Hey everyone,

Jose missed last Friday and Saturday's games due to back spasms, but he's
been back in the lineup ever since. He is STILL homerless since his return
from the DL. It sounds to me like his timing is still a bit off, since
he's been hitting a lot of balls to right field.

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Below you'll find this week's news...

Take it easy,
Mark

P.S. I earned $57.63 in August for doing nothing other than my usual web
surfing. Did you???
http://www.alladvantage.com/go.asp?refid=AMR575

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From the St. Petersburg Times:

CANSECO DOWN: DH Jose Canseco was scratched from the lineup with back
spasms. Canseco had played in six of seven games since returning to active
duty Aug. 20. He was replaced in the lineup by Bubba Trammell, who went to
leftfield with Paul Sorrento taking over as DH.

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

STILL HURTING: Jose Canseco was out again Saturday as a result of the back
spasms he felt Friday. "He still feels it a little, but he should be ready
to play (today) I would hope," Rothschild said.

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

GETTING OFFENSIVE: The Rays surpassed their run total from all of last
season, and are on pace for an increase of more than 25 percent. The
addition of Jose Canseco has had something to do with it, but not all.
Resurgent performances by McGriff, John Flaherty, Wade Boggs and Sorrento,
plus the addition of Terrell Lowery and others, also are factors.

"It's a combination of all those things," manager Larry Rothschild said.
"If the fact that Jose's here has taken pressure off them and made it
easier for them, that's hard to answer. Freddie's had too many good years
without good lineups around him in Atlanta for me to believe that. . . .
He's pretty much done it in every situation so I don't buy into that theory.

"But (adding Canseco) has allowed us to move guys down in the order to
different spots. He gives us a swagger. And he can put a pitcher on his
heels in a hurry."

TIME FOR BUSINESS: GM Chuck LaMar says he "hopes" to keep most of the
veterans and is looking to start some serious discussions this week. He'll
need the financial backing of ownership to do so, and there's some buzz
that he just may get it, the word being that the Rays will be
"opportunistic." Primary attention is due McGriff and Flaherty, who can be
free agents. The Rays hold options on Canseco, Sorrento and Boggs. Roberto
Hernandez and Wilson Alvarez are signed, and Dave Martinez will guarantee
his option by making 500 plate appearances.

==========
From the Tampa Bay Tribune:

For the second consecutive game, the Rays couldn't take advantage of a
solid performance by a starting pitcher. They didn't have as many scoring
chances as they did in Rolando Arrojo's 2-1 loss Saturday, but still had a
couple of opportunities to get to Nagy.

Once again, the absence of designated hitter Jose Canseco (back spasms)
played a pivotal role. His No. 3 spot in the order was filled Saturday by
leftfielder Terrell Lowery, who struck out twice with runners in scoring
position.

Bubba Trammell suffered a similar fate when he batted third in Canseco's
absence Friday. In the two losses, Tampa Bay went 0-for-13 with runners in
scoring position, including 0-for-4 Saturday.

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

GETTING A GRIP: Jose Canseco has tried several size, weight and brand bats
in trying to get comfortable at the plate. "It's the usual spring training
kind of thing, trying to find the right bat," he said. (SPT)

=============
From The Sporting News:
Rating baseball’s free agent signings
Some teams got bang for their bucks, others ended up broke
By Jon Heyman

...JOSE CANSECO, Devil Rays DH ($2.5 million plus many incentives): His
bold personality and previous antics probably hurt him in the market
because there is no other explanation for how Tampa stole him for this
price. He had a huge season last year and was in position to win the
home-run title before missing weeks with a back injury. He might make it to
Cooperstown as a bargain-basement DH....

==========
From the Washington Post:
Orioles Fall Again, Slip Into Last Place
Offense's Three Hits Waste Ponson's Effort; Devil Rays 3, Orioles 0
By Dave Sheinin
Wednesday, September 1, 1999

...In one of Ponson's biggest battles, with Miguel Cairo at third base and
one out in the third, Ponson dueled with Jose Canseco for 10 pitches, with
Canseco fouling off four straight 3-2 fastballs before Ponson caught him
looking at a high slider....

==========
From PSX:

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Nothing surprises me anymore." -- DH Jose Canseco on
whether he was surprised to have missed two games with back spasms after
declaring himself healthy following a July 11 operation on his back.

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

POWER TRIP: Not that Canseco no longer digs the long ball or anything, but
he has been something of a singles hitter since returning from the disabled
list Aug. 20. Including Wednesday's game, Canseco is 10-for-30 with eight
RBI since his return, all of the hits singles, several to rightfield.

The reason? His timing is still off so his swing is late. "I think his
timing is getting there. I thought I saw more quickness in his bat
(Tuesday) and better timing, and it just so happened that he hit both balls
to right," manager Larry Rothschild said. "I think he's been more patient.
There's a couple times he tried it purposely. I think he's being smart
about what he's doing. He knows where he is as far as getting back to full
bore. He's had better swings and he's closer to being where we saw him
before the surgery."

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