Hey everyone,

I won't share my personal opinion on the whole Elian Gonzalez saga, but
apparently Jose feels strongly about it. He was one of about a dozen major
league players that chose to not play on Tuesday night in protest of how
the situation was handled last weekend. I respect Jose for making what had
to be a very tough decision, but at the same time, I would have rather seen
him in the lineup. For the details of why Jose made the last minute
decision to not play, check out the articles below.

Did you know that of all the 400 home run club members, only Mark McGwire
(9.25), Babe Ruth (8.50), Harmon Killebrew (7.03), Ken Griffey Jr. (6.83),
and Ted Williams (6.76) have more homers per 100 at bats than Jose? Over
his career, Jose has hit 6.63 homers per 100 ABs. Check out the entire
list at: http://espn.go.com/mlb/s/2000/0410/474257.html

Take it easy,
Mark

P.S. If you ever decide to unsubscribe from this list, simply send a blank
email to canseconet-unsubscribe@egroups.com

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From majorleaguebaseball.com:
Dugout Chatter
Learn all about your favorite players in the MLB Kids player interview.
This Week ... Jose Canseco
Tampa Bay Devil Rays DH
Six-time All-Star

The Devil Rays' Jose Canseco has 431 career homers.

Poster he had on his wall as a kid: "Bruce Lee."

Favorite team when he was growing up: Cincinnati Reds

Vegetable he refused to eat as a kid: "Broccoli, even though I eat a lot of
broccoli now."

Favorite subject in school: Psychology

His advice for kids who hope to be in the Majors someday: "You have to get
great grades and basically, if you want to become an athlete, you have to
stay away from drugs. It's as simple as that. And that includes alcohol."

All-time favorite movie: Jaws I

Favorite breakfast cereal: Frosted Flakes

Favorite snack: Protein bars

Favorite Web site: "I like AOL."

If he could meet one current or former Major Leaguer, it would be: Babe Ruth

If he could add one player to his roster, it would be: "It would definitely
be a pitcher. Who's the best pitcher in baseball right now? Pedro Martinez."

If he could have witnessed any historical baseball event in person, it
would have been: "Mark McGwire hitting his 62nd home run to break the record."

What he would like to be if he wasn't a baseball player: Nuclear physicist

Stadium he most enjoys playing in: Fenway Park

Best part of playing pro baseball: "Hitting home runs." Worst part: "The
travel."

Person who taught him the most about baseball: Reggie Jackson

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From the AP:
Canseco play? No way, Jose

Tampa Bay's Jose Canseco was the biggest name to sit out Tuesday night's
major league games in support of a work stoppage over the Elian
Gonzalez debate. Six Florida Marlins, two San Francisco Giants and New York
Mets shortstop Rey Ordonez joined the protest, along with several coaches.

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From the AP:
Canseco pulls himself from lineup
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Cuban native Jose Canseco changed his mind and
elected not to play for in Tampa Bay Tuesday night against Kansas City,
joining a work stoppage by Cuban-Americans to protest Elian Gonzalez's
removal from the Miami home of his relatives.

Canseco originally was scheduled to start as the designated hitter, batting
fourth. But about 30 minutes a before the game, it was announced that he
had been scratched and replaced by Bubba Trammell.

"I just thought it was the right thing to do," said Canseco, who owns a
financial services business in Miami.

He said he originally thought the work stoppage was only by Cuban players
with the Florida Marlins in Miami.

"It became more of a national thing than what I thought. That's about it.
It's over with."

Canseco was hitting .253 with three home runs and eight RBIs and only
watched as the Devil Rays blew a 5-1 lead and lost 7-6 on pitcher Albie
Lopez's throwing error in the ninth.

He said it was uncomfortable not being in the game.

"It's something you have to do. It's tough when you're not playing," he
said. "It's a close game. It's a one-run ballgame and you want to get in
there."

He said he had "no idea" if the work stoppage by Cuban-Americans would draw
more national attention to their feelings over the government's seizure of
the 6-year-old boy.

"It's over with and hopefully everything continues from here," Canseco said.

Tampa Bay manager Larry Rothschild said he supported Canseco's decision.

"I talked to him before the game. He was aware that some other players were
not going to play, players away from Miami, which made his decision a lot
tougher," Rothschild said. "He thought it was just a local thing down in
Miami and that would be it. But it was different than that. It's something
away from baseball that affects a lot of people."

Trammell entered the game hitting .320 with two home runs and four RBI.

The Cuban-American protest over the Gonzalez case was marked by workers
staying home, students skipping school and businesses keeping their doors shut.

==========
From the St. Petersburg Times:
Canseco sits for Elian
By Marc Topkin
April 26, 2000

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- In what apparently was a last-minute decision, Devil
Rays designated hitter Jose Canseco skipped Tuesday's game as a result of
the Elian Gonzalez controversy.

Canseco, born in Cuba and raised in Miami, joined more than a dozen
big-league players and coaches in what amounted to a show of support for
the Cuban-American community in South Florida. (See story, 4C.)

While several Florida Marlins announced their intentions ahead of time,
Canseco showed up at Kauffman Field planning to play against the Royals. He
was in the starting lineup batting fourth and went so far as to don his
uniform and take batting practice, but he was scratched from the lineup
fewer than 30 minutes before the first pitch. He was said to be in the
clubhouse during the game.

An announcement in the press box said: "Due to the situation involving
Elian Gonzalez in Miami, Cuban native and Miami resident Jose Canseco
elected not to play in tonight's game."

It was not immediately known if he had been in communication with other
players, family members or South Florida community leaders.

In an interview with the Times about two hours before the game, Canseco
said that his Miami-based financial services company and other affiliated
businesses were closed Tuesday but that he planned to take part in the game.

"Obviously if I was playing for the Marlins I would shut it down today," he
said, "but we're in Kansas City."

Canseco said he preferred to avoid political issues such as the Gonzalez
controversy but acknowledged it would be more difficult if he were in South
Florida.

"I think if you're there locally you're going to get involved with it more,
be questioned about it more and be pressured to make a commitment either
way more," he said.

The decision could end up costing Canseco money, since his contract
includes hefty incentive clauses based on plate appearances. He also has a
clause that guarantees his 2001 salary based on 600 appearances this season.

First-base coach Jose Cardenal, the only other Cuban native in uniform for
the Rays, fulfilled his duties for the game and said he had no comment on
the Gonzalez situation.

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From the Tampa Tribune:
Elian events help everyone stop to think
By Joe Henderson

Jose Canseco had been in town just a few months last spring when an editor
here at the Trib asked me to profile the Devil Rays' newest star. The idea
was to compare and contrast Canseco and pitcher Rolando Arrojo. Both were
born in Cuba, but Canseco left at an early age and was raised in Miami.
Arrojo spent most of his life in Cuba before defecting.

Canseco was agreeable enough to the interview, but with a caveat.

``This isn't going to be a political story is it?'' he said when we sat
down. ``I don't do politics.''

Something apparently changed. Canseco ``did'' the political thing Tuesday
night. He joined several other Cuban big-league players in a walkout to
protest the government's tactics with 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez.

This is not to suggest Canseco's decision not to play Tuesday's game at
Kansas City was anything but honest - although he did come to the park that
night ready to play and was written into the lineup. He informed Manager
Larry Rothschild of his decision not to play shortly before game time.

Canseco said afterward he changed his mind after thinking things over.

It's been that kind of week. The kind where everyone - Cuban or not,
athlete or not - needs to think.

And, if so driven, to ``do politics.''

THE SQUAWK SHOW guys on radio seem to believe everyone should have played -
they protest the protest, if you will. Just shout ``Hey Beer Man'' and make
the world go away. It's a free country, I suppose.

But even if you don't like the way Elian's relatives handled this thing,
how can anyone live in Florida and not at least appreciate the passion
something like this invokes?

Certainly Dave Dombrowski does. He's the general manager of the Florida
Marlins, and six of his players sat out Tuesday's extra-innings loss to San
Francisco. No one likes to lose. But it's just a ballgame.

``When I was in Montreal [as GM], I never could have totally related to how
deep the feelings run here [among Cubans] until I got here. It's just such
a passionate subject, it's so hard for everyone else to understand,'' he said.

``What happened to their families didn't happen on our soil, so to fully
get some perspective on how they feel I think you would have to go back to
some of the things that took place in segregation in this country, and even
the wars.''

THE IMAGE of a storm-trooper taking a terrified child away by force is
jolting enough, even if you live in a suburban split-level and only had
time for a quick glance at the picture before making your tee-time at the club.

But to Cubans, it had to be the worst kind of flashback.

Remember Arrojo? He would never talk in detail about life in Cuba, or how
his family later escaped to join him this country. He was afraid Castro's
agents in the United States would somehow inflict revenge upon him or his
family.

``This is an issue that's beyond sports,'' Dombrowski said. ``This is ...
one of those questions you could debate back and forth.''

This is far from the first time athletes have used their status for social
commentary. Remember the upraised fist by two U.S. sprinters on the medal
stand at the 1968 Olympics? They were protesting racial discrimination.

When Arkansas basketball coach Nolan Richardson made the 1994 NCAA
championship game, he used the occasion to launch a diatribe against a
system that he said unfairly held black coaches down.

``It shows we don't live in a vacuum,'' Dombrowski said. ``People don't
like to acknowledge that, but it's true.

``When you talk about religion and politics, those are two subjects that
people don't talk about because of the passion involved. Like it or not
though, sports doesn't supersede the real world.''

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