Hey everyone,

I just wanted to send you guys the latest news on Jose, including his first
interview from jail. I'll keep you posted as the news unfolds.

Hang in there, Jose...

-Mark

==========
From the Miami Herald:
Canseco is jailed for violating probation
Slugger's plea for mercy dismissed
BY LISA ARTHUR
larthur@...

Jose Canseco Jr., a former Major League Baseball most valuable player,
could spend the next month in a Miami-Dade County jail after admitting to a
judge Tuesday that he's guilty of violating probation on assault charges.

When he finally gets back to court for a sentencing hearing on March 17, he
could face up to 15 years in prison.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Leonard Glick dismissed Canseco's pleas for mercy
and freedom on bond while awaiting sentencing.

''No bond,'' Glick said. He then instructed corrections officers to take
Canseco into custody.

Jailing probation violators is standard procedure. Because of his celebrity
status, Canseco will be held in an isolation cell for his own protection,
jail spokeswoman Janelle Hall said.

The former slugger, wearing a double-breasted dark suit, looked stunned as
he sat in the jury box with his hands cuffed in front of him.

His father, Jose Sr., and twin brother, Osvaldo ''Ozzie'' Canseco, looked
on in disbelief from the gallery.

''This is where faith comes in,'' said Ozzie Canseco, as one of his
brother's attorneys removed a chunky silver chain from around Jose's neck.

His father said Jose had been treated unfairly.

''The United States should be proud to have such a man as Jose Canseco in
this country,'' Jose Canseco Sr. said. ``This is very, very unfair.''

Lead attorney Gustavo Lage said after the hearing that an appeal or motion
to ask Glick for bond wasn't likely.

''I think the judge has already ruled on that,'' he said. ``Under the
circumstances I don't think that's an option.''

The Canseco twins, 38, grudgingly pleaded guilty in November to aggravated
battery and battery for allegedly breaking the nose of an Opium Garden
patron and splitting the lip of another during a 2001 brawl. Jose was also
charged with battery on a bouncer at the Miami Beach nightclub.

The brothers maintained they were protecting Jose's date, who they said was
harassed by two men from California, Christian Presley and Alan Cheeks, who
were in town for a business convention.

Lage said the brothers were accepting the plea deals to get the case over
with and protect their families, not because they were guilty.

Glick placed Jose Canseco on probation for three years and ordered him to
perform 250 hours of community service and take an anger management course.

He also ordered Canseco to pay court costs.

According to an arrest warrant issued Friday, Jose Canseco failed to make
monthly reports to his probation officer, failed to begin the community
service hours and failed to take the anger management course.

Another term of the probation prohibited him from leaving South Florida for
longer than 30 days at a time. He violated that, too, according to the
warrant. He's also behind on court costs and supervision costs. He owes
$247.91.

Lage said Canseco tried to contact his probation officer by phone and had
been in California involved in a child-custody battle.

He told Glick that his client was accepting responsibility by admitting his
guilt, but hoped to explain his actions to the judge.

Glick cut him off.

''Today was an opportunity for him to surrender to the court and he's going
to be taken into custody,'' Glick said. ``We'll set a hearing.''

Ozzie Canseco was sentenced to 18 months of probation, 200 hours of
community service and the anger management course. He has complied with his
probation.

Jose Canseco was the American League MVP in 1988

==========
From the Toronto Sun:
Canseco doesn't get it
By STEVE BUFFERY

The FAN's Bob McCown did us a big favour last week when he interviewed
baseball slugger-turned-lunk head Jose Canseco on Prime Time Sports.

Canseco has one of those tell-all books coming out, probably next fall if
he can get out of jail in time to finish it, exposing Major League Baseball
for the dastardly organization it is.

In a telephone interview with the FAN, big bad Jose whined about the strife
and hardship MLB put him through during his long career, and how the
experience left him a bitter man.

DISGUSTED

"Because I am so disgusted with Major League Baseball, with what they've
done to me and others, I am getting rid of every single thing that I've had
involved with baseball," Canseco said.


"Everything will be auctioned off. Everything is gone. I don't want to see it."

The weird part is, Canseco never once mentioned the untold millions he made
from the game or any of the bonehead moves he made to embarrass the league
and the game itself.

He never mentioned the time he was busted for carrying a gun in his car, or
when he drove his wife's car off the road or his being charged with spousal
abuse of another wife or his role in the nightclub brawl that landed him in
jail this week.

Professional sport, unfortunately, has turned a lot of guys into spoiled
brats who believe because they are stars, society should cater to their
every whim and desire.

In a perfect world, we would boycott Canseco's book.

==========
From the AP:
Canseco did it for his daughter

MIAMI -- Jose Canseco, in his first interview since being jailed earlier
this week, said the pending custody battle for his six-year-old daughter is
more important than a possible return to baseball.

Speaking to ESPN Radio yesterday from Miami-Dade County Jail, the six-time
all-star outfielder said his first few days in jail have been uneventful
but embarrassing following his probation violation and sentencing Tuesday.

"I've only been here two-to-three days," Canseco said. "Everything's been
all right so far. I've never been in prison or in jail before, so I don't
know what to expect."

Canseco has been jailed, albeit briefly, in Miami at least twice
previously, first in 1992 on a battery charge and again in 1997 after a
domestic violence charge.

Canseco said he will meet with his lawyers in the next few days to see
where he stands legally. The former Toronto Blue Jay could remain in jail
until a March 17 sentencing hearing for violating terms of his probation
for a 2001 fight at a Miami Beach nightclub.

The arrest stemmed from a probation officer's report that he was not taking
his sentence seriously and had failed to begin anger control classes and
community service, and that he had left Florida for longer than 30 days,
all violations of the terms of his sentence.

Canseco said he was aware of the terms of his probation, but his custody
battle over his daughter had taken up his time and had led to the violations.

"I was aware, but I got caught up with a lot of things in L.A. with the
child-custody issue with my daughter and that just consumed me completely,"
Canseco said. "It's just ironic where I'm trying to spend time with my
daughter ... and I end up in jail for 30 days which keeps me away from my
daughter for 30 days. It's extremely difficult to handle.

"I had to come in every month and check in with my probation officer," he
added. "I meant no disrespect to anyone. ... I just was thinking about my
daughter, getting that solved and spending time with her, and look what
happened."