Hey Cansecoites,

I was getting used to Jose playing with the Yankees. He was starting every
day, and playing well. Things have changed now. Jose is back on the bench
now, but I honestly can't argue with it. With Glenallen Hill hitting a
home run every 5 at bats or something ridiculous like that, I wouldn't
start Jose either.

I do think the days of rest will probably do Jose some good though, and not
being guaranteed a starting job will give him something to play for when he
is in the lineup.

I admit, it's great to see Jose on a first place team again. Now his at
bats actually matter, and he needs to be a smarter hitter. The Yankees are
counting on him to help them win important games, where in Tampa Bay, it
didn't really matter. Hopefully, the combination of limited playing time
and being on a first place team will be enough to keep Jose motivated.

After two weeks of voting the Canseconet.com "Jose Is A Yankee Poll," it
appears that most of you are happy Jose is in New York. If you haven't
voted yet, head on over to Canseconet.com...

I've included some great articles in this email, including one about Ozzie,
and another one about Jose's friendship with Roger Clemens. Check 'em out...

Note: This may be the last time you hear from me for a while. I'm headed
to the Grand Canyon Thursday night for over a week of rafting. I won't be
back online until about Labor Day. For the first time in the 5 years my
site has been around, I won't be updating it every day...

Take it easy,
Mark

==========
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From the Daily News:
Canseco Has a Blast
First HR as Yankee decks Oakland
By Julian Garcia

There are two areas in Yankee Stadium where baseballs don't often go: The
center field bleachers and the upper deck in left.

But for the second straight game, a Yankee hit a home run into one of those
sections.

A day after Bernie Williams went into the black seats beyond the center
field fence, Jose Canseco hit a ball two rows into the upper deck in left.
When Canseco was asked if he had ever done that before, the look on his
face seemed to say, "What, you haven't?"

"It's been a while," he said. "But I know I have."

Canseco's solo homer in the fourth inning was just a small part of the
Yankees' 12-6 win over the A's yesterday at the Stadium, but when he hit
it, the 41,011 fans reacted like fans do when they witness something
surprising.

Canseco, the designated hitter du jour, also walked, hit a double and drove
in two runs with sacrifice flies. The two sac flies were deep and made the
crowd rise to its feet.

Canseco's performance helped David Cone break a 15-game winless streak.

"Scoring a dozen runs will help any pitcher," Canseco said.

Canseco admitted being nervous when he made his debut as a pinch-hitter on
Tuesday, but said the reception he's received from the New York fans has
made him feel welcomed since coming over from Tampa Bay on a waiver claim
on Monday.

"My first at-bat I was definitely nervous," he said. "Coming to New York
can be overwhelming at times."

Especially if you're an opposing pitcher. Because, all of a sudden, the
Yankees are flexing considerable muscle, right up there with the most
powerful teams in the league.

Glenallen Hill, who started in left, also went deep, hitting a two-run shot
to right two batters after Canseco launched his blast. He drove in another
run with a double during the Yankees' six-run third inning and has five
homers and 11 RBI since coming over in a trade with the Cubs on July 20.

Canseco and Hill know they have to take advantage of playing time, since
the Yankees have several players who will play left field or DH for the
remainder of the season.

"I don't care about my playing time," Hill said. "When Joe (Torre) calls,
I'll play."

Said Canseco: "Having a decent game doesn't guarantee I'll play tomorrow."

Torre said he'll probably rest David Justice tonight in Anaheim, meaning
Canseco and Hill will likely be in the lineup again.

And even though he may not have been thrilled with the acquisition of
Canseco, Torre admitted he's happy to have such a reserve of power to work
with.

"We have a little pop right now that we haven't had," the manager said.

==========
From the NY Post:
Canseco Turns on the Juice in Debut
By Brian Lewis

HE'S DA BOMB:

When the Yankees signed Jose Canseco off waivers Monday, the move was
questioned and Joe Torre admitted to being "shocked" and "stunned." But
yesterday, Canseco left Oakland pitching shell-shocked and stunned. For the
first time since the Bombers picked him up, Canseco gave them exactly what
they got him for - Power. Raw, unadulterated upper-deck power.

He made his first start for the Yankees yesterday, and helped his new team
put a 12-6 beating on Oakland, one of his former clubs. He went 2-for-2
with a walk, two sacrifice flies and three RBIs. Oh, and he crushed a solo
shot off battered A's starter Mark Mulder in the fourth inning, a towering
shot into the upper deck in left long enough for an in-flight movie.

"I was nervous. Don't kid yourself," Canseco said. But afterwards, after
his offense had helped David Cone break his eight-game losing streak and
left the Stadium crowd of 41,011 slack-jawed, even Torre seemed impressed.

"It definitely didn't take long for it to get out (of The Stadium). Scott
Brosius joked with Canseco, 'I knew it was fair; I just wasn't sure it was
far enough,' " Torre said facetiously. "You couldn't have written a script
any better, both he and (Glenallen) Hill with home runs. It's a little pop
we haven't had in awhile. We'll do it again tomorrow."

A second straight game start today at DH would be noteworthy for Canseco.
After all, his arrival wasn't exactly hailed by the press, and Hill -
another DH-type the Yanks picked up on July 20 from the Chicago Cubs -
excelled both at the plate and in the field, going 3-for-4 with a homer and
three RBIs and handling left-field with no problems. So for Canseco, starts
are no longer the forgone conclusion they once were.

"Well, it's definitely a different situation for me, but I'm going to take
it one game at a time and have a positive attitude and try to help the team
win," said Canseco, a career .167 pinch-hitter. But yesterday he bludgeoned
A's pitching, with a walk in the first, an RBI sacrifice fly in the Yank's
six-run second and again in the sixth, and a double to left in the seventh.

"I think probably what's most important is being in the lineup and scoring
runs for Cone early," said Canseco, who batted cleanup yesterday against
Oakland, for whom he hit 231 homers from late 1985 through 1992. "That gave
him an opportunity to make a mistake or two out there and not feel like the
game was over for him. That's great."

That might have been his most important contribution, but his 10th homer of
the year was his most impressive. He crushed a first-pitch changeup,
watching as his 441st career homer bounced off the second row of the
left-field upper tier.

"He had started me off my first two at-bats with breaking balls, so I was
looking over the middle of the plate, and he gave me a pitch I could
handle," said Canseco, one behind Dave Kingman for 23rd on the all-time
list. "It was just a changeup up."

Make that a changeup out.

==========
NYTimes:
Canseco's First Start Is a Blast For Yanks
By Jack Curry

Jose Canseco limped across the clubhouse with an ice pack strapped across
his left heel, more ice attached to his lower back, and probably would have
lost a race to any of the young sons of Yankee players who were prancing
around.

But Canseco is not expected to run fast. He is expected to hit.

Canseco did that in majestic fashion yesterday, blasting a homer into the
upper deck in left field in his first start with the Yankees. The ball
soared off Canseco's bat, caromed off the second row and traveled more than
400 feet. Somewhere, General Manager Brian Cashman smiled for a second or two.

The Yankees are stuck with Canseco after putting a waiver claim in on him
last week, so Manager Joe Torre will try to provide at-bats for Canseco,
who is the same type of player as Glenallen Hill. Torre started Hill in
left field and made Canseco the designated hitter yesterday and, voilą,
both players drilled homers in the fourth inning. Canseco's first with the
Yankees was much more impressive than Hill's fifth, which looked like a
soft fly ball before it drifted into the right-field bleachers.

"I was just thinking, 'Don't try to do too much,' " Canseco said. "Just do
what you do. You've been at it for 15 years.' "

"It was really nice to see that today," Torre said.

"That sort of made him feel really needed."

Canseco, who has 441 career homers, casually said that he had previously
smashed a homer into the same spot in left. But Canseco quickly turned
serious when he admitted that he was "definitely nervous" when he pinch-hit
on Tuesday in his first at-bat as a Yankee and popped out with the bases
loaded.

"Everything is going so fast," Canseco said. "I'm not only trying to get
acclimated to playing for the Yankees, but possibly to a new role."

Even though Canseco had the homer, a double and two sacrifice flies, he
said he understood that the two extra-base hits and three runs batted in
did not guarantee him a start tonight against the Angels. But Canseco will,
in fact, start at Anaheim. Torre will rest David Justice against Scott
Schoeneweis and keep Canseco and Hill in the lineup for a second straight
game. Still, Canseco will probably return to being a pinch-hitter tomorrow.

"I've never been in this role before," Canseco said.

Paul O'Neill, who was rested yesterday so Torre could get Hill and Canseco
into the lineup, was in the clubhouse in the fourth inning when he heard a
roar. O'Neill hustled to the dugout but only saw Canseco lumbering around
the bases. Then O'Neill peered toward the upper deck in left field and
understood what he had missed.

"I didn't see him hit it, but I saw where it went," O'Neill said. "I was
like, 'Oh, man, I missed it.' I'm just like a fan. I want to see him hit."

==========
From the NJ Record:
Canseco, Hill turn on the power
August 11, 2000
By Tim Leonard

NEW YORK -- Joe Torre may have been surprised when he found out the Yankees
had acquired Jose Canseco, but the manager certainly seemed happy to have
the slugger in the middle of his lineup Thursday. Instead of deciding
between Canseco and Glenallen Hill, Torre managed to fit them in the same
lineup. After they hit home runs in the fourth inning, Torre had more
decisions to make.

"You couldn't have written up a better script, [Canseco] and Hill both hit
one," said Torre, who had Hill in left field and Canseco hitting cleanup as
the designated hitter. "We have some pop now that we haven't had in a while."

The acquisition of Canseco off waivers from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays was
intended to block other teams from claiming the power hitter, but it
backfired when the Devil Rays allowed him to leave for the Yankees. The
move forced the Yankees to designate Ryan Thompson for assignment, leaving
them without an experienced backup center fielder.

Canseco led off the fourth inning with the kind of monstrous home run that
has become his trademark. The ball slammed into a seat in the upper deck
and caromed back down to the grass in left field. The home run was the
441st of his career, leaving him one behind Dave Kingman for 23rd on the
all-time list.

"He crushed it," said David Justice, who played right field Thursday so
Paul O'Neill could get a day off. "That's the kind of pop only a few people
got."

Hill also hit a home run in the same inning, a two-run drive that took
advantage of the short porch in right field. After going 3-for-4 with three
RBI, Hill is hitting .375 with five home runs and 11 RBI in 32 at-bats as a
Yankee.

"I feel zero pressure," Hill said. "Jose on this team is not my concern."

But it is Torre's concern. Hill and Canseco are viewed as similar players
in that both are powerful hitters with limited defensive ability. After the
Yankees traded for Hill, it seemed like overkill when Canseco was brought in.

"I've never been in this situation, where I may play one or two days a week
and pinch hit," said Canseco, who was 2-for-2 and drove in three runs with
the home run and two sacrifice flies. "I've never been in this role."

==========
From the NY Post:

...Jose Canseco homered leading off the eighth. It was his second as a
Yankee and the 442nd of his career, tying him with Dave Kingman for 23rd
place on the all-time list....

==========
From Newsday:

....Jeter, who went 3-for-5, hit a two-run double in the seventh off Mike
Holtz and Jose Canseco hit a solo homer in the eighth. Canseco's second
homer since the Yankees claimed him on waivers from Tampa Bay was a
435-foot drive into the rocks beyond the left-center field fence.....

==========
From the NY Post:
A Doubles Troubles
By Tom Keegan

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - Decades of Yankee pitching prospects grew from the
fertile soil of the fenced-in bullpen between the clubhouse and right-field
line in Fort Lauderdale. It was there that one man's dream died in a split
second in the summer of '85. It was Ozzie Canseco's throw day between
starts and pitching coach Bill Monbouquette, wanting the former Yankee
second-round pick to add velocity, urged him to throw over the top, instead
of from a three-quarter arm angle.

"I told him throwing that way felt uncomfortable," recalled Canseco, twin
brother of the Yankees' Jose, and now a first baseman/designated hitter for
the Newark Bears.

"He told me to do it anyway. I threw a pitch. The electric shock started in
my shoulder and ran all the way down my arm to my fingertips. That was all
she wrote. My gift was gone."

And what a gift it was. He threw in the 90s with movement. He was a
prospect until he became a sore-armed pitcher yearning to become an
everyday player. Not long after the injury, he gave up pitching and took up
power hitting in the A's system.

Ever since, he has been on a Catch-22 odyssey traveled by many a
minor-league slugger. They need time to adjust to hitting the major-league
curveball. The only place they can make that adjustment is in the major
leagues, but they look so overmatched at first and do so little else other
than hit to help a team win a ballgame, their trial periods are too short
to learn to hit the breaking pitch.

They return to the minors, return to their long-ball ways and in time get
labeled non-prospects. They go through life haunted by the belief that if
only they had been given a real chance, they could have made it. Some are
right. We'll never know which ones.

Ozzie had given up on baseball until the Bears recruited him. He could fill
a locker room with all the uniforms he has worn. Since last playing
Triple-A ball, for the Brewers in 1994, Canseco has played for the
Duluth-Superior Dukes of the Northern League, the Monterey Sultans and
Tobasco Cattlemen of the Mexican League and now the Newark Bears. He walked
away a few times, always to return.

He made it to the big leagues in 1990 with the A's and in '92 and '93 with
the Cardinals. In 65 at-bats, he hit .200 and did not homer.

The pattern of lead the minor league team in homers, get called up, strike
out a few times, sit, return to the minors, left Canseco feeling as if,
"I'm a marked man and that's not a good feeling to have."

Ozzie was known as Obie until he left Miami for professional baseball. His
brother Jose could not pronounce Ozzie when they were toddlers. The closest
he could come was Obie. It stuck.

Obie was the more serious student, better baseball prospect, and more
cautious driver of the Ford Mustang with the vanity plate "TWIN" they
shared during their days at Coral Park High School. A hard-throwing
right-hander, Obie was chosen by the Yankees in the second round of the
January 1983 draft out of Miami Dade Community College.

Jose, the power hitter, did not play varsity ball until his senior year and
was chosen in the 15th round by the A's on the recommendation of scout
Camilo Pascual.

Given how long it took Jose to join his brother on the varsity, given how
much easier it was for Obie to follow orders, might Jose have been envious
of his twin back then?

"My brother? No way," Ozzie said. "We're not like that. If anything, I
should be envious of him. I mean, look at me, I'm 36 years old and I'm in
the Atlantic League and look at all Jose has accomplished. But it's not
like that. All the money Jose has made playing baseball has trickled down
to everyone in the family. We're all happy for him."

As for how Ozzie feels about his own baseball career, his emotions are
mixed. He is at once proud and perplexed. Every week he sees another player
from the independent Atlantic League get signed by an organization and
assigned to Double-A or Triple-A. He dominates the league in a way nobody
before him ever dominated it, yet he doesn't get a sniff.

Heading into the weekend, Canseco had played 85 games for the Bears and was
batting .311 with an Atlantic League record 36 home runs and 97 RBIs.
Oddly, he had only six doubles. Predictably, he had 57 walks and 102
strikeouts.

The hour is getting late for Ozzie. There must be some way out of here, out
of the Atlantic League. He is on pace to match the number on his back, 50,
in home runs.

"I'd rather he hit 10 home runs in the big leagues," said Bears manager Tom
O'Malley, a veteran of the big leagues, here and in Japan.

"I don't know why he's still here. I would think an American League team
that needs a right-handed DH or a right-handed bat off the bench would want
to sign him to a Triple-A contract then call him up in time to be eligible
for the playoff roster."

Raw power is not an issue. It is Canseco's turn to hit during batting
practice at Harbor Yard, home to the Bridgeport Bluefish and a jewel of a
minor-league park tucked amid giant smokestacks, a sprawling housing
project and the harbor for the ferry to Port Jefferson.

From the dugout, he appears a clone of his fraternal twin. Same stance,
same twitches of the neck, similar swing. O'Malley delivers and Ozzie sends
a majestic shot to left. It sails way above the three decks of ads on the
fence, avoids the glove the shagging outfielder had tossed in the air,
crashes more than halfway up the light pole and lands back on the field.

Back at the home park in Newark, a net was constructed above the left-field
fence. Otherwise, Ozzie was sure to break the minor-league record for
broken windshields.

It's time for Ozzie's fourth trip to the plate against the Bluefish. The
teen-agers lean over the railing by the on-deck circle to offer their hands
in hopes he'll slap them. He obliges.

"We'll give you five bucks if you hit a homer," one offers.

"Hit the scoreboard," another begs.

"Ten bucks if you hit that train," another says, pointing to the
graffiti-decorated boxcars passing beyond the right field fence.

Instead, he singles up the middle and carries the handle of broken,
36-inch, 35-ounce Jose Canseco model bat all the way to first base. Palms
up, he spreads his arms and shrugs toward the teenagers, letting them know
he tried to hit a homer for them. He enjoys what he's doing up to the point
he resents not getting a chance to do it elsewhere.

"Jose told me if I don't get another shot, I should be proud of how well
I'm doing," Ozzie said. "I thought about it and decided that's pretty good
advice."

Pride is one thing, satisfaction quite another.

==========
From the NJ Record:

A's general manager Billy Beane had an interesting take on the questions
surrounding the Yankees' acquisition of Jose Canseco last week. While he
admired the honesty that Bombers officials displayed by admitting that
Canseco's waiver claim was a mistake, Beane said the problems could have
been avoided.

"In a situation like that, all you have to say is, 'If Jose Canseco makes
us better by one game, then we did the right thing,' " Beane said. "If
Canseco's numbers are good against, say, [Jeff] Fassero, then getting him
to hit against Fassero makes it worth it."

All that is true, although Beane's A's obviously can't spend $1.4 million
on a hitter for a one-game match-up. Asked if he would've claimed Canseco,
Beane smiled and said, "No."

==========
From the Post:

Watching Jose Canseco move slowly through the Yankees' clubhouse late
Saturday night you would have thought he was a war survivor.

As Canseco made his way to the trainer's room, Canseco had multiple ice
packs attached to his massive body. His back, left ankle, right calf and
right shoulder all were smothered in ice.

And that was just after Canseco DH'd in Saturday night's 9-6 loss to the
Angels in which he clubbed his 442 career homer to tie him with Dave
Kingman for 23rd place on the all-time list. Carl Yastrzemski is next with 452.

While Joe Torre was surprised about the Yankees landing Canseco on a waiver
claim, Torre hasn't let Canseco rot on the bench. Last night, Canseco was
the DH and hitting seventh. It was fourth straight game Canseco started.

"He is a threat," Torre said of Canseco, who went 0-for-3 and is 4-for-12
(.333) with two homers and four RBIs in five games in Pinstripes...

==========
From the NY Times:

...Jose Canseco picked up one of Paul O'Neill's 35-ounce bats before the
game and caressed it the way a father would caress a new baby. He rubbed
it, he swung it and he told O'Neill that he did not believe how solid the
barrel was. O'Neill nodded, pointed to the thick, stained barrel and told
Canseco, "When you hit one just right, it sounds different."...

==========
From the NY Post:

...Bernie Williams saved Jose Canseco the ultimate embarrassment last
night. Canseco was in the box ready to lead off the fourth when Williams
pulled him out by the shirt and took his rightful turn at the plate...

==========
From the NY Post:

Torre would like Jose Canseco to get to the point where he could play left
field. However, if Canseco's body doesn't allow him to do that, it's not
the end of the world.

"It would be nice so I would know I could do some things if I have to,"
Torre said of Canseco's heal progressing to the point where he could play
the outfield for the first time this season.

After using Canseco as the DH for six straight games, Torre used David
Justice in that spot last night and put Luis Polonia in left and led him
off.Canseco delivered a pinch-hit single. Justice went 1-for-4 and Polonia
was hitless in four at-bats and botched two balls in left.

==========
From the NY Times:

JOSE CANSECO is trying to lose at least 10 pounds from his 255-pound frame
to help his injured left heel and possibly enable him to play the outfield.
"I would love to give Joe the option to put me back out there," Canseco
said. Torre does not want to play Canseco in the outfield much, but wants
the added flexibility.

==========

...22 -- Combined hits in 57 at-bats (.386) for Jose Canseco and Glenallen
Hill since joining the Yankees. The pair have also combined for eight home
runs and 18 RBI.

==========
From Fox Sports:
8/18

...The Yankees have nine players who weren't on their Opening Day roster,
an unusually high in-season turnover for a winning team. Right now manager
Joe Torre is trying to find enough playing time for Jose Canseco (he's not
used to coming off the bench, so he needs consistent at-bats to stay
sharp), David Justice (Torre prefers using him as the designated hitter
instead of in left field to take pressure off his knees, but that cuts into
Canseco's time) and Luis Polonia (who can play both in the outfield and as
the designated hitter). "The important thing is to play the players we need
to play so they can stay sharp," Torre said.

==========
From the Daily News
Bash Brothers
Clemens, Canseco have a powerful friendship
By Anthony McCarron

Picture the scene - Roger Clemens, one of baseball's pure power pitchers,
yapping at Jose Canseco, pure power hitter:

"You take one of those big ol' swings on me and miss, Jose, the next one's
coming at your ear."

"Yeah? Well, you better not hang one, Roger, because if I hit it out, I'm
going to stand at home plate, just watching. You won't like that."

Sounds like trash talk worthy of an in-your-face video game, the ultimate
snap session between two of the game's enduring stars.

In reality, it's a taste of the pregame chatter on the shared ride to the
ballpark when Clemens and Canseco were on opposing teams.

Clemens and Canseco became friends in the mid-80s. The two became pals on
baseball's charity circuit, traveling to each other's events, a friendship
growing when their teams would play or when they'd see each other at an
All-Star Game.

"Usually, our rides would end with one of us saying, 'OK, we'll see in a
few hours,' and the other would say, 'You do what you have to do and I
will, too,'" Clemens said, laughing.

For the record, Clemens dominates Canseco. Canseco is 10-for-61 (.164
batting average) with 25 strikeouts and three home runs, the last of which
came more than 10 years ago on Sept. 15, 1989.

Beyond the pair's competitiveness, a bond formed in the mid-80s. They grew
closer as teammates in Boston (1995-96) and Toronto (1998). They started
playing golf together and staying at each other's houses, showing sides to
each other that fans may not see on the field.

The gruff Clemens, all scowl and razor stubble on the days he pitches (and
usually the days before and after, too), has "a hidden jokester side to
him," according to Canseco.

Canseco, the biceps-flexing slugger linked to snazzy cars, a snazzy
lifestyle and, once, Madonna, is "a real giving person," Clemens said.

"That's what I like about him. The stuff he does behind the scenes
outweighs anything he's ever done. I know he's had his fun with fast cars,
but this is a sharing man.

"Just because he's Jose Canseco, he stokes your emotions. He's got this
unbelievable charisma in a locker room, a presence. He can be
light-hearted. I've seen him upset, too, and you don't want to be around
him then.

"He can be calm and then electric.

"It's almost comical the way people and attention are drawn to him,"
Clemens added. "I've been out with him and heard people say a derogatory
thing about him and I stop in my tracks."

That's when loudmouths in restaurants are treated to the same glare
opposing hitters see when they step up to the plate.

When Canseco found out he had been claimed on waivers by the Yankees, he
called Clemens with questions about logistics - "Where am I staying
tonight, man? Can I stay with you? Will you take me to the ballpark?"

And about the team he was joining.

"He was great to me. And he's definitely helped me with any transition
here, because I don't know a lot of these guys on a personal level,"
Canseco said. "He drives me to the park and he's been showing me the ropes."

Clemens said that's all been easy. He believes Canseco has fit in quickly
on the veteran-laden Yankees and even recently found a home lockering next
to Clemens.

"It brings back some memories for him, being in pennant races," Clemens
said, referring to the late '80s, when Canseco was a member of the powerful
Oakland A's. "And he'll just thrive in that situation. Nothing changes for
him here, because if you respect the game here, you'll get along well here."

Clemens said he was "ecstatic" when he heard the news that Canseco would
wear pinstripes. The Yankees got caught in a defensive maneuver on the
waiver wire, claiming Canseco so AL rivals wouldn't get him, but Clemens
thought it was just a matter of time before Canseco was a Yankee anyway.

"I knew back in spring training that he wanted to come here," Clemens said.
"He expressed his feelings about wanting to be a Yankee.

"When you get on a team like this, it only enhances your chances of doing
something like what he's close to - 500 home runs (Canseco has 442, tied
with Dave Kingman for 23rd all-time).

"We all want to see him get there. He deserves it, how hard he's worked.
When we were with Boston, he came back from injuries that no one would
have, just to play.

"His home runs are an awesome sight, but he analyzes each at-bat," Clemens
added. "One of the best things about working with him is how much he talks
about hitting, how he really analyzes it. I never thought he was like that,
facing him. I think that would surprise people."

What would surprise fans about Clemens is his lighter side. Canseco is
believable as a cut-up.

But Clemens? Mr. Intensity?

"It's hard to be on the mound, telling jokes," Canseco said. "It is our
business, after all. But when we play golf, it's two big guys doing a lot
of laughing. Of course, he gets to do a lot of laughing at me, because he's
a very good golfer.

"Me, I'm very bad."

When Clemens saw a reporter talking to Canseco, Clemens ran over and poked
his head into the interview.

"If he's talked to you for more than a minute and a half, it's all lies,"
Clemens joked.

"Roger, it's been much longer than that," Canseco told him.

"It's definitely lies, then," Clemens replied.

When they go out to eat together, they usually go in a big group and arrive
separately.

"There's not too many places we can go together," Clemens said. "He draws a
crowd. I enjoy watching the show sometimes."

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From the AP:
Canseco can choose his hat

It was widely reported when Jose Canseco signed a two-year contract with
the Devil Rays last year that it contained a clause whereby he agreed to
wear a Tampa Bay cap on his plaque if he were elected to the Hall of Fame.

Now that his contract has been exchanged to the New York Yankees, what of
that clause?

"I don't know," Canseco said, shaking his head.

As it turns out, there is no such clause. Yankee General Manager Brian
Cashman, who plucked Canseco off the waiver wire, combed through the
contract Friday and found no mention of that agreement, to his relief.

"We'd never make such a stipulation," Cashman said. "I know Roger Clemens
has been quoted as saying if he gets to the Hall of Fame he'll go in as a
Yankee, but if so that was his decision, not something we asked him to
agree to. The individual should make that decision."

The issue was dealt with in a side letter to Canseco's contract that if he
hit his 500th career home run with the Devil Rays he would wear their cap,
if he is elected to the Hall.

Canseco became only the fourth major-leaguer to homer at Yankee Stadium for
five different teams. he also went deep in the Bronx for the Athletics,
Rangers, Red Sox and Blue Jays, but not for the Devil Rays.