Hey Cansecoites...

I can't believe how many "Get Well" wishes you guys have sent to
getwell@... - it's really amazing. It's been hard for me to
keep up, but eventually they'll all be printed on Canseconet.com -
http://www.canseconet.com/getwell.htm is the address. Check it out... It's
amazing to read how Jose has touched so many people's lives in so many
different ways. If Jose reads all these emails (and I will do my best to
get them to him), I think he might be surprised about how much we all care.

Jose is going to be online for a live chat this Friday at 4:30 PM EST time
at http://www.sportschannelflorida.com - Be sure to show up and tell Jose
how much you're looking forward to his return.

We ran out of Canseconet.com t-shirts last weekend, but another batch is
being made right now, and they should be ready to go by this weekend.
Shirts were mailed to all but about 10 people who sent in their money so
far, and those people's shirts will go out as soon as I get them. If you
haven't ordered a shirt yet and would like to, go to
http://www.canseconet.com/shirts.htm. After all, what better way is there
to let the world know you miss Jose than by proudly wearing a
Canseconet.com t-shirt???

We only had size XL shirts made originally, but we'll be offering sizes M,
L, XL, and XXL now. Just pick which size you want when you fill out the
order form.

By the way, to those of you who have ordered shirts: make sure you wash
them in cold water, preferrably inside out, and don't use bleach...
otherwise the colors might fade. Also, the shirts will shrink when you dry
them if you use high heat.

That's all for now. Here's the latest about Jose...

Mark

==========
From the St. Petersburg Times:
Canseco: 'My body has failed me again'
The Rays slugger says he is depressed about his latest back injury,
frustrated that it interrupted his hot start, and unsure about his future.
By John Romano
July 13, 1999

The voice was different, missing the usual self-assured tone. Medication
left Jose Canseco weak, but it was fear for his career that made him sound
somber and depressed.

Speaking Monday from his hospital bed in Fort Lauderdale a day after back
surgery, Canseco mulled over the possibility that his baseball career was
through.

"My future is unsure right now," Canseco said. "It's not a lack of ability,
but a lack of health.

"My body has failed me again."

Canseco, 35, had surgery Sunday afternoon to correct a disc problem in his
lower back. The Devil Rays medical staff said he could be back on the field
as soon as Sept.1, but Canseco is concerned that this latest in a long line
of injuries could be the one to affect his on-field abilities.

"If my body is different or my swing is different or the pain continues, it
might be time to hang it up," he said.

Canseco also wondered whether he would be back in a Devil Rays uniform
because his contract is not guaranteed beyond this season.

The Devil Rays have an option for 2000 at a $3-million base salary, which
would be a bargain if Canseco is able to perform anywhere close to the
first half of this season, when he led the American League with 31 home runs.

"Don't ever bet against Jose Canseco," Rays general manager Chuck LaMar
said. "He has been faced with a tremendous amount of adversity throughout
his career and has always met the challenge. This last one is a setback not
only to Jose but to the Devil Rays organization, and I would expect Jose to
be frustrated, disappointed and unsure of his future.

"But as this rehab process begins, as well as his competitive juices, I
expect him to respond as he always has. I expect the rehab to be a success,
and I expect Jose to be in a Devil Rays uniform, whether it be at the end
of this year or next year."

Canseco is well versed in comebacks. He had back surgery in 1996, elbow
surgery in 1993 and surgery on his left hand in 1989. Because of those and
other injuries, he has played in an average of 104 games per season since
1992.

"Put yourself in my shoes," Canseco said. "To have all of the ability in
the world and not be able to use it is the most frustrating thing you can
imagine. I'm sad. I'm depressed."

Canseco said the timing was particularly cruel. He was off to the best
start of his career in terms of power and was eager to return to Boston
today for his first All-Star Game since 1992.

He was planning to check out of the hospital and watch the home run contest
from his Fort Lauderdale home Monday night. After that, he said doctors
advised him to do minimal walking for a couple of weeks until he is ready
to begin a rehabilitation program.

His physique has been marveled since he arrived in the big leagues with
Oakland in 1986 with an unnatural combination of size, strength and speed,
yet Canseco said he often has felt betrayed by his body.

"I compare it to a high-speed performance car. One spark plug is loose and
the whole thing can't function," he said. "I've had the worst luck. I keep
myself in tremendous condition, but I've been jinxed no matter what I do."

==========
From the Tampa Tribune:
Bad back a bad break for us all
By Tom McEwen

Got a bad back? Had a bad back?

If you haven't, you will. "

" The pang will hit when you bend to pick a flower or lift a trunk or reach
to twist a light bulb or retrieve a gallon of paint off a shelf.

Or you'll get hit. Or swing a golf club the wrong way. Perhaps a tennis
racket. There simply is no explaining what quirky thing you may do to bring
on back pain - except the obvious: lifting heavy objects continuously
without using your legs.

It could be as simple as staying in the wrong position too long, somehow
pinching your sciatic nerve that then sets afire its route up and down the
legs. Try as you might with exercises, swimming, stretching, you can't
spring it loose until it decides on its own to retreat back into your spine
and lie quietly for a while.

Please, Lord, let that happen to me, soon. The only thing I have not tried
is our Lourdes water. Will soon. Yep, the old sciatica's got me, again.

SO MANY OF us can sympathize with Devil Rays slugger Jose Canseco, or will
in time. Believe me, back pain is in your future. We can sympathize with
his injury, his pain, his loss.

Sure, we can sympathize with the sudden pain he felt swinging a bat the
other day, then the real pain that followed as a disc herniated - slid out
of its place in the spine and splintered.

That's what a herniated disc is, one that slips out and breaks up. A
bulging disc sticks out. May not hurt, unless, again, it somehow touches
that sciatic nerve. Then all pain breaks loose.

Canseco, 35, wasted no time. He underwent surgery for the second time and
all should be well. Hope so, and forever.

Canseco becomes one of a growing number of great Tampa Bay sports heroes
with famous back ailments.

Two that sustained the same legendary injury are NFL Hall of Famer Lee Roy
Selmon and Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Daren Puppa, though there are
more - and more on the way.

Our original major league star, catcher Al Lopez, nearly 91, has a bad
back. Had to give up his beloved golf.

One of our newer successes on the PGA Tour, Michael Bradley of East
Hillsborough, had a terrible time with a back ailment 18 months ago. He had
surgery last June. This weekend at Milwaukee, Bradley was back. He shot 272
to tie for 10th and win nearly $50,000. He'll win more.

But the All-Pro Selmon, the best of all Bucs, ``felt a pain when I made a
tackle in the Pro Bowl of 1985,'' he said. ``The disc herniated. I could
not pass the next physical. I opted against surgery,'' and his great career
came to an end because of that shattered disc.

SELMON, ASSOCIATE athletic director at the University of South Florida, had
a bad experience with anesthesia when he underwent knee surgery. The memory
was too vivid. He tried to make it back with rehabilitation. Didn't work.

``I still am limited in what I can and cannot do,'' Selmon said. ``My golf
swing is short and sorry. I try to improve my abdominal muscles - a secret
to it all. But, every now and then, like all with back problems, I'll lie
on the floor and crawl and hurt. But I have no regrets for skipping the
surgery.''

Joe Diaco, Bucs team physician, said, ``Look at Hardy Nickerson,'' the Bucs
perennial Pro Bowl linebacker. ``He's got a bad, bad back, but has had no
surgery.''

But then there are those of us whose older backs get older. We try to work
through it with heat or ice, or both, with exercise, or none, with
swimming, with whatever might relieve the pain.

At least our latest bad-back hero, Jose Canseco, will be back to hit
another one out.

As for me, may go to the Lourdes water soon.

==========
From the Tampa Tribune:
Canseco ponders retiring
By Joe Henderson

TAMPA - Jose Canseco knows his baseball career might be in jeopardy
following back surgery on Sunday.

Jose Canseco said Monday he will consider retirement from baseball if he
doesn't return full strength from surgery performed Sunday to repair a
ruptured disc in his lower back.

Still groggy from medication and frustrated by his latest medical setback,
Canseco spoke on a nationwide conference call from his hospital bed in Fort
Lauderdale. He said he expects to be out four-to-six weeks.

Add in training time and a rehabilitation assignment and it could be
mid-September before he plays again for the Devil Rays. That would only
leave two or three weeks in the season.

``I may not get back in the swing of things 'til next year,'' he said.

If he can come back at all.

Asked if the latest in a series of injuries that have marred his career
might force him to retire, Canseco said, ``It's always a possibility. I'm
only 35. I want to see how this comes out and what kind of swing shape I'm
in. It's definitely frustrating, but [retirement] it's also a possibility.
If I'm not where I want to be, I don't want to come back and hurt a lineup
instead of help it.''

Canseco leads the American League with 31 home runs at the All-Star break
and has 428 for his career. But he said if his power isn't there after
rehab, then ``it might be time to hang it up.

``It's very frustrating, very depressing.''

If he doesn't return this season, the Rays will have a tough decision to
make. They hold an option to re-sign Canseco next season at a $3 million
guaranteed salary or pay him a $500,000 buyout.

He could make an additional $3.025 million next season in incentives.

Devil Rays General Manager Chuck LaMar said Sunday the club will wait to
see how the rehabilitation goes before making any decision. Canseco, who
had hoped to be participating Monday in the All-Star home run contest, said
he wants to stay, but admitted the club has to make a tough call.

``I think Tampa Bay would want to see me, even if I just go in and take
batting practice to see what kind of shape I'm in,'' Canseco said. ``Will
Tampa Bay still want me? That's basically out of my control.''

Canseco's 14-year career has been roadblocked by a series of major
injuries, including surgery in 1996 to repair another ruptured disc in his
back. The disc is in the same position but on the opposite side as the one
that was repaired Sunday.

That year, Canseco had surgery Aug. 1 and returned Sept. 17 - roughly the
same six-week period that is being talked about now.

``This surgery is basically the same one as in '96,'' Canseco said. ``A
couple of fragments came out [of the disc] and had the nerve caught in the
corner. It just happens; it happened so quick. You always hope you can get
back as soon as possible,'' he said, but added he will not rush things.

The surgery has left him pain-free, he said, but incredibly frustrated. A
body-building fanatic, Canseco said he can't believe things keep breaking
down.

``It's incredible, just incredible,'' he said. ``It's like a
high-performance car, where you take one little thing like a spark plug
that doesn't work and the entire car can't function.''

The injury likely happened during an at-bat Friday against the Marlins.
Canseco said he felt the familiar stab immediately and pulled himself out
of the game. Two days later he was undergoing surgery.

``I'm kind of in shock,'' he said. ``I want to say I'm sorry for all the
people who voted for me in the All- Star Game and expected me to be there.
Sometimes you need a little bit of luck and I don't have any. I've been
more or less jinxed no matter what I do.

``This is a nightmare.''

==========
From the Costra Contra Times:

...It was supposed to be a riveting competition, with McGwire, Griffey,
Sammy Sosa and Jose Canseco putting on a show of shows with the Green
Monster looming in the background. But Canseco had to pull out Sunday after
having back surgery and Sosa was barely a factor, hitting one homer in
round one.

McGwire had said over the weekend in San Francisco that he was looking
forward to seeing Canseco, his old Bash Brother partner with the A's, and
facing him in the derby. With Canseco out, McGwire attacked the Monster
with savage blows. After all, this was one of his favorite parks for
batting practice.

"Boston was the first place when I was in Oakland that BP was a spectacle,"
he said. "The fans came out and watched Jose and myself taking batting
practice. This was the only field doing it. But now it's a big thing to
watch. Boston fans are knowledgeable, and they showed it tonight."

On the local front, the A's John Jaha finished with one homer. He was part
of the competition when Canseco couldn't make it.

==========
From the Boston Herald:
Jose bummed out

Jose Canseco was still sedated from ruptured disc surgery, but the shock
and disappointment could be heard loud and clear from his Ft. Lauderdale
hospital bed.

``I'm sad, I'm depressed, I have to think about my future in baseball,''
said Canseco, who was the fan's choice to be the designated hitter at the
All-Star Game. ``I can't believe this has happened to me again.''

Retirement is ``always a possibility,'' said Canseco. ``I'm trying to have
a positive outlook. If I heal and come back, and there's a difference in my
power, a difference in my swing, it might be time to hang it up.''

Canseco would have been among the favorites in last night's Home Run Derby.
He was going to try to be discharged from the hospital before the contest
began, because his hospital did not carry ESPN.

``I'm sorry to all the people who voted for me to be in the All-Star
Game,'' said Canseco. ``This, to me, is a nightmare. My body has failed me
again.''

Canseco is expected to be out for at least six weeks.

==========
From the Florida Times Union:
It's not same bash without Rays' Canseco

The first pitch in the 1999 All-Star game hasn't even been thrown and I
already feel as cheated as the Buffalo Sabres in the Stanley Cup finals.
Without Jose Canseco taking aim at Fenway Park's left-field wall, both in
tonight's mid-summer classic and in last night's home run contest, the
festivities lost maybe their most compelling figure.

Certainly there's enough of a power surge between Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa
and Ken Griffey Jr. to keep the Green Monster busy, but it's just not the
same without Canseco, the game's ultimate Swatbuckler.

He is the king of swing. Others may have slightly better home run numbers,
but nobody in baseball's modern era has made an at-bat more exciting to
watch than Canseco with his hands wrapped around a 37-ounce piece of wood.

It's no wonder the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' designated hitter is on the
disabled list again for a herniated disc, undergoing surgery Sunday that
will force him to miss 4-6 weeks. If baseball had a radar gun to measure
body torque, his RPM during a typical plate appearance would be in the same
league as a category F-5 tornado.

Canseco, 35, attacks pitches like a frat house guy tapping into a
free-flowing keg, which explains why so many body parts affected by his
prodigious swing have put him on the DL. This decade, he has been sidelined
by problems with his elbow, hand, shoulder, groin, ribs, hip and disc (four
times).

Say what you want about Canseco's off-the-field incidents - high-speed car
chases, carrying a concealed weapon, female altercations and a rendezvous
with Madonna. He's still one of the few players who looks better striking
out than most do getting extra-base hits.

The man has a home run for every 14.85 career at-bats, a ratio which stands
sixth on the all-time list behind only McGwire, Babe Ruth, Ralph Kiner,
Harmon Killebrew and Griffey. Had he not missed 500-plus games because of
injury, his 428 career home runs would likely be around 550 and he'd be
inviting speculation about possibly reaching Hank Aaron and Ruth's
exclusive 700 club.

Jacksonville's Storm Davis, a teammate of Canseco's when he pitched with
the Oakland Athletics in 1988-89, still recalls in vivid detail his
greatest memories of the one-time Bash Brother.

''We were in spring training and part of the team took extra batting
practice because we didn't make a road trip,'' said Davis. ''That day,
Louisville [bat manufacturer] brought an aluminum bat to the park. I'm
shagging balls in left field. We're in Phoenix, no humidity, so the ball
jumps. I'm not exaggerating. A couple of balls Canseco hit [with the
aluminum bat], I swear they went at least 600 feet.''

Then there was the home run that Canseco hit off Mike Flanagan in the 1989
ALCS, the first time any homer reached the fifth deck at Toronto's SkyDome.

''I'll never forget,'' Davis added, ''Billy Beane was sitting next to me in
the dugout and says: 'That home run was of Biblical proportions.' ''

Nothing reels in baseball fans like a proven home run hitter whose swing
appears like it can move mountains. The fact Canseco has an element of
swagger to his personality only adds to his appeal.

After seven years without an All-Star appearance, Canseco returning to
Fenway Park, where he played in 1995, might have been the most glamorous
aspect of this year's event. Sadly, we can only imagine to what part of the
Massachusetts Turnpike Canseco might have sent a Curt Schilling fastball.

He had 31 home runs in Tampa Bay's first 86 games and an outside chance to
eclipse Roger Maris' American League record of 61. Now we'll never know how
magical this season could have been for Canseco because his back remains as
suspect as Albert Belle's character.

''My future is unsure right now,'' Canseco said yesterday during a
conference call from a Fort Lauderdale hospital. ''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.''

Surgery is supposed to repair his herniated disc. But it can't fix the void
in tonight's All-Star game or the Devil Rays' suddenly unmarketable season.
Waiting for Wade Boggs' 3,000th hit just doesn't bring the same fan
anticipation as Canseco in mid-swing.

That's especially true when the intended target is the Green Monster.

==========
From MSNBC:
Canseco recovers from back surgery
By Dave Cook

TAMPA, July 12– A dark cloud hangs over Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.
And it’s more than crummy weather. The Devil Rays’ mighty Jose Canseco went
under the knife for back surgery after one big swing too many in Miami Friday.

The timing of the surgery is yet another disappointment in a season of
injuries, attendance considered mediocre, and scores sometimes considered
worse.

But the team’s cash registers have not been silenced. ‘There you go,’ Betty
Brennan says as she pays for a fistful of tickets. ‘Even without Jose.’
Betty says the big hitter’s absence won’t keep her at home. ‘It’s too bad,
but hopefully he’ll get better and come back next year.’

Canseco went on the disabled list after pleasing crowds with 31 home runs
so far this season, and just days before he was to start as one of two
Devil Rays players in the All Star Game.

Terry Kaufmann still plunked down $70 for Canseco-less tickets, reasoning,
“You’ve got Wade Boggs coming up for his 3000th, so that’s going to draw
people in.”

Kim Brannan requests five tickets for Saturday’s Devil Rays game against
the Mets, and says even without Canseco, there’s plenty of sex appeal left
on the team. “There’s Paul Sorrento, Wade Boggs.”

A significant amount of merchandise at the Devil Rays Dugout, a team store
in Westshore Mall, bears Canseco’s image, name or number. Items like key
chains, lapel pins, and of course, tee-shirts. His loss may mean no joy in
this Mudville, but Mighty Canseco is just recovering, not out.

==========
From the AP:
CANSECO HOPEFUL TO RETURN IN '99

A day after undergoing back surgery, Jose Canseco sounded hopeful,
depressed, and thoughtful. "I'm still in shock," Canseco said from his
hospital room in a conference call with local and national media. "My back
has failed me again. It's a nightmare."

Canseco, who leads the American League in home runs with 31 and leads the
Devil Rays with 69, has planned to spend Monday and Tuesday in Boston,
enjoying the home run contest and being voted in by the fans as the
starting Designated Hitter for the American League in the All-Star game.
Instead, he was hoping to get out of his Fort Lauderdale hospital and go to
his home in Miami.

"They don't have ESPN on the TV in my room," Canseco said. "I need to go
home for that reason if nothing else."

For Canseco, it's the second major back operation of his career. He
underwent surgery in July, 1996 and missed the rest of the season. He sees
parallels this time --- and some of what he saw made him feel hopeful.

"It's the same operation as before, only on the other side," Canseco said.
"It was the disc on the left side that time. The good thing is that I have
no pain at all right now. Hopefully, the doctors have taken care of
everything this time."

Canseco has had an injury-filled career. However, last season, playing in
Toronto, he was healthy all year and belted a career-high 46 homers. He had
appeared in 82 of his team's first 86 games, appearing to be a threat to
Roger Maris' American League record of 61 home runs in a season when this
latest problem arose.

When did it happen? "I think it might have been on my last at-bat Friday
night in Miami," Canseco said. "All I know is that the pain was
excruciating. I couldn't sleep Friday night. The nerve in the corner of the
disc broke free. It just happens. There wasn't a lot of indications in
advance."

Canseco compared his body to a new sports car. "If one spark plug is out of
place, the car won't work," he said.

Going without surgery was not an option. "You don't rehab a ruptured disc,"
Canseco said. "There is no way around it."

So, Canseco starts a new routine. After basically sitting around for a
couple of weeks, Canseco will start a light training program to see if the
nerve damage is still in the back. If gone, he can swinging bats again. The
35-year old even dreams of being back in as early as six weeks. "It takes a
while to get your swing back," Canseco said. "I swing hard. If I can't do
that, I'm not much help to my team."

The latter is a sore subject. "I was having a good year. I enjoyed the team
and my teammates. We weren't winning as much as we would like but we had
been playing better lately," Canseco said. "It's hard to take. My team
needs me now and I'm not there. It's very depressing."

Depressing enough that Canseco admitted he might have to consider
retirement. "If I can't play at the level I feel I should be at, then it's
something to think about," he said. "Right now, I'm looking at things as a
day-to-day thing. It's crossed my mind that my future is unsure but I want
to get back this year."

Canseco is a thoughtful fellow. However, he couldn't help but wonder what
could have been. "Put yourself in my shoes," he said. "I've been given an
ability. To not use it is frustrating. I'm sad and depressed about it. I
can't believe it happened again."

At the same time, Canseco saw rays of hope. "I have minimal walking around
pain," he said. "That's encouraging. I'm not letting the mental side bother
me. If I get back, it will be at full strength."

Whether Canseco does his work in Miami or St. Petersburg hasn't been
determined. Indeed, the Rays are going to approach the injury slowly and
see how Canseco's recovery comes. But the Rays would agree with Canseco's
assessment of the situation. "The timing of this could not have been
worse," Canseco sighed. "I have the worst luck."

Interested in sending a Get Well card to Canseco?

You can do so at: Tropicana Field One Tropicana Drive St. Petersburg, FL
33705

==========
From the St. Petersburg Times:
Canseco's loss is the game's, too
By Gary Shelton
July 14, 1999

BOSTON -- You should have been here, Jose. You should have seen it.

You should have stood in the pit that is the infield of Fenway Park, the
shadows spiking across the green grass and gray dirt, the walls soaring up
as steeply as skyscrapers. At twilight, you should have looked up into the
stands and soaked up the energy and thought of the dwindling time left for
a stadium, and for a ballplayer.

This should have been your night, Jose. You deserved the All-Star Game, and
it deserved you. There are not so many stars in baseball that this could
spare you; there are not so many nights in your career that you could spare
it.

Of all the injuries you have suffered, of all the parts of your body that
have worn out, like parts on a '56 Chevy, this one was the cruelest. This
one cost you this night. This one cost you the gift of rediscovery.

For the past few years, your career has been spent in the shadows, playing
in games for Rays and Jays, for Rangers and Red Sox. This was your chance
to return to the big stage. This was a chance for the world to notice again.

This was not a night for a man to lie in a bed in Fort Lauderdale,
surrounded by pain and doubt, wondering if his back or his career will ever
be the same. This was a night to applaud the Hall of Famers, not to wonder
if your chance at it has passed you by. This was a night made for dreams,
not nightmares.

You should have been here, Jose. You should have pulled on one of those
ridiculous All-Star batting practice jerseys -- blue and red in a garish
swirl and available at a sports store near you for $69.96 -- and ambled
back onto the field you used to call home. You should have spotted your old
bash brother, Mark McGwire, and slammed your elbow into his, once more for
old time's sake. You should have swapped smiles with Sammy Sosa. The
announcer should have called out your name -- Ho-zaaay Can-saaaay-co -- and
the world should have watched you step forward and lift your hat into the
air, an All-Star who has come home.

This was a special night, the last All-Star Game of the century, on the
legendary turf of Fenway, in front of Ted Williams and Henry Aaron and
everything resembling greatness in thisgame, with celebrities spilling out
of the stands. There was a time it seemed you were made for nights such as
these. You should have been a part of at least one more, Jose. You should
have played a role. Couldn't fate at least have put off back problems for
two more days?

If you squinted into the evening, it was possible to imagine you here,
Jose. You would have been surrounded by writers, as usual. Hey, Jose, what
do you think about Juan Gonzalez skipping the game? Hey, Jose, can Sammy
hit 60? Hey, Jose, can Pedro Martinez win 30? Hey, Jose, has the offense
gotten out of hand in baseball? Hey, Jose, how about ripping into Red Sox
general manager Dan Duquette, just so we'll know it's really you? And the
absolutely marvelous part is, who has any idea what you would have said
about any of it? This is one of the joys of Canseco; if it's on his mind,
he's going to let it out.

It would have been a blast, Jose. The fans would have noticed you, too.
They always have at Fenway. They would have spotted you coming out of the
phone booth they call a dugout. And they would have booed you through the
national anthem. You always stirred something in the fans here, as far back
as your days with Oakland. It was good-natured booing, nothing vicious, the
way a crowd boos a wrestling villain. It was in the late '80s the fans here
originated the jeer "ster-oids." And you, being Jose, turned and flexed a
muscle at them. There was give and take here, a level of appreciation amid
the noise.

But you performed. Always. You have played 140 games here, and you hit 40
homers and hit .310. You seemed to notice there was something special about
this yard, about the Green Monster, about Pesky's Pole, about the rickety
old joint that was opened the week the Titanic sank. There are so few great
parks left, so few places that throw history and drama and recognition at
you. As often as you have battled the Monster, you should have been allowed
to say goodbye.

You should have been here, Jose. You should have taken part in the last
All-Star Game of the century. You should have been in the home-run contest,
trying to rain baseballs onto Lansdowne Street with the same frequency as
McGwire. You should have batted sixth, between Jim Thome and Cal Ripken.
You should have leaned on the dugout, those giant arms of yours resting on
the pole, and felt the pulse, and wondered if it would ever be this
delicious again.

You should have walked out of the dugout in the second inning, with Curt
Schilling on the hill, with tension in the air. You should have adjusted
that bulky brace on your left elbow, and glanced at the leftfield wall.
Schilling should have reared and thrown, and you should have swung, and the
ball should have climbed, swift and long, into the darkness.

You should have been here, Jose. You should have seen it.

Better yet, the rest of us should have seen you.

==========
From the Costra Contra Times:
By Gary Peterson
A revealing sentiment by Canseco

WHEN IT COMES TO PROFESSIONAL athletes, age is the great truth and
infirmity is an equal opportunity tormentor. Together they appear to have
achieved something the Athletics' finest minds never could.

They have taught Jose Canseco to appreciate the game of baseball.

At the very least, they have nudged him in that direction. Canseco hit a
career-high 46 home runs for Toronto a year ago, and was 31 bombs deep into
a monstrous encore with Tampa Bay when his back betrayed him over the weekend.

He was on his way to the All-Star Game. And if he was mocking the limitless
potential of his early career by settling happily for a one-dimensional
role on a third-rate team, at least he was doing it very, very well.

He even was positioning himself in the eye of a national debate over what
heretofore has been a baseball oxymoron -- a designated hitter with 500
career homers. Would that person be a Hall of Famer or not? The way Canseco
was going the question would require an answer, sooner rather than later.

But there was no All-Star Game for Canseco. Instead, he had surgery to
repair a damaged disc in his back. His season may be over. His career may
be over as we know it.

It was a contrite (by his standards) and slightly medicated Canseco who
spoke to reporters on a conference call Monday. He is in his 15th
major-league season, which makes him a baseball fossil. In terms of life
experience, he has covered a lot of ground in a short time.

"My future is unsure right now," he said. "And it's not because of a lack
of ability but a lack of health."

The sentiment smacks of frustration and disappointment. It's almost as if
he cares, which is something the A's would have paid to see nine years ago.

In fact, they did pay. The transaction took place in the summer of 1990, a
heady time in the East Bay. The A's were the best and most interesting team
in baseball, the defending World Series champs and two-time defending
American League pennant winners.

Canseco was the best player in baseball, but it was getting difficult to
separate the man from the myth. He still was putting up huge numbers, but
his commitment to the game was coming into question. He was evolving from a
baseball superstar into a superstar baseball player. The distinction is
subtle but real.

It put the A's in something of a bind. They loved the numbers and presence
Canseco brought to the team. It aggravated them no end that he seemed to be
dropping by the ballyard in his spare time. As a bonus, his contract was up
at the end of the season.

As they were trying to decide how to deal with the situation, Canseco
embarked on an unholy hot streak. Ultimately the team had little choice.
General manager Sandy Alderson swallowed hard (manager Tony La Russa may
have swallowed harder) and signed Canseco to a five-year, $23.5 million
contract. It was the biggest in baseball at the time.

Its effect on Canseco's bank account was predictable. It had no effect on
his approach to the game. A little more than two years after signing his
landmark contract, Canseco was traded to Texas.

The rest has been something less than the history he seemed destined to
make as a young man. Canseco's tour across American League cities took him
from Arlington, Tex., to Boston, back to Oakland, to Toronto, to Tampa. His
interest in the superfluous aspects of the game -- situational hitting,
baserunning, defense -- continued to decline. He seemed intent on little
more than hitting the little ball over the distant wall.

On paper he has had quite a career. Measured against what might have been,
he has been a disappointment. The biggest disappointment is that he seems
not to have given two figs.

He sounded like he gave at least one on Monday, adjusting for ego inflation.

"I was given all the ability in the world," he said. "Not to be able to use
it is one of the worst things that can happen to a human being."

That has all the earmarks of a lament, if not the full-on attitudinal
rehabilitation the A's hoped to see nine years ago. A cynic might even say
it was the painkillers talking.

The optimist would counter that most athletes are struck by a joyous
epiphany shortly before being struck down by the great truth of advancing
age. Canseco may never appreciate the game the way Ernie Banks did. But he
seems to have a pronounced desire to overcome his latest physical
misfortune and get back in the game.

There may be better reasons to root for his return. But not many.

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Readers may contact Gary Peterson by calling (925) 943-8338, by fax at
(925) 930-6150 or by writing P.O. Box 8099, Walnut Creek CA, 94596-8099.

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Mark Petrillo
mark@...
Canseconet.com - The Jose Canseco Site
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