'm asking for is a chance to play every day," he said. "Just give me
a week."

==========
From the AP:
Chicago 8, Milwaukee 4

...Jose Canseco, Mark Johnson, Carlos Lee and Jeff Liefer homered as the
White Sox (46-45) moved over .500 for the first time since losing their
second game of the season and dropping to 1-1....

...Canseco, making his second straight start in right field, made it 2-0 in
the fourth with a 434-foot solo homer, his fifth. Johnson, the No. 8
hitter, hit his second homer of the year an inning later....