Hey everyone,

A number of you have emailed me asking how you can pass your get well
wishes on to Jose. Well, I've got an idea. I set up an email account for
you to send a message to if you want - it's getwell@.... Go
ahead and send your messages to Jose at that address, and I'll do my best
to make sure he gets them. Regardless of whether I can get them to him or
not, I'll still publish them all on Canseconet.com... after all, I have a
feeling Jose's going to have lots of time to surf the web over the next few
weeks!

Please try to keep your messages relatively short (no need to tell your
life story), and the sooner you get them to me, the better. I plan to put
them all together and send them on to Jose by early next week. I'm going
to print them word for word, so it's up to you to check for your own typos!
Again, the address is getwell@....

Jose sounded pretty depressed in some interviews today (see below), and
even mentioned the though of retirement. I think it's really important for
him to know how much we miss him... If you're going to be at ANY Devil Rays
games this year, I'm encouraging you to make signs for Jose - "Get Well
Soon Jose," "Jose - We Miss You," etc. Hopefully Jose will see you on tv.

You know, the Home Run Derby tonight just won't be the same without Jose
there. I'm honestly not even looking forward to it or the All Star game
anymore... It's such a shame - it just seems like year after year, Jose
gets screwed out of it for some reason. And this year, on pace for his
best season ever... ugh. Well, I guess there's always next year. At least
WE all know who the best home run hitter in the game is today, even if he
is injury plagued.

Below is the news from the past few days (some of it is kinda weird to read
now - Jose joking about going on the DL, talking about the HR derby, etc.),
including the latest about the surgery. Let's just hope Jose will be back
in the lineup around the beginning of September and finish up where he left
off.

As always, I'll let you know any news I hear...
Mark

P.S. If anyone has a video tape of the Devil Rays game from May 12 (Jose
hit his 12th homer that day), please let me know.

==========
(We're not going to get to see many stories like this for a while, so enjoy
it while you can!)
From the AP:
Tampa Bay 3, Boston 2

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) _ Jose Canseco hit his 31st homer and John
Flaherty snapped a sixth-inning tie with a RBI single Thursday night to
give the Tampa Bay Devil Rays a 3-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

Canseco broke a 1-for-23 slump with his solo shot off Brian Rose (4-2) in
the third inning. He scored the winning run on Flaherty's single after
walking and taking second on a ground out....

...Canseco was 0-for-12 in the series with six strikeouts before homering
off Rose for a 2-1 Devil Rays lead. Boston pulled even again in the sixth
when Troy O'Leary singled after Damon Buford walked and stole second....

Notes: Canseco's homer was only his second at Tropicana Field since June 5.
His 21 road homers are tied with George Bell (Toronto, 1987) for the most
road home runs ever at the All-Star break. The major league record for road
homers in a season is 32 by Babe Ruth in 1927 and Mark McGwire in 1998...

==========
From the St. Petersburg Times:
Rays beat Sox again
Flaherty, Witt show how special Boston is to them by leading 3-2 win.
By John Romano
July 9, 1999

...The Devil Rays even made miniscule plays that could go unnoticed by many.

Take Canseco. Naturally, his 414-foot home run in the third made the
biggest splash. But his baserunning in the sixth was just as important.

With Canseco on first after a one-out walk, Fred McGriff hit a high bouncer
to second baseman Jose Offerman. Canseco did a stutter step around
Offerman, who threw to first to force McGriff; Canseco went safely to second.

"That's a dance step I've learned," Canseco joked.

The next batter was Flaherty, who singled to right to bring Canseco home
for the winning run.

"People watching the game tonight don't realize how big that play was by
Jose," Flaherty said. "If he doesn't make it to second, it could be a
different game."...

==========
From the St. Petersburg Times:
Hometown goes loco for Canseco
By Marc Topkin
July 10, 1999

MIAMI -- It was the second coming of Jose Canseco.

Canseco returned to South Florida for the second time as a major-leaguer
Friday and from the amount of news coverage, well-wishers and overall
attention, you would have thought it was his first public appearance.

"As soon as you get home your phone is ringing off the hook for tickets,"
Canseco said. "I've got about 100 family members coming, so if I don't hit,
if I don't get out of the slump, I'm going to hear it. ...

"Actually it's a double whammy because a lot of your friends and family are
going to be here and I've got to go out and play some outfield, which I
think I've played two games (actually five) so far this year. So we're
going to see what happens. It could be very interesting. It could be one of
those days I remember for the rest of my life."

Actually, it wasn't that bad -- or good. Canseco went 2-for-4, singling
twice and striking out twice. He had a busy (three putouts) but uneventful
night in leftfield.

Last season, Canseco played three games here with Toronto, going 4-for-13
with two homers.

Canseco appeared to have a good time with the attention. A reporter asked
about his special-order maple bats, and Canseco -- with a straight face --
said the best thing was that they were filled with titanium.

Other Canseco thoughts ...

On the distractions of pursuing Mark McGwire's home run record: "If I get
to 60 home runs I'm going to shut it down and go on the DL so I don't have
to deal with it."

On reviewing his career: "First of all, we don't have an hour show for me
to talk about how many injuries I've had, how many battles, what I've come
back through and what's happened to my career."

On being the DH: "I'm sure there are very few skilled defensive players
like I am, but they want to keep my bat in the lineup and keep me healthy."

==========
(Hey, check out the mention of a guy wearing a shirt like my bullseye!)
From the Miami Herald:
Canseco personifies what Marlins lack
By Greg Cote

The two locker stalls on either side of Jose Canseco's were kept vacant in
the visitor's clubhouse here Friday, in anticipation of the media crowd
that would soon be flocking in. Right now the room was nearly vacant.
Canseco was standing there alone, quiet, some sort of impossible Greek
statue in cleats. He wore a sleeveless T-shirt that showed off the twine of
roses and thorns tattooed around his brown, bulging biceps.

``The guy's a monster. He's frightening,'' Marlins manager John Boles was
describing Canseco over in the other clubhouse about the same time Friday.
``We need guys like that. A guy people pay to see play.''

Canseco stepped into the batting cage before the baseball game and the
people cheered. A young man near the dugout wore a shirt with Jose's name
over a hand-painted bull's eye. Every time Canseco came to bat during the
game, the crowd at the former Joe Robbie Stadium swelled with noise, then
fell to a hush, hitching its breath, anticipating, as the pitcher wound up.

He singled twice and struck out twice. Oh well. It was like showing up to
see Zeus heave mighty bolts of lightning, and watching him twirl sparklers.

Florida beat Canseco's Tampa Bay, 11-4, in the so-called Citrus Series
game, in front of 17,976, including about 100 of Jose's family and friends.
Oh, and just before the game, the Marlins traded closer Matt Mantei to
Arizona for a few more prospects you've never heard of -- but who might be
great someday, the club insists.

It was Matt Mantei Pin Night, by the way.

And none of the incoming prospects Mantei brought is a hitter, let alone a
fast power surge for the homer-hungry Marlins.

The search for a Canseco, even a semi-Canseco, goes on. Are there
professional Canseco Impersonators, like with Elvis?

See, because the Marlins are missing that one type of star Boles calls ``an
attraction, a glamorous player.'' Like Canseco, for instance.

Only a prolific home run hitter can command a baseball audience so
thoroughly, his bat working like a conductor's baton or magic wand. And
only Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr. and Mark McGwire are doing that the way
Canseco is this summer.

The attention that only raw power can muster is finding the kid from Miami
and Coral Park High, now 35, once more after all this time.

Sometimes the attention seems to soothe Canseco.

Other times it seems to singe him.

Canseco's mood and personality, like his at-bats, seem all or nothing.
Homers or strikeouts. High or low. Roses or thorns.

He speaks of disdaining fame, of how much he enjoyed not being party to the
McGwire/Sosa circus that was last year's historic home run chase ending
with McGwire's 70th.

``I don't want to do it,'' he was saying Friday. ``If I get to 60 home runs
this year, I'm going to shut it down. Go on the DL.''

He says he dreams of being ``an anonymous-type guy. So if I go home, nobody
will say, `Hey, it's Jose!' ''

Good luck, Jose. He has 31 homers, second only to Sosa. If he remains
healthy most feel he could take a swing at Roger Maris' old mark, if not
McGwire's new one. He won't be anonymous any more than he'll bunt.

The attention comes because Canseco's summer of '99, following his 46-homer
season for Toronto last year, marks one of the most remarkable comebacks in
sports. If you don't believe it, ask him. Canseco sometimes speaks as if
promoting the book he'll someday write. But why not? He has lived it. Hard.

``Very few players, if any players, have experienced everything in
baseball, or in life, that I have,'' he says as indisputably as a 500-foot
homer. ``We don't have an hour to talk about how many injuries I've had and
how many battles I've had.''

SportsCenter will meet Jerry Springer for the movie rights.

When Canseco chats with ballplayers from Coral Park today, the kids might
see a hero to emulate and an example to avoid in the very same man.

Canseco was the late-'80s phenom, the freakazoid, baseball's first
40-homer/40-stolen-base man. He was league MVP. He had his own 900 phone
line; people paid to hear his daily comments on whatever. He dated Madonna.

``I was talked about being the best player in the world, by far, at one
point. I was this freak nobody understood,'' he says.

Then injuries and what Canseco calls ``the psychological disabled list''
found him. So did off-field troubles. His first divorce was ugly. (His
second is pending.) He sought counseling, pondered suicide, sunk lower and
lower.

``I became this outcast nobody in baseball wanted,'' he says. ``Completely
forgotten. Washed up. A joke.''

A couple of years ago the Marlins -- so power-hungry now -- could have had
Canseco for pocket change. Was there ever any interest by Florida?

``None whatsoever,'' Canseco says.

The Marlins, with no designated hitter in the NL, were afraid his glove, a
liability, outweighed his bat. Bad decision, as it turned out.

Toronto got him instead, then curiously chose to not show much interest in
keeping him. Tampa Bay benefited, swooped in and signed him for this season
at a $2 million base salary. So cheap.

Canseco had found his nirvana, or as close as he'll get. The Tampa media
casts a soft glare. The Devil Rays keep a loose rein, allowing Jose to fly
home to Weston on off-days and rejoin the team on the road. And the DH role
will elongate his career, likely allowing him to surge past 500 homers (he
has 428) and perhaps into Cooperstown.

Between his bursts of angst over the price of fame, Canseco glides through
the season with a wink.

Earlier this year he suggested baseball in the future should feature
glow-in-the-dark bases and uniforms, and that stadium lights should be
doused during night games when a homer is hit, so all that can be seen is a
ghostly uniform circling the bases.

Was he serious? He seemed to be.

Last week, Canseco fed a visiting reporter an intricate ration of profound
psychobabble about the ``psychological barriers'' of reaching certain home
run totals.

Afterward the player turned to a St. Pete writer and whispered, ``You get
that?'' The writer nodded no.

``Neither did I,'' said Canseco, grinning.

==========
From Florida Today:
Canseco providing offense for Devil Rays
By John Belis

MIAMI - Jose Canseco can still laugh at himself.

The big guy tossed his glove on the dugout steps at Pro Player Stadium
Friday afternoon and warned everyone, "Don't step on that glove. It's a
potential Gold Glove winner. There are very few skilled defensive players
like me."

Canseco will be the American League designated hitter at the All-Star Game
Tuesday but there is no DH in the National League. So, Canseco had to play
left field Friday night when the Tampa Bay Devil Rays came here to face the
Florida Marlins.

"I've got about 100 family members coming tonight," said Canseco, who lives
in Miami. "If I don't hit, I'm gonna hear it. I've only played a couple
games in the outfield this year but we'll see what happens. It could be
interesting."

He played seven innings, going 2-for-4 with two singles and two two
strikeouts. And he caught three fly balls without a problem.

Canseco, who leads the American League with 31 home runs, can sometimes be
a liability on defense.

"When Tampa signed me last winter, they were interested in my bat," he
said. "The DH keeps me in the lineup."

Canseco is already looking forward to Monday's All-Star home run derby at
Fenway Park.

"I think that's what the All-Star Game is all about," he said. "It's very
rare to see so many big, strong power hitters air it out. In an actual
game, good pitching stops good hitting. But with this format, you're going
to see some long shots."

Marlins manager John Boles promised that his team would pitch around
Canseco whenever possible this weekend.

"The fans will boo me but, any time first base is open, we'll walk him,"
said Boles. "He's frightening. He's gigantic. He's larger than life.

"Canseco changes the course of games. He sets up Tampa's whole lineup. He
could hit 60 home runs. He might even hit 70. When he hits the ball, it
makes a different sound. He doesn't just hit the ball further than other
guys. He hits it louder."

==========
From the Naples Daily News:
Canseco still a hit in Miami
July 10, 1999
By Greg Hardwig

MIAMI - Mark McGwire has already come and gone to Miami for this season.
But the fans of South Florida still had the other former Bash Brother to
fawn over.

Jose Canseco is in town this weekend. The fact that the Tampa Bay Devil
Rays, the "rival" of the Florida Marlins, are here at Pro Player Stadium is
secondary.

Canseco, a native of Cuba, was making just his second appearance in Miami.
He played last year with the Toronto Blue Jays.

But this is a little different. The 35-year-old is enjoying a rejuvenation
of an injury-plagued career. He came into the series with 31 home runs -
second in all of baseball behind Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs.

Canseco said he has around 100 family and friends on hand.

"If I don't hit one, I'm probably going to hear about it," he said.

Asked if the single-season record of 70, set by former Oakland teammate
McGwire last year, was in reach, Canseco joked: "Thirty-one's in reach."

Over his 13-year career, Canseco has made as many headlines for what he's
done off the field as on it: playing bumper cars with his first wife on a
highway, plenty of speeding tickets, a much-publicized rendezvous with
Madonna. His outgoing personality and mammoth, 6-foot-4, 240-pound frame
alone make him an attraction.

"He's gigantic," Florida manager John Boles said. "Guys like that are
larger than life."

So are some of his baseball moments, such as the constantly shown replay:
Canseco, then with the Texas Rangers, goes back to the wall. The ball hits
off the top of his head and bounces over for a home run.

"I've got to play some outfield here," said Canseco, who has been a
designated hitter in every American League appearance. "It could be
interesting."

A couple of years later, Canseco blew out his throwing elbow pitching, of
all things, during a blowout with the Boston Red Sox. The injury ended his
season. From 1992-97, injuries cut short every season for Canseco. He never
had more than 500 at-bats.

Despite his off- and on-the-field hijinks, Canseco has enjoyed an extremely
productive career. He's currently second on the active home run list with
428 (McGwire's first with 484) and 24th overall. He has hit over 30 homers
eight times in his career and slugged a career-high 46 just last year with
Toronto.

"If he hadn't had all of the injuries that he's had, he'd be chasing the
(career) home-run record," Boles said.

Back in 1988, he set a standard for offensive versatility, becoming the
first player to hit 40 homers (he had 42) and steal 40 bases in a season.

Boles remembers when he was with the Kansas City Royals organization and
McGwire and Canseco, then both with the Oakland Athletics, and Kansas
City's Bo Jackson were taking batting practice in Kansas City.

"They have this big grassy knoll and up on top ... they were having a
picnic up there," he said. "It was like they were having a contest to see
who could hit closest. They were hitting the ball like 500 feet."

More than a decade later, Canseco has been a boost to the second-year Devil
Rays, giving the team an identity beyond veterans Fred McGriff and Wade
Boggs, both from the Tampa-St. Petersburg area.

"He's been everything and some that we expected when we signed him, both on
and off the field," Tampa Bay GM Chuck LaMar said. "His numbers are obvious.

"It's one of those situations where you sign a player believing he's going
to be something both on and off the field and it's come to fruition."

"It's just been delightful. We can't ask for more," said Devil Rays
managing partner Vince Naimoli. "Even now, people come to see Jose. I've
noticed that it doesn't matter what the score is, if he has an at-bat
coming up in the ninth inning, people stay to watch it."

Love him or hate him, people will watch Canseco, period. Fans flocked to
the top of the Tampa Bay dugout after the gates opened, hoping for an
autograph and getting none, but watching Canseco intently as talked with
Florida pitcher Alex Fernandez.

When batting practice started, the same. Some fans booed or jeered Canseco
when he didn't hit one over the fence. That carried over into the game.
Fans cheered when he struck out his final two at-bats. They yelled when
balls were hit to him in left field.

When Canseco - who graduated from Coral Park High School in Miami - makes
his first All-Star appearance next week in Boston, fans will surely be
doing the same.

"When you haven't been there for seven or eight years, it's gratifying," he
said. "It's definitely special."

Canseco is looking forward to Monday's Home Run Derby, which will feature
McGwire and Sosa among others. The event didn't exist when Canseco made his
last appearance in 1992.

"I think that's what the All-Star Game is all about," he said. "It's very
rare to see that many strong power hitters in one place."

Canseco hasn't been in one place for awhile. Tampa Bay is his fifth team in
six years. After hitting the 46 homers for Toronto last year, the Blue Jays
only offered a one-year deal. He settled with Tampa Bay for $2 million,
plus incentives.

"Tampa Bay wanted me for my bat, even though there are very few skilled
defensive players like I am," he said.

With Canseco nearly halfway to McGwire's mark, there were obvious questions
whether Canseco could catch him. But a handful of other players are in the
same shooting range - Sosa (32), Seattle's Ken Griffey Jr. (28), McGwire
(27) and Houston's Jeff Bagwell (27)

"I'm not just going against McGwire," Canseco said. "It's going to be a
stiff competition."

But this weekend, Canseco came home. And he's doing so back on top.

"I have come full circle," he said. "There's not too many athletes that
have experienced what I've experienced.

"There are very few players that have experienced almost everything."

==========
From the Philadelphia Inquirer:
At 35, he still is able to bash them out.
Even a bad back can't limit Canseco's power
By Bob Ford

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Jose Canseco knows what you think.

You hear his name and the words "baseball immortal" do not leap into your
mind.

Once, a long time ago, when he became the first player to hit 40 home runs
and steal 40 bases in a season, that sort of talk was accepted as possible.
He was big, fast, powerful, good-looking, and his career stretched out
before him like a flat fastball waiting to be hit.

Somewhere along the way, the music in his game was overtaken by the static
in his life. Think of Jose Canseco now and you are likely to think of fast
cars, domestic disputes, endless trips to the disabled list, and the sort
of team-hopping that most hall of famers do not endure.

But believe it or not, like it or not, Canseco may be on his way to
Cooperstown. He's definitely on his way to Boston this week, following his
sixth all-star selection. If his sore back allows, he will bash balls over
the Green Monster in tomorrow's home-run hitting contest, and he'll be the
starting designated hitter in the All-Star Game the following day.

Jose Canseco knows what you think. But at 35, healthy for the most part,
his personal life considerably quieter, Canseco is willing to let that
pass. If nothing else, his peculiar career has prepared him for whatever
comes next and whatever people might think about it.

"There haven't been too many people experience what I have in baseball,"
said Canseco, who was born in Havana and grew up in Miami. "Not with what
I've accomplished and what's happened to me on and off the field. I've been
everywhere, from the best player in the world to the worst player and
almost out of the game. Who else can say that?"

Not many. And, as usual, he also can say a few things no one else can. This
season, for instance, Canseco leads the American League with 31 home runs;
he is the first player to hit 30 in a season for four different teams.

At the moment, Canseco hangs his hat with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He
never wears it, though, because designated hitters don't really need hats
and, hey, if your head looked like this, would you cover it up? When the
Devil Rays played an interleague series in Montreal last month, Jose had to
find his outfield glove and tell the equipment man to get a road cap. He
didn't have one.

That sort of thing helps keep Canseco from being taken seriously. His
perceived vanity extends to a preoccupation with home runs as well, because
he has struck out four times for each ball that has traveled over the
fence. Among the legion of power hitters who also swung and missed on
occasion, Canseco has no peer.

In fact, Canseco has done something that neither Reggie Jackson, nor Willie
Stargell, nor Mike Schmidt, nor Babe Ruth, nor any of the famous
penthouse-or-outhouse free swingers managed to accomplish. He has more
career strikeouts than games played. Even the majestically one-dimensional
Dave Kingman was able to keep his strikeout average below one per game. But
not Canseco.

In Tampa Bay this season, where Canseco is nearly the only point of light
in the dark horizon that is Devil Rays baseball, the class clown is not
just hitting, but hitting for average. He is solely a DH, because pounding
around the artificial turf would lead to the back trouble that has haunted
his career. After games, he is wrapped in large, gauze bandages loaded with
ice.

"The team just wants to keep my bat in the lineup. That's the game plan,
and I'll do it that way," said Canseco, who missed last night's game
against Florida because of soreness in his back. "I always thought that if
I can just stay injury-free, my numbers would be there. I never, ever
second-guessed my ability. If you look at my stats now, I'm doing a lot
better. I'm making far more consistent contact. I'll probably strike out
about the same, but I think I'm a stronger player than I used to be, a
little quicker, a little smarter."

Add up the time he has missed - because of ruptured disks, hip flexors,
strained ribs, pulled groins, elbow surgery, hand surgery, shoulder
problems and to the waves of back spasms that nailed him against the bench
- and Canseco has already lost more than 200 games. In his world, that
means he has also lost 50 home runs or more.

"Sometimes I think it's just a matter of elimination. How many surgeries
can you have?" he said. "Maybe everything that was broken is fixed now. The
more surgeries I've had, the more possibility I'll stay healthy, if that
makes any sense."

Sure, why not?

But if you really want to know the dilemma Jose Canseco will one day
present to Baseball Hall of Fame voters who don't necessarily respect his
career, consider that the man is almost certainly going to hit 500 home
runs. No player who reached that plateau has been denied induction to the
hall.

This season, as he has climbed to 428 lifetime homers and 24th on the
all-time list, Canseco has passed Dale Murphy, Al Kaline, Duke Snider,
Barry Bonds, Darrell Evans and Billy Williams. Before the year is done, he
could catch Andre Dawson, Kingman and Carl Yastrzemski as well. In the game
of baseball, which has been largely defined by its home-run hitters, these
are not names to be taken lightly. Canseco's plans do not end with 500 home
runs, however, or slipping like a thief past long-gone icons of deadball eras.

"I'm not the one who will decide about the Hall of Fame, so I'm not going
to worry about it. If the criteria has been 500, then let that be the
criteria," Canseco said. "But if I can stay healthy enough to hit 500, then
I can stay healthy enough to hit 600. It's strictly about health for me. If
I'm in the lineup, I'm going to hit 'em."

Canseco ticks off the mathematics. If he can avoid injury - and remain
employed - he can struggle and still hit 40 a season. By his figuring,
which comes off as positive thinking and not egotism, Canseco expects to
launch No. 600 late in the 2003 season. He will be 39 years old.

"Have my skills diminished? No. Has my strength diminished? No. Has my
speed diminished? No. Has my experience and my knowledge of the game
increased? Yes," Canseco said. "And there are other factors. The pitching
has thinned out. The ballparks are more conducive to home runs. I don't
drink. I don't do drugs. I like to keep in top physical condition. That's
going to give me some extra years. I don't see any reason why not."

Only three players - Hank Aaron, Ruth, Willie Mays - crested 600 home runs.
It seems likely, also depending on his health, that Mark McGwire, Canseco's
old Bash Brother from their Oakland Athletics' days, will be the next to
join that elite group. But Jose Canseco? Riding into the sunset with Hank,
Babe and Willie? Well, maybe, just maybe, he deserves a little respect.

"He's a very skilled, very knowledgeable hitter," said Tampa Bay batting
instructor Frank Howard, who hit 382 major-league home runs. "He's 245
pounds, with a body fat under 10 percent, very agile, big, strong,
generates tremendous bat speed, and has great extension. Barring injury -
and we keep our fingers crossed - he's going to hit his 500 home runs. If
that's not automatic induction into the Hall of Fame, it's a pretty good
head start."

So, perhaps it is time to look at Canseco differently. Give it a try this
week at the all-star festivities and next week when the Phillies play at
Tampa Bay. Roll the words around your mouth and try them out: Jose Canseco,
hall of famer. He isn't dating Madonna now. He isn't collecting speeding
tickets and restraining orders as if they were memorabilia.

"There's perception and then there's reality. I was easy to write about,"
Canseco said. "I don't like to say I didn't deserve all of it, but, hey, I
didn't deserve all of it."

What does Canseco deserve? Will he be the first 500-home-run hitter shunned
by the Baseball Hall of Fame? Or will he find himself in Cooperstown some
day, thanking the voters and acknowledging the cheers of the crowd?

If he does go in, at least one controversy will be avoided. Inductees must
choose which team hat should adorn their image on the Hall of Fame plaque.

But Canseco, of course, won't be wearing one.

==========
From the St. Petersburg Times:
Surgery sidelines Canseco
Rays' All-Star slugger is expected to recover from herniated disc, could
return to the lineup in six weeks.
By Marc topkin
July 12, 1999

MIAMI -- What started as stiffness in his lower back on Friday night
evolved suddenly into searing pain that surged down his right leg. Jose
Canseco was in such extreme discomfort that he didn't have much choice. On
Sunday afternoon he had surgery for a herniated disc.

The Devil Rays' All-Star slugger is expected to make a complete recovery
and if all goes well could return to the field in about six weeks.

Given the possibilities, general manager Chuck LaMar said the outcome was
about as good as the Rays could have hoped for. But he also said there was
a possibility Canseco would not play again this season.

"I think Jose Canseco is a competitor and wants to play, and we obviously
want him to play this year if it doesn't mean rushing him through rehab and
possibly hurting him for future years," LaMar said. "We will walk that fine
line during his rehab process."

Canseco, 35, has been hampered by back trouble much of his career,
including a 1996 surgery for a ruptured disc on his left side. He took six
cortisone shots in his back during spring training and, despite occasional
stiffness, had been healthy enough to play in 82 of the Rays' first 86 games.

But at some point Friday, and no one seems to be sure when or how, he did
something to cause the pain to flare.

"I talked to him (Sunday) and he can't pinpoint anything," manager Larry
Rothschild said. "He said it came on a little bit. He took one swing Friday
he thinks might have had some effect on him but he really didn't know. He
slid into third on the one play when he got thrown out, but he really
couldn't pinpoint anything. He felt more that it was just coming on over
time and it got aggravated enough and that was it."

Rothschild said Canseco's occasional stint in the outfield was not a
contributing factor.

Canseco was supposed to fly to Boston this morning to participate in the
All-Star home run contest and then be the starting DH in Tuesday's All-Star
Game, his first such appearance since 1990. Instead, he likely will spend
the day in bed at his south Florida home after his expected release from
Fort Lauderdale's Holy Cross Hospital.

Canseco had "very large herniations" on the right side of his lower back
and had "two large pieces and some fragments" removed in a 90-minute
microscopic procedure, said Dr. Tom Tolli, a St. Petersburg-based back
specialist who performed the operation. "The surgery went very well,
everything went exactly as expected."

Tolli said Canseco had a flare-up of sciatica Friday and a tingling
sensation that stretched to his right toe, which indicated there was
compression on the nerve.

Tolli said there were some non-surgical options, such as injections, but
they would have controlled the symptoms not corrected the problem.

"The pain was really the deciding factor on whether to have the surgery or
not and that was Jose's decision," Tolli said. "He wanted it done as soon
as possible because he was in such severe pain."

Canseco will have to avoid any bending, twisting and lifting for the next
three weeks before embarking on a physical rehabilitation program that
would run another 2-3 weeks. He also may need an additional week to work on
his baseball skills. A realistic return date could be around Sept. 1.
"That's certainly the goal," trainer Jamie Reed said.

There is no understating the impact Canseco has had on the Rays and no
overstating the effect of his absence. "He was the missing link that we
needed from last year," Wade Boggs said. Canseco led the AL with 31 home
runs, topped the Rays with 69 RBI and was batting .276. "Obviously we know
what it means," catcher John Flaherty said.

"No matter what player move we could possibly make you can't replace Jose
Canseco, either his numbers or what he meant to this club," LaMar said.
"But that in no way shape or form gives us an excuse to not perform up to
our capabilities and continue to play as competitive baseball as we played
over the last three weeks or so."

Canseco's future with the team also could be affected. He signed a one-year
incentive-laden contract (for a guaranteed $2-million) that included two
option years. He could have guaranteed a $3-million contract for next
season by making 500 plate appearances, which now seems unlikely. (He has
made 354.) LaMar said the organization will wait and see how Canseco's
recovery progresses before making a decision about picking up the option.

"Everything he did for us the first half of the season would lead us to
believe that if everything goes well with the surgery and he handles the
rehab the way it should be handled that he'll be with this club next year,"
LaMar said.

The Rays will wait until Thursday to fill Canseco's roster spot. Rothschild
said he is likely to use a combination of players in the DH role,
mentioning Paul Sorrento, Bubba Trammell, Herbert Perry, Wade Boggs and
Aaron Ledesma.

Canseco's injury continued a painful season. Canseco becomes the 19th Devil
Ray to be placed on the disabled list, the 15th since Opening Day. He is
the 13th member of the 25-man Opening Day roster to be injured.

"It seems like the voodoo doll has struck again," Boggs said.

==========
From the Tampa Tribune:
Surgery KOs Canseco 4-6 weeks
By Bill Chastain

Jose Canseco's aching back brought the worst kind of news for the Devil
Rays Sunday: surgery.

The colorful Devil Rays designated hitter, whose 31 home runs earned him a
starting spot for Tuesday's All-Star Game, underwent a 90-minute operation
at Fort Lauderdale's Holy Cross Hospital Sunday to repair a herniated disc.

The good news was the operation's success and the estimated time of recovery.

``I expect a full recovery. It went very well,'' said Tom Tolli, orthopedic
back specialist for the Devil Rays, who performed the surgery. ``There were
no complications. The nerve looks perfect. A rough range would be four to
six weeks before he could begin baseball drills. He's probably looking at
two to three weeks of healing and two to three weeks of therapy. It really
depends on how he responds to therapy. There is no reason to think there
will be any complications.''

The operation performed was a microscopic discectomy. It was an L-5 level
herniation, which was the same level as the surgery he had in 1996, but
this one was on the right side while the other was on the left.

Two large disc fragments were removed, as were several smaller fragments
compressing the nerve and causing pain. Because of the nature of the
surgery, there will be a minimal amount of scar tissue.

Baltimore's Harold Baines will take Canseco's place on the AL roster at the
All-Star Game.

``He's upset,'' said manager Larry Rothschild, who saw Canseco Sunday
morning. ``He was having a hell of a year. And wanted to continue it. He
liked the situation here. He was very upset, but he was in considerable
pain.''

Canseco's placement on the disabled list gives him the dubious distinction
of becoming the 15th Rays player to go on the DL since the beginning of the
season. Included on the list are Jim Mecir, Tony Saunders and Quinton
McCracken, who all suffered season-ending injuries.

``It seems like the voodoo doll has struck again,'' said third baseman Wade
Boggs, who hit third Sunday, the slot Canseco normally fills. ``It just
seems like it's one thing after the other. You try to right the ship and
then all of a sudden, `here's another blow, see what you can do now.' ''

When asked if he'd ever been around a team so cursed by injuries,
Rothschild replied: ``No. And if you were to ask me that yesterday or last
week I would have said the same thing.''

Rothschild arrived at Pro Player Stadium at 10 a.m. Sunday and was met by
Canseco and Tolli, who flew in from Tampa and confirmed what an MRI
revealed. Canseco was given several options, but was said to be in extreme
pain, so he opted for the surgery. The decision was made to have the
operation performed in Fort Lauderdale so Canseco would not have to travel
to St. Petersburg.

Canseco was pulled from Friday's game after hitting in the seventh inning.

``Friday he came up to me in the sixth or seventh inning and said he'd
stiffened up,'' Rothschild said. ``So I immediately took him out. He hadn't
been in pain, but he hasn't felt right for a few days. We had even talked
about him taking the three days off down here. But he didn't feel like he
needed it. He had talked to me about actually playing outfield more after
the break, which I was not going to do under any circumstances. But he felt
like he could do it.''

Rothschild was asked if Canseco's playing left field Friday night had
anything to do with the injury.

``He didn't think so, and I would doubt it,'' Rothschild said. ``He was out
there for six innings and there really weren't any tough plays.

``I talked to him today. He can't pinpoint anything [for causing the
injury]. He took one swing Friday night that he thinks might have had
something to do with it. He just really didn't know.''

Canseco is signed to a contract loaded with incentives that could have made
the deal worth $4.95 million. The base was for $2 million and he's already
earned an additional $400,000 for having 350 plate appearances and could
have earned much more with incremental bonuses at varying levels of plate
appearances. He also earned another $50,000 bonus for being voted to the
All-Star Game.

He needed 500 plate appearances for a deal to automatically kick into place
for 2000 with a $3 million base salary. If he doesn't reach 500
appearances, the Devil Rays will have the option to pick him up for $3
million or exercise a $500,000 buyout.

``The organization has to address in due time the picking up of Jose's
option,'' said general manager Chuck LaMar. ``If he doesn't come back and
doesn't automatically vest that contract, then we will. But it's hard to
make any comment about Jose's contract until the surgery is successful and
the rehab begins. And the doctor feels he's headed toward a total recovery.
When that time comes, obviously, we'll address that subject.''

==========
From the Tampa Tribune:
Canseco adds more misery to this season
By Martin Fennelly of The Tampa Tribune

It was just another trip home to Miami for Jose Canseco.

Played some ball.

Saw some friends.

Had back surgery.

There is mounting evidence that the dark side has majority ownership of the
Tampa Bay Devil Rays - and we're not even talking about Vince.

Rather, it's his team, the one that entered the baseball season by passing
under a ladder and now lurches into the All-Star break on an appropriately
devastated note. Maybe it's beyond bad luck. Who needs black cats when you
have black-and-blue cats?

It all happened so quickly. One day Jose is slugging, another day he's
hurting and on Sunday a doctor's telling his herniated disc to open wide.
Prognosis: four weeks, six weeks, two months, whenever. That quickly, the
heart was cut out of a batting order and many more ticket orders.

Some of you are in a state of shock. We know what you're thinking. How the
hell does this guy get same-day surgery when I have to wait a month for my
adenoids? HR and RBI always beat HMO. But the real surprise is that Jose's
body took so long to form a mushroom cloud.

HE WAS OUR preseason pick for first guy on the disabled list. Jose and his
back legally separated a long time ago. And yet the homers kept coming. We
could have herniated a disc of our own just watching Jose swing. He gave us
the whole smash. Even when he missed, it was a glorious thing. Our
designated stud.

Meanwhile, hundreds of other humans fell by the wayside - and that's just
the Rays. Quinton McCracken's knee. Jim Mecir's elbow. The lunch-losing
sight of Tony Saunders' snapped wing. The Rays are a riddle wrapped in a
mystery inside a body cast. Can the remaining players chalk any more
numbers on their hats without having to pay tax on them?

``This is just another on the list, and this is obviously a big one,'' Rays
Manager Larry Rothschild said. ``But there's been a lot of big ones.''

None compare. Surgically removed from the lineup are 31 dings and 69 driven
in. Plus one more thing: electrical current. Who hadn't already bought the
caramel popcorn for today's show, Jose, our very own muscle muffin, against
Sammy and Mac and Junior, all of them against Fenway Park at the All- Star
homer-hitting contest? Just swing, baby.

What do the Rays have left? Oh, there's the ticking-bomb drama of Roberto
Hernandez in relief. And a fan always has a chance of snaring a souvenir
baseball along first base when Randy Winn throws home from center field.
But it won't be the same without Jose. Hey, you watch Rich Butler develop.

NOW COMES THE designated-hitter committee and the wood-aging excitement it
brings. The way things are going, Wade Boggs will get No. 3,000 far from
Tropicana Field, probably in Oakland, at about 1 in the morning back home.
That'll sell tickets.

Still, it could be worse. Even with Sunday's loss to the invincible
Marlins, even with the injuries - don't forget the damaged mystery ace:
Rolando Arrojo - Tampa Bay actually has improved over its first half last
season, when it went 34-52. This year, the record at the break is 39-49.
OK, so it's worthy of neither ticker nor tape, but at least it's something.
Pluck. Pride. Something.

Something seemed like nothing Sunday. Rays and Rays fans had the wind
knocked out of them, and it won't be replaced any time soon by Jose
Canseco's 37-ounce bat cutting through the air. Even before it starts, we
plainly can see that the second half of the season just got a lot longer.

Call it X-ray vision.

==========
From the Miami Herald:
Canseco (back) out at least 4 weeks
DH has surgery for herniated disk
By Ken Rodriguez

Tampa Bay Devil Rays slugger Jose Canseco will miss Tuesday's All-Star Game
and possibly another six weeks after undergoing back surgery Sunday.

Doctors repaired a herniated disk and predicted a complete recovery for
Canseco, who leads the American League with 31 home runs.

``We removed two large fragments compressing the nerve root and several
small fragments,'' said Dr. Tom Tolli, one of two surgeons who operated on
Canseco, 35, who attended Coral Park High. ``Everything went well. There
were no complications. Nothing happened out of the ordinary during surgery.''

Tolli said Canseco will not be able to practice for four to six weeks. ``We
can't pinpoint when he's going to be able to return,'' Tolli said. ``He's
probably looking at two to three weeks of healing and two to three weeks of
therapy.''

Canseco missed Saturday's game against the Marlins with back spasms. Tolli,
the Devil Rays' back specialist from St. Petersburg, arrived at Pro Player
Stadium on Sunday morning to examine Canseco. Canseco was sent immediately
to Holy Cross Hospital and scheduled for mid-afternoon surgery.

``We've had a lot of injuries this year,'' Tampa Bay manager Larry
Rothschild said. ``Obviously, this is a big one.''

Canseco, hitting .276 with 69 RBI, becomes the 15th Tampa Bay player to be
placed on the disabled list this season. Elected to his sixth All-Star
Game, Canseco will miss the classic for the third time due to injury. He
had been looking forward to participating in today's Home Run Derby.

``He was excited about that,'' Rothschild said. ``But he was excited about
playing this weekend, too.''

American League manager Joe Torre named Baltimore designated hitter Harold
Baines as Canseco's All-Star replacement. Baines is hitting .345 with 19
home runs.

Rothschild said he would use Wade Boggs, Herbert Perry, Bubba Trammell and
Paul Sorrento in Canseco's DH position.

``Feeling sorry for ourselves isn't going to do a thing,'' he said.

Marlins manager John Boles expressed sadness when told of Canseco's surgery.

``I'm really sorry to hear about that,'' Boles said. ``This guy is a real
star, an attraction the game needs.''

==========
From ESPN:
Injury robs us of Canseco's talent
By Bob Klapisch

Anyone with a heart should send a get-well-soon card to Jose Canseco,
who'll probably miss the rest of the season because of back surgery.

Talk about sad endings: At age 35, Canseco was having the finest summer of
his 15-year career, leading the American League with 31 home runs, pushing
the career total to 428 and preparing for a run at the magical 500 mark.

Jose Canseco's case for becoming a hall of famer becomes more sketchy if he
can't return from his latest injury.

Instead, Canseco is living proof that time makes victims of us all -- even
the finest, most powerful athletes. In fact, Canseco's injury --diagnosed
as a herniated disk -- could very well end his career. If that's the case,
the slugger will always be remembered for the long home runs, but also for
the numerous stints on the disabled list that sabotaged what could've been
a Hall of Fame portfolio.

In 1997, Canseco was twice disabled because of back problems, and in 1996
underwent surgery to remove fragments and a ruptured disc. Now comes the
news of more surgery and even though doctors suggest he could return in six
weeks, it's reasonable to ask if Canseco has had enough pain, enough rehab,
and enough frustration to finally retire.

If so, we'll never know if he was Cooperstown material, because his current
numbers -- while impressive -- don't merit election. Even though Canseco is
the first 40-40 player in baseball history, accomplishing that feat in
1988, he still needs more home runs.

That's why this summer's run of excellence was so intriguing. Canseco
wasn't just halfway to 60 homers, he was putting himself in a position to
reach 500 as early as 2000. At that point, Canseco would've made a
compelling case for a first-round election.

But even if he's forced to retire and never enters the Hall, Canseco should
be proud of his return to respectability in his last two seasons. Canseco
finally grew up, on and off the field, an evolution he ironically addressed
a few days ago, before the nagging back pain sent him to Tampa Bay's
medical team, which recommended the MRI that detected the herniated disk.

"You're talking about being the best player in the world, hands down, by
far, at one point," Canseco said. "Being this freak ... 6-foot-4, 250
pounds, running a 4.4-second 40. The first guy to 40-40. Then, being an
outcast in baseball, being completely forgotten. The worst player. A total
joke. Washed up, whatever.

"Read the book when I retire. It should be interesting."

Canseco won't need the publishing world to reach his public. Baseball fans
already love him -- or are at least interested enough to have cast more
than 1.6 million votes for him in All-Star balloting. Canseco was the only
DH candidate to surpass the 1 million mark, no doubt because so many voters
realized this might have been his last -- if not his best -- summer.

Now surgery and, with it, a cloud hangs over Canseco's career. Regretfully,
we're preparing an asterisk to affix next to his name in the record books.
It will read: so much talent, so much of it siphoned away by the DL.

==========
From the AP:
Canseco concedes that he may never play again (Fastball)
Mon, Jul 12, 5:19:56PM

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Jose Canseco can't help but wonder if he's played
his last game.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays designated hitter said Monday that he will do
everything he can to try to return to the team after back surgery, but
conceded that retirement is an option he might have to consider.

``My body has failed me again,'' Canseco said during a telephone conference
call from his hospital bed in Fort Lauderdale, where he had a 90-minute
operation Sunday to repair a herniated disc.

``This to me is a nightmare with the year I'm having, the consistency I've
had ... The timing couldn't be worse,'' he added. ``I was given all the
ability in the world. Not to be able to use it is one of the worst things
that can happen to a human being.''

Canseco leads the AL with 31 homers and was selected as the league's
starting designated hitter for Tuesday night's All-Star game in Boston. He
apologized to fans who voted for him and who were also hoping to see him in
Monday night's home run derby competition at Fenway Park.

``Obviously I'm depressed,'' his weakened voice reflecting his
disappointment as well as the medication given to him following surgery.
``I can't believe this happened.''

Canseco and the Devil Rays are not certain what caused the intense pain
that left the 35-year-old no alternative than to undergo surgery similar to
the operation he had for a ruptured disc on his left side in 1996.

Although doctors said he could have opted for non-surgical care, Canseco
said he was in such discomfort that he was almost certain that he had the
same type of injury that had forced him to undergo surgery the last time.

The only difference was, this time, the bad disc was on his right side.

``It just happens. There aren't too many indications,'' said Canseco, who
left in the eighth inning of Friday night's game against Florida in Miami
because of stiffness in his back.

``I compare it to a high-performance car,'' he added. ``One little spark
plug can be loose, and the whole car won't run.''

Canseco sat out Saturday night's game, then had an MRI Sunday that revealed
a severely compressed nerve was causing weakness in the toes of his right
foot.

Canseco said surgery had eliminated the pain, but that it will be several
weeks before the scar tissue from the incision in his back heals enough for
him to start rehabilitation.

Doctors, who expect a full recovery, said he will be sidelined up to six
weeks. Canseco recalled it took about two months to return from back
surgery three years ago.

``Hopefully I can come back ... I'm just trying to take one day at a
time,'' said Canseco, who signed a one-year contract with the Devil Rays
last winter.

Asked if his mention of retirement was out of frustration or if it was a
serious consideration, Canseco emphasized that he wants to continue to play
- preferably in Tampa Bay.

``It's definitely frustration. But you have to consider it if you can't
come back and play the way you want to. ... I don't want to hurt a
lineup,'' he said.

``My future is unsure right now. And it's not because of a lack of ability,
but a lack of health. There are not a lot of guys in my shoes who can say
they have the ability to hit 50 or 60 home runs, but won't get a chance to
do it because they can't stay healthy. Still to today, I don't know what I
could do if I stayed healthy all year round.''

Canseco, who has 428 career homers, missed 12 games in June and July last
year with back spasms but didn't miss a start following the All-Star break.
He took six cortisone shots during spring training this season, and
appeared in 82 of Tampa Bay's first 86 games.


==========
Mark Petrillo
mark@...
Canseconet.com - The Jose Canseco Site
Get FREE web based email for life at http://www.canseconet.com

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