Hey Cansecoites,

Jose's rehab has been going so well, that he plans to be back in the lineup
next Friday - almost 2 weeks ahead of schedule. I really hope he isn't
rushing it, but it sounds like he's doing very well... He took live batting
practice for the first time Wednesday, and although he was a bit rusty, he
was apparently pain free!

I can't wait to see Jose back in the lineup... It's a longshot, but if he
comes back hot, he could actually be in the AL home run race. And can you
imagine if he won the race while playing only a 120 game season??? Amazing...

There are still quite a few of you who ordered t-shirts
(http://www.canseconet.com/shirts.htm) and never sent in your payment. I'd
appreciate if you could do so ASAP. Thanks...

Take it easy,
Mark

P.S. This "Get Paid to Surf the Web" thing is working out great for me.
I've earned over $20 in the past 2 and a half weeks, and I didn't have to
do anything I wasn't already doing (web surfing). Check it out:
http://www.alladvantage.com/go.asp?refid=AMR575

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From the Tampa Tribune:
Doc, Canseco admire Boggs' achievement
By Martin Fennelly

ST. PETERSBURG - It's difficult to gain perspective on what Wade Boggs
accomplished Saturday night. His race to 3,000 hits, and with it the Hall
of Fame, was really a forced march. It was about endurance as much as
ability. You can make a long list of baseball greats who haven't done what
Wade Boggs did.

Even a disabled list.

Jose Canseco and Dwight Gooden were just two more baseball fans at
Tropicana Field on Saturday. They sat in separate dugouts and cheered when
Boggs outlasted the last signpost on the way to Cooperstown.

Canseco is recovering from another back surgery. He might return to the
Devil Rays lineup in two weeks. Gooden is on the DL for the Cleveland
Indians. Strained right shoulder.

Spectators to history.

Once upon a time, Jose Canseco was going to hit 600 home runs and who knows
what else. Once upon a time, 300 wins and 3,000 strikeouts seemed
inevitable for Dwight Gooden. They would share Hall space. Was there any
doubt?

DOC GOODEN is 34, but seems older. He was 3-3 with a 5.81 ERA before going
on the disabled list. He's spent time in the bullpen this season, spent
time wondering about his future. Before he was 24, Gooden won 91 baseball
games and struck out 1,067 batters. We remember that, and Doc seems older
than he is.

Before Saturday's game, Gooden was excited for Boggs. ``Hey, Tampa,
ex-teammate, friend,'' he said. ``Even before, I was hoping he wouldn't get
hits so he could get it here.'' Here at Tropicana Field, a short drive from
Doc's house. Doc would love a homegrown moment like that.

Twelve more wins will give him 200, a good career considering what he did
to his own star. It makes you sad to think about that. Once, 200 seemed a
low number. Gooden's no- hitter three years ago reminded us of how it had
been. There was going to be a movie about Doc's career. That was three
years ago.

``I still have some good years left in me,'' Doc said.

A day earlier, a bewildered Canseco didn't know what to say. ``It's
becoming a numbing sensation,'' he said of this latest injury, a herniated
disk that halted him at 31 home runs. Canseco's 35, and figures injuries
have robbed him of as many as 150 homers. He has 428 as it is. Every
eligible player who has hit 500 home runs is in the Hall of Fame. Jose is
angry at his body.

``All right, OK, schedule my next surgery,'' he said. ``Call me when my
next surgery comes up. To me, it's becoming an outright joke. It's
ridiculous. It's just an outright joke.''

HERE IS YOUR perspective on Wade Boggs and all his hits: two great talents
who feel the twilight. It takes so much to be truly great. It takes
dedication. It takes focus. It takes health. It takes luck.

Doc Gooden's no-hitter cap and jersey are in Cooperstown, as is a jersey
from his 1984 rookie season. That's probably as close as he'll get. Gooden
sometimes thinks woulda, coulda, shoulda. He'd like to pitch three more
seasons, but isn't sure about Cleveland. Likewise. Doc asked about the
Devil Rays, his hometown team.

``What direction they looking at?''

Jose Canseco briefly pondered retirement a month ago. But then came the
milestones - for Boggs, Tony Gwynn and Canseco's old bash mate, Mark
McGwire, who hit his 500th homer. Jose's juiced. He's fighting mad.

``Before I die, I'm going to hit 500 home runs,'' Canseco said. ``These
injuries will not keep me from that. I don't care if I have to have a damn
back surgery every year ... I guarantee you I will hit 500 home runs. I'll
play until I'm 45. How about that?''

Doc and Jose stood for Wade. Think about what he'd done. Doc and Jose did.
Long and hard. Then they clapped some more.

==========
From the Sporting News:
8/8

Jose Canseco could be back in the Rays' lineup before the end of the month,
perhaps even within the next two weeks. Canseco, who had surgery for a
herniated disc on July 11, is progressing well in rehabilitation workouts.
The Rays' goal was to have Canseco back by Sept. 1, but he has moved
quickly through the early stages of his spine stabilization program and
could be back ahead of schedule.

According to Canseco, the first stage of the program was supposed to take
five or six days, but he completed it in an hour. Canseco says he is
pain-free and feels "incredible." He is on a schedule to start swinging a
bat this week. Canseco had an American League-high 31 homers when he was
injured and said it is possible he could come back and finish ahead of
Seattle's Ken Griffey Jr., who now has 35. . . .

==========
From the St. Petersburg Times:

BACK IN THE SWING: Jose Canseco has resumed hitting in the batting cage for
the first time since surgery on a herniated disk July 11. "It felt good,"
Canseco said. "No problems." The Rays have been aiming for Sept. 1 as his
return date, but Canseco is hopeful of coming back sooner.

==========
From CNN/SI:
McGwire-Sosa: Act II, sham I

Where have you gone, Jose Canseco, now that we actually need you? You have
let us down before -- the speeding, the Hooters waitress, the homer off
your head, the 0-for-important games, the smug cockiness of a young man on
the verge of greatness. You never reached greatness, Jose, but ... please
... Jose, please come back.

This home run race -- McGwire - Sosa II -- is a joke. Were Ford Frick still
in good health, surely his asterisk pen would be uncapped and ready. Frick,
the ancient commissioner who considered Roger Maris 's 61 to be as
authentic as Sally Struthers , could smell a farce from 10 ballparks away.
He would see the present conditions -- the juiced balls (and batters), the
dollhouse stadiums, the high aptitudes, the Pat Rapps and Tommy Baldwins
and Mike DeJeans and Scott Karls -- clear his throat and offer the truth:
"Baseball is sacred," he would say. "This is not sacred."

Jose Canseco, you are the one man who could've offered truth. At one point
this season, your 31 home runs led baseball. They were 31 of the most
insignificant, illegitimate, useless home runs in baseball history. You
were wearing the barfadelic uniforms of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. You were
playing on turf in a dome in front of 9,001 fans. You were the designated
hitter. Were it not for an expansion team needing a DH, you would possibly
be over -- a poker game without the chips. But there you were ...

Had Jose Canseco not hurt himself near the All-Star break, McGwire-Sosa II
would've been McGwire-Sosa-Canseco I. The baseball powers that be, a
tight-knit group of old men in suits, would surely find religion. Move to a
new country. Pick up badminton. Anything but Jose Canseco, Tampa Bay DH,
launching 71 home runs.

Anyone who watches a fair amount of the game knows hitting has turned into
a foolish, repetitive exercise. Ten seasons ago, Robin Yount won the
American League MVP with a .318 average, 21 home runs and 103 RBIs. So for
this season Matt Williams (.311-24-93), Jay Bell (.277-28-78), Brian Jordan
(.291-19-88), Sosa (.297-42-95), Henry Rodriguez (.337-21-75), Sean Casey
(.353-18-65), Larry Walker (.355-30-90), Dante Bichette (.292-22-86), Jeff
Bagwell (.310-35-95), Eric Karros (.293-25-67), Jeff Cirillo (.324-10-60),
Vladimir Guerrero (.293-23-76), Edgardo Alfonzo (.320-16-72), Mike Piazza
(.311-23-76), Robin Ventura (.303-25-90), Bobby Abreu (.341-15-60), Mike
Lieberthal (.314-22-69), Scott Rolen (.267-25-67), Kevin Young
(.313-16-70), Brian Giles (.308-24-76), Ed Sprague (.289-18-64), McGwire
(.279-44-102), Fernando Tatis (.298-24-77), Jeff Kent (.292-13-64), Ellis
Burks (.290-19-63) are on pace to wind up with similar, if not better,
numbers in the NL, Milwaukee's present home.

Because hype is holy, next month McGwire-Sosa II will really heat up. Fans
will swarm to St. Looo and Chicago, hoping to catch a ball that'll make 'em
overnight millionaires (events to be repeated for the next 10 seasons,
unless a Frick comes along to make some changes). In Tampa, poor Jose,
nearly back from the DL, will hit his 32nd, 33rd, 34th taters in complete
obscurity. Just 9,000 fans, and thoughts of what could've been.

Staff writer Jeff Pearlman offers his unique view on baseball every Tuesday
during the season for CNNSI.com.

==========
From the Sporting News:
8/11

Jose Canseco has started taking batting practice off a pitching machine and
continues to make excellent progress in his recovery from July 11 surgery
for a herniated disc. The Rays say they expect Canseco back by September 1,
but he has hopes of beating that by a week or so. . . .

==========
From the St. Petersburg Times:
Canseco targets next homestand
By John Romano, Bruce Lowitt
August 12, 1999

ST. PETERSBURG -- The next time the Devil Rays play at Tropicana Field,
Jose Canseco plans to be in the lineup.

After taking batting practice against manager Larry Rothschild hours before
Wednesday's game, Canseco pronounced himself fit and ready to play Aug. 20
when the Rays return from their road trip to face Kansas City.

"If it were up to me, I'd be in the lineup yesterday," Canseco said. "It's
not like I'm trying to push it, I'm just going on how I feel."

Canseco had surgery July 11 to repair a herniated disc in his lower back.
Team officials said Sept. 1 would be a good target date for his return, but
they acknowledge his rehabilitation is going better than expected.

"He's ahead of schedule. How far ahead? Quite a bit," Rothschild said. "You
could tell today swinging the bat, he's missed five or six weeks, he's
human. I think."

Canseco hit off a pitching machine for a couple of days before stepping in
against Rothschild. The Rays said they were looking for Canseco to take
nice, easy swings while working himself back into shape.

"For a person coming off surgery, he looked good," hitting coach Leon
Roberts said. "It's just going to be conditioning and getting acclimated
again."

The Devil Rays have gone 9-18 since Canseco left the lineup, but Rothschild
says he will not hurry him back.

"I'm not going to set dates because I don't want him to think he has to
reach dates. I don't want him injured again, because if he is, it's going
to be serious for his career. That's what I'm looking at."


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