Hi there Canseco fans,

This is extremely last minute, but I wanted to get something out to you all
today.  I've put off sending this email for months now, because I wanted to
"do it right," but at this point, I'd rather send something than nothing.

2008 was an interesting year for Jose.  I'm not going to copy and paste
100s of articles like I usually do, but do a Google News search on "Jose
Canseco" and you'll be surprised how many articles are out there, about a
man who no longer plays professional baseball:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ned=us&q=jose+canseco&btnG=Search+News

Off the top of my head:

-Jose has come upon pretty rough financial times.  He ended up losing his
gorgeous house in California last year and is reportedly broke or close to
it.  I know a lot of people can't understand how a man who once made so
much money could be broke, but keep in mind he went through two divorces,
supported who-knows how many people for years, and I'm sure made some bad
investments and poor business decisions over the years.  The fact remains,
Jose

-Jose boxed news caster and former Philadelphia Eagle (and former-former
amateur boxer) Vai Sikahema over the summer, and Vai beat Jose in something
like 1 minute.  From what I heard, it was not pretty.  Here's a clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoAUP4ufh7s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CJn9n0UKOA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlvxxyBH6cg

-There was an A&E special on about Jose last year, and it's really worth
watching.  It's called "Last Shot with Jose Canseco."  It focuses on Jose
quitting his steroid use cold turkey after 20+ years, and the physical and
mental effects it has been taking on his body.  It's a great show (albeit
hard to watch for any Canseco fans who remember the man when he was larger
than life), so hopefully you can catch it being rerun.  I think it's safe
to say Jose has a different look on steroids now than he did throughout his
playing days and even as recently as a few years ago.
http://www.aetv.com/listings/episode_details.do?episodeid=369154

Back to the present... Jose is scheduled to take part in a celebrity boxing
match with former Partridge Family star Danny Bonaduce tonight at 8 PM
ET.  I was pretty sure Sikahema was going to beat Jose, but I think he can
take Bonaduce (who also has boxing experience).  He's way, way bigger than
the guy.  You can watch the event live online here for $12.99:
http://www.gofightlive.tv/showEvent.do?event=348

Lastly, I want to include a couple of links from huge Canseco fan and email
list member Mario Alejandro, who met Jose earlier last March:
http://completist.wordpress.com/2008/03/20/hangin-with-jose
http://completist.wordpress.com/2008/03/21/talkin-softball

That's all for now... Good luck tonight, Jose!

-Mark

==========
  From the AP:
Fame game not over for scorned former major league slugger Canseco
By Dan Gelston
January 23, 2009

NEW YORK - Jose Canseco might want to dust off that muscled-up "Bash
Brother" moniker one more time.

He needs a colourful nickname for his introduction as he enters the boxing
ring Saturday night for a celebrity match against child star-turned-radio
host Danny Bonaduce. Before Canseco pummels a Partridge, he wants a flashy
name that fits the oversized personality of the former steroid-fuelled slugger.

"Hercules," chirps his girlfriend, Heidi Northcott.

"The Destroyer," Canseco offers.

Certainly, he means by knockout punches, not destroyer of reputations.

The former major leaguers named in Canseco's 2005 book on steroid use in
professional baseball might suggest far less heroic names for the 1988 AL
MVP. But just as he's set to show in his three-round fight with Bonaduce,
Canseco is ready to take his punches.

"I'm the bad guy no matter where I go," he said.

Former Oakland A's teammate Ricky Henderson is going into the Hall of Fame
this summer and fellow Bash Brother Mark McGwire has withdrawn from public
life. The 44-year-old Canseco still seeks the spotlight, a puffed-up
sideshow on the same road other fallen celebrities have travelled in
last-gasp bids to cash in on their notoriety. The man who was once the most
feared power hitter in baseball finds himself training to drill a D-list
celebrity in suburban Philadelphia.

He's written two books, starred in a pair of reality shows, and is taking
his second swing at celebrity boxing. By his acknowledgment, he needs the
money. So he'll let shock jock Howard Stern needle him about what steroids
did to his sex drive as long as he can tout his upcoming match.

Tagged as "Baseball's Bad Boy," Canseco dresses the part in all black, from
his T-shirt down to his socks and sneakers, as he spars at a Greenwich
Village gym. Canseco was embarrassed in a loss to former Philadelphia Eagle
Vai Sikahema last year and lacked the stamina to make the bout respectable.
He also lost the appetite to train because of plummeting testosterone
levels linked to quitting steroids cold turkey.

On this day, Canseco seems like his old self.

Whump! Whump! Whump! He attacks the heavy bag with the ferociousness of a
batting practice home run swing. His biceps are still thick, although they
no longer look like someone stuffed a pair of basketballs inside them.

"If Bud Selig's face was on there, I'd break him in half," said a
huffing-and-puffing Canseco.

If celebrity boxing promoter Damon Feldman really wanted to cash in on
Canseco's willingness to name the names of alleged steroid abusers like
himself, maybe the next opponent should be a ballplayer.

"There's a lot of people in Major League Baseball that want to punch me in
the face," Canseco said.

Feldman has promoted celebrity boxing for years, handling everyone from
Canseco and Bonaduce to Tonya Harding and pro wrestlers. The broken down
athletes, broke stars and busted has-beens are natural drawing cards in a
reality TV-crazed society.

Enter Canseco.

"People want to see him get beat up," Feldman said. "That's what it's all
about."

The exhibition takes place at an ice skating rink in Aston, Pa., and can be
ordered on Internet pay-per-view. Vince Papale, the former Philadelphia
Eagle who inspired the movie "Invincible," is the guest referee.
Recognizing the limited athleticism of the fighters, the bout features only
three, 1-minute rounds. Against Sikahema last July, Canseco was flattened
with a left hook 30 seconds into the fight and was finished after a few
more punches.

Canseco and Bonaduce are guaranteed an appearance fee, which Feldman
declined to reveal, and each will earn US$2 off every PPV order at
www.gofightlive.tv. The rink holds 2,200 tickets and Feldman is hopeful of
25,000 Internet buys.

Canseco expects jeers from frothing fans and exaggerated chants of
"Ster-oids!" "Ster-oids!" as he steps between the ropes. He accepts it as
his penance for a pair of ripped-from-the locker room books that
transformed him into one of the more vilified athletes in sports.

For a man who was once baseball's show stopper with every homer seemingly
launched into space, Canseco seems at peace with a life that included
sharing a "Surreal Life" house with Balki and Omarosa, and exchanging
good-natured banter with Stern about living as a baseball outcast. Asked
outside the studio if he's nervous about what personal questions Stern
might ask, Canseco doesn't flinch.

"Please. I make people nervous," Canseco said.

That includes Bonaduce.

He played Danny Partridge on the "The Partridge Family," and now hosts a
morning radio show in Philadelphia. He's also dabbled in celebrity boxing,
dominating a bout against Barry "Greg Brady" Williams in 2002. But Canseco
might be as big as all the Brady boys combined.

"Let me be honest with you right now. I am scared," Bonaduce said on
Stern's satellite radio show. "I'm probably as scared as I've ever been
about physical violence. The problem for Jose and the benefit for me is, I
am not averse to physical violence and I am not averse to pain."

Ever the showman, Canseco takes a return shot.

"I feel bad for him," Canseco said. "I'm going to take out on him what I
should have done to Sikahema."

The tale of the tape favours Canseco. He's six foot four and 260 pounds
while Bonaduce is five foot six and 180 pounds.

It's easy to laugh at Canseco or pity him. He admits he's responsible for
his personal, physical and financial setbacks because of steroid abuse and
his book, "Juiced." The twice-divorced Canseco claims to have squandered
the roughly $45 million he earned over his career, pawned his World Series
rings and purged his rented California house of memorabilia to try and
satisfy the debts against him.

If earning a paycheque means battling Bonaduce, then that's what he'll do.

"I'm just working like anybody else," Canseco said.

Northcott, his girlfriend of about two years, turns into a crusty Mickey
Goldmill when she starts talking about the fight. She wants Canseco to win
in 14 seconds and jokes she'll leave him if he loses. Canseco rolls his
eyes when Northcott becomes concerned about his laissez-faire attitude.

"Can you get serious about this? I'm starting to get concerned," she said
in a limo ride from Stern's studio to the gym.

Any talk about a return to baseball, from coaching Little League to the
minors, elicits a loud laugh from the first 40/40 man. Canseco claims he
barely pays attention to the sport, but Northcott said it pains him to be
away from the game he loved.

"He doesn't want to let on," she said. "He watches baseball every night and
he watches it like a little boy.

"You see him almost like he's in a trance, as if he's out there doing that
and living through those images."

As for that nickname for Saturday's fight, Canseco is still searching.
He'll hear the catcalls and he'll play to the crowd. He needs a win to get
another fight, another payday, another day to make a living.

That's about all Canseco has left.

"Baseball's through with me, I know that," he said.

Hey everyone,

Now that Jose's second book has hit the shelves, he has been in the news a
LOT lately.

He was on Letterman Monday night:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eig-WuychNI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzIk4x3O89w

He was on Howard Stern Tuesday (talking about A-Rod and Jessica):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBU9hWBfn9U

And the Jose Canseco vs. Curt Shilling name calling saga continues (from
SportsCenter):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BltESqSRyk

While we are on the YouTube kick, here is a blast from the past. Jose
Canseco's Baseball Camp:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQw99968lXk

Times certainly have changed, haven't they?  With dozens and dozens of
articles about Jose in papers across the country this week (some pro- but
most anti-Jose), I'll include a select sample below.  In a nutshell though,
in case you don't feel like doing all that reading:

-Jose's book has hit the shelves and is getting mixed reviews. It seems to
me that a lot of people just don't want to believe what Jose is saying.
-Jose definitely hates Alex Rodriguez.  A-Rod's response to Jose's
allegations: "No comment."
-Jose has continued to defend Roger Clemens, saying that he suspected him
of steroid use in the past, but doesn't *know* that he took them.
-MLB investigators approached Jose the other day, but it is unclear what
role they want him to play in their investigation.  Jose is willing to help.

If you haven't bought Vindicated yet, you can buy it here for $17.13:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.\
com%2FVindicated-Names-Liars-Battle-Baseball%2Fdp%2F1416591877%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3\
Dbooks%26qid%3D1203906827%26sr%3D1-3&tag=talkingpoker-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&\
creative=9325

And lastly, here are the remaining dates and locations of Jose's
"Vindicated" book tour:

Monday, April 07 - 7:00 PM
Book Soup
8818 Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, CA

Tuesday, April 08 - 6:00 PM
Costco
12350 Carmel Mountain Road
San Diego, CA

Wednesday, April 09 - 7:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
98 Broadway
Oakland, CA

Thursday, April 10 - 7:30 PM
Books, Inc
2251 Chestnut Street
San Francisco, CA

If you make it to any of these signings and get to talk to Jose, shoot me
an email.  I'd love to hear about it.

-Mark


==========
  From the Tampa Tribune:
'Vindicated' Is More Than A Grand Slam
By BOB D'ANGELO
April 3, 2008

Jose Canseco begins his sequel to "Juiced" with a rant. At times he blends
vindication with a dash of vindictiveness, but by the time he is finished,
the former major-league slugger and self-proclaimed "Godfather of Steroids"
catches himself and regains his focus.

The tone in "Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and the Battle to Save
Baseball" (Simon Spotlight Entertainment, $25.95) skips from triumph and
relief to anger and bitterness. After "Juiced" was released in 2005,
Canseco was called a liar, vilified for openly discussing steroid use and
naming names. As it turns out, plenty of what Canseco asserted in his first
book was on the mark; he spends a good portion of "Vindicated" recounting
his bumpy ride.

Writing "Juiced" felt "like I was doing something important, like I was
telling a story that was way bigger than anything I had first imagined,"
Canseco asserts.

"Vindicated" is just as blunt, opening with Canseco wondering why almost
all the Roger Clemens references in his first book were excised by his
publishers. His conclusions form the biggest conspiracy theory to come out
of Texas since an infamous November afternoon in Dealey Plaza.

Canseco takes his shots. Commissioner Bud Selig "is a clown and a
hypocrite." He "hates" Alex Rodriguez for apparently lusting after his wife
- and also says he introduced A-Rod "to a known supplier of steroids."

Canseco criticizes the Mitchell report (he gives it a "disappointing D or
maybe even a D-minus"), lamenting that his failure to be thoroughly
interviewed by the committee left him "Mitch slapped." He claims Magglio
Ordonez, whom Canseco befriended and injected, turned his back on him after
"Juiced" was published.

But this book is not just a grand slam of his critics or a smug "I told you
so." Canseco gives some solid advice to parents of young athletes who might
be tempted by performance-enhancing drugs.

"Parents should learn about the dangers and the side effects and have a
heart-to-heart with their kids," he writes. "Be vigilant, because it's just
too easy for underage athletes to jump right in."

Despite the controversy he generated, Canseco still professes his love for
baseball, and as one reads "Vindicated" it's hard to dispute his passion
("I never wanted to leave the game; the game left me."). He also writes of
his adventures in helping to raise a daughter he adores, his love for
poker, playing in a Sunday league, and his sometimes bizarre foray into
reality television.

He even confesses that "If I had to do it over again, I might not do
steroids," an about-face in philosophy. Canseco also believes baseball is
resilient.

"The game of baseball will survive the Steroid Era," he writes. "Because
baseball is forever."

Canseco is a survivor, too.


==========
  From CBSSports.com:
Insider: 'Call me Jose' ... the name-dropping author
By Scott Miller
April 2, 2008

Darn right Jose Canseco is vindicated.

Before he found his post-baseball calling, following in the grand American
literary tradition of lions such as Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway and
William Faulkner, few would have figured the guy could put together a
subject and verb, much less pen a complete sentence.

Yet here he is this month, a story to tell and a second book on the
shelves. And what are we to make of Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars and
the Battle to Save Baseball?

Maybe you've overlooked this, but Canseco always has been right there on
the front lines in the battle, fighting hard.

Before taking up his quill pen and ink bottle in an effort to bring
steroids users to their knees, he was trying to save baseball by not
wearing a cap during batting practice (might muss the hair) and hosting
pool parties at which his and Roger Clemens' wives could compare breast
implants.

Saving baseball can be a dirty (and titillating) job, but somebody's gotta
do it.

Actually, you won't find that last part in Canseco's new tome. That only
came out when Brian McNamee, former personal trainer to Roger Clemens and
Andy Pettitte, testified to Congress in February.

Authors being the private and sensitive sorts they often are, Canseco not
only denied it, but he took the highly principled stand of hanging up on
New York's WFAN radio Tuesday when Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton asked
about it.

"Now you're talking stuff that never happened," Canseco said on the air.
"Guys, if you're going to be attacking me on this book that's the absolute
truth, I'll hang up on you right now, so you better start respecting me. As
a matter of fact, goodbye."

Click.

Must have been time for his next appointment on the book tour.

The thing with Jose is, nobody took him seriously when, as a rookie author,
he produced Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball
Got Big. But it turned out much of Canseco's information was on target.

So while it's a mistake to overtly dismiss Canseco's next work, it's also
impossible to ignore the fact that the author, once linked to Madonna,
always has been a material boy who loves his toys and money. And sources
with knowledge of his current situation say he's badly overspent and
underearned, leading him into a deep financial hole.

He writes in Vindicated that he injected Detroit slugger Magglio Ordonez
several times with steroids in 2001, when the two were Chicago White Sox
teammates.

But he also allegedly left messages on Ordonez's telephone answering
machine before publication offering to leave the slugger out of the book if
Ordonez invested several million dollars in a film Canseco was producing.
The New York Times first reported that story (Canseco denies it), and
sources with knowledge of the situation verified the accuracy of the
messages to CBSSports.com.

Maybe Ordonez did shop at Canseco's Steroids Buffet. Maybe not. Maybe this
second book simply is a clumsy and desperate attempt by a one-time somebody
who now is down-and-out financially to get back in the high life.

The Ordonez allegations are far more serious than the Alex Rodriguez stuff
which, predictably, has gotten the most juice (sorry, bad word choice?) so
far.

In this new book, Canseco writes he introduced A-Rod to a steroids dealer
after A-Rod wondered where a person would go to find steroids if one wanted
them.

He also writes, directly to A-Rod, "I hate your f------ guts." Among other
things, A-Rod -- single at the time -- apparently ogled Canseco's former
wife, Jessica (who, three years ago, authored, Juicy: Confessions of a
Former Baseball Wife. Who knew they both loved the literary life?).

Regarding the first part, as Canseco soon will discover (if he hasn't
already), this is what's known in the publishing world as an anti-climactic
follow-up. If he were to allege injecting A-Rod himself (say, in a bathroom
stall, with Mark McGwire), or produce witnesses corroborating his
accusations, then A-Rod might have some 'splainin' to do.

Might Canseco's accusations be true? Absolutely. A-Rod is a workout demon,
but he doesn't necessarily pass the eyeball test: He's exceptionally thick.
You wonder, is all I'm saying.

But Canseco definitely doesn't pass the smell test. What's notable about
his second work is this: What little juice exists is all based on private
conversations. Whatever he dishes, there are no anecdotes from the public
domain where a witness -- or two or three -- who was in the room at the
time can step forward and say, "Yes, I vouch for Jose."

As for him hating A-Rod, join the club. Lots of folks are A-Rod haters.
Whatever your own personal feelings are toward A-Rod, though, being
introduced to somebody doesn't equate to guilt -- or even a smoking gun. I
met Denny McLain years ago. Shook his hand. Didn't mean I was with him
embezzling money from a company's pension plan. While McLain was in prison,
I was innocent. Honest.

Meantime, after writing in the book that he told Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes
in 2005 that he suspected Clemens was a steroids user, he told ABC's
Nightline last week that he now doesn't think Clemens used. Weak.

The sports columnist Red Smith once said famously, "There's nothing to
writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein."

It's a sentiment Canseco no doubt can appreciate. The latest American
author came to the typewriter -- or computer keyboard -- by first sticking
a syringe into his own vein. Or tissues. Whatever.

So go ahead. Call him Jose. The great American author Herman Melville wrote
about a man attempting to haul in the big one in Moby-Dick ("Call me
Ishmael. ..."), and this is Canseco's ongoing quest to reel in a few big
ones of his own. But if his latest offerings are the "absolute truth", why
weren't they in his first book?

It's a disheartening thing when part of the battle to save baseball will
end up on the discount rack with a "$3.99" sticker affixed at your local
Barnes & Noble by season's end.


==========
  From Newsday:
Canseco again defends Clemens, snipes at A-Rod
By Arthur Staple
April 1, 2008

Appearing on "The Late Show With David Letterman" last night, Jose Canseco
reiterated his belief that Roger Clemens didn't use steroids, telling
Letterman that he and Clemens were close friends and joked about steroid
use when they were Blue Jays teammates in 1998.

"We trusted each other, we played a lot of golf together," Canseco said.
"His family knew my family. His wife and my wife at the time talked a lot
and we shared private information, and, yeah, we kind of jested and joked
about using steroids, but I never injected him, never supplied him, never
saw anyone give him steroids and he never tried to acquire steroids from
me. And I would try to actually give him information about myself, but he
never seemed like he used it at all."

Canseco arrived in New York yesterday to begin a three-day tour to promote
his second book, "Vindicated," which tells further tales of steroid use in
baseball. Canseco sat down with ESPN yesterday before taping Letterman's
show and is due to talk with MSNBC's Keith Olbermann today. He'll also be
at book signings in Ridgewood, N.J., today and in midtown Manhattan tomorrow.

He again said Clemens never attended a party Canseco gave for teammates at
his house. The party was the center of much discussion when Clemens and his
former trainer, Brian McNamee, testified Feb. 5 before the House Committee
on Oversight and Government Reform.

"I remember like it was yesterday because I was so disappointed because
Roger and I were very close friends and he never showed up," Canseco said.
"I remember the next day actually mentioning to the media that everyone
showed up but Roger Clemens, and I was pretty disappointed about it."

Letterman also asked about Alex Rodriguez. Canseco's book alleges that he
introduced Rodriguez to a Toronto steroid dealer he called Max, and that
Canseco was convinced A-Rod was trying to woo Canseco's then-wife, Jessica.

"I started realizing that he somehow acquired her beeper number and her
phone number and started calling her," Canseco said. "I definitely believe
and I know that something happened after that ..."

"But you said you 'believe' and you 'know,' so which is it?" Letterman
asked. "You know for a fact or you believe something happened?"

"I know for a fact, but I think my ex-wife Jessica could answer that
better," he said. "You should probably have her on the show."


==========
  From Newsday:
Canseco's merely a sideshow now
By Arthur Staple
10:42 AM EDT, April 1, 2008

Jose Canseco has a book signing Tuesday afternoon in Ridgewood, N.J. A few
hours after that major baseball event, the Yankees' season opens in The Bronx.

Which will you be paying closer attention to?

That's a question you really don't have to answer, especially if you're a
Yankees fan. The Mets play Tuesday night too, so that takes care of the
rest of you.

Canseco slapped together another book and is whirling his way through the
area this week. Letterman and ESPN Monday, Howard Stern and Keith Olbermann
Tuesday, some print interviews and a couple book signings. His targets in
"Juiced" were on-target; his latest, "Vindicated," takes aim at Alex
Rodriguez, to whom Canseco claims he introduced a steroid supplier and who
coveted Canseco's ex.

An intriguing tale, true or not. Canseco is a funny storyteller. He's also
a little nuts, which doesn't help his case much, but makes some of these
stories even more entertaining.

Too bad big baseball fans aren't listening right now. If there is a time of
year that contains more hope, more belief and more willingness to ignore
reality for a sports fan, show me.

The Royals gutted one out over the Tigers Monday in extras? Rejoice, Royals
fans! You're still in it!

The Nationals are 2-0? Xavier Nady has two dingers for the Pirates?

Sorry, Jose. You've got no shot now. Everyone's team is still on the
upswing, everyone's fantasy team still has a shot and there are unsigned
guys all over the league waiting for that first fantasy waiver wire.

OK, maybe they're not waiting, but fantasy owners are.

All of this combines to make Canseco a sideshow. He does that pretty well
all by himself, focusing more on how A-Rod wanted Canseco's ex more than
A-Rod's possible steroids link during the Letterman appearance.

Canseco will sign his books Tuesday and continue bashing A-Rod. If A-Rod
bashes a couple balls over the wall at Yankee Stadium Tuesday night, the
questions about Canseco's allegations will wait until after a few curtain
calls. Fans will skip right over Rodriguez's no-comments about Canseco and
go right to the stuff about his homers.

Even the Roger Clemens-Brian McNamee congressional showdown from Feb. 5
feels like a faded memory. Clemens is usually scarce this time of year,
preferring to make a dramatic return.

If the Yankees are struggling in May, you think Clemens won't take their
calls because he's worried about a perjury charge? Please.

The lasting image for me of that bizarre day with the House Committee on
Government Oversight and Reform was the last thing I saw before the cameras
cut away: North Carolina Rep. Virginia Foxx coming over to hug Debbie
Clemens. People love their sports stars (and their wives), even when
charged with trying to root out the truth.

Many greater writers than me have waxed poetic, beautifully so, about the
beginning of a baseball season.

Canseco's poetry is of a different sort, and it's designed to bring down
some of the game's big stars.

Not going to happen now. It's time to believe, not be miserable.


==========
Canseco's "Vindicated" preaches the wrong message
By Richard White
Issue date: 4/2/08

I didn't think it was possible, but former major league player and admitted
steroid user Jose Canseco has become an even worse caricature of himself.

Keep in mind, this was the same clown who is notorious for having a
baseball bounce off his head and over the outfield wall for a home run. The
famous clip is immortalized in blooper reels around the country.

More recently, though, Canseco has come to be known as the sports world's
dirtiest whistle blower with the release of his second "tell-all" book,
"Vindicated."

In early 2005, Canseco's first book, "Juiced," was published. In it he
named several prominent current and former major league stars as users of
performance-enhancing drugs.

Over the last three years, it turns out Canseco was right about several of
his former teammates, including Jason Giambi and Rafael Palmeiro, as well
as a strong likelihood that Mark McGwire cheated as well.

In a recent interview with Martin Bashear on Nightline, Canseco lashed out
at his detractors when asked about the effect the allegations in his second
book will have.

"Let's see if they all call me a liar again. How's that for ya?" Canseco
said. "Let's see if all of a sudden they're going to call me a liar."

Canseco may have been right about a few names, but that doesn't mean he's
telling the truth about everyone he labels as a cheater.

His evidence against some players is thin at best. In "Vindicated," he said
he introduced three-time Most Valuable Player Alex Rodriguez to a steroid
supplier whom Canseco refers to as "Max."

"He is not who he portrays himself to be," Canseco told Sports Illustrated
of Rodriguez. "He's a phony.... He's a talented individual - and I'll say
he's the best player in baseball - but did he use steroids? Yes, I believe
he did."

When asked to reveal "Max's" real identity, Canseco declined, saying
repeatedly "the timing is not right." How convenient of him.

As for A-Rod, he may be a lot of things, such as an image-conscious prima
donna who speaks in carefully measured PR sound bites, but I do not believe
he is a user of PEDs.

There is no evidence against him as he's passed every drug test he's ever
been given, but that doesn't stop Canseco from labeling him a cheater.

Canseco also contends in his new book that Rodriguez flirted with Canseco's
wife and tried to sleep with her. Canseco may actually be telling the truth
on this one.

Last season, A-Rod, who's a father and husband, was famously ridiculed for
being seen in strip clubs and other questionable situations with a
mysterious buxom blonde.

These two instances are perfect examples of why Canseco is such a troubling
case to consider. On one hand, much of what he says is outlandish and
unlikely, as is the case with A-Rod taking steroids.

However, on the other hand, Canseco gives the public a situation that could
easily be true. This forces some to reconsider his earlier, wild claim as
fact, since he very well could be right about other things.

Still, this is flawed reasoning: just because 'A' could be true, doesn't
mean 'B' is true as well.

Among his many lies, and Canseco has been proven to be a liar in many
instances, are morsels of truth.

All in all, while he does deserve some credit for helping to blow the lid
off baseball's Steroid Era, he still can't be completely trusted.

He's a complicated source because of his questionable character and shady
past. After all, how can you trust a man who is as two-faced as Canseco?

In the full title of "Vindicated" he states he is valiantly fighting a
"battle to save baseball," yet in his recent interview with Bashear he
unashamedly admits, "my motive is to attack Major League Baseball."

Canseco has also said on many occasions that he believes he was blackballed
from baseball.

You can't trust what Canseco says since he openly and readily admits that
his main focus is to do whatever it takes to humiliate baseball. A more
appropriate title for his new book should be "Vindictive" not "Vindicated."

The most shocking revelation of his book is not which players he claims he
injected with what or who he thinks took what. It's not even the way he
paradoxically trumpets himself as the "Godfather of Steroids" in one breath
and then claims he's here to clean up the game as baseball's savior in the
next.

No, the real tragedy with Canseco is the message he's sending to America's
youth. It's a fact that the use of steroids among teenagers has skyrocketed
in the last 10 years, leading to several teen deaths and broken families.

Canseco has no shame as he proudly proclaims in both his first and newest
book that he never would have been the Rookie of the Year and former MVP
that he was if he hadn't taken steroids.

In the very first chapter of "Vindicated," Canseco touts the supposed
wonders of steroids while explaining how he became known inside clubhouses
as the go-to guy for steroids, happily helping his teammates cheat the game
and themselves.

I found his words to be chilling as I wonder how many young, impressionable
and aspiring teenage athletes will read this book and start to get the
wrong idea from a selfish, petty man who should not be trusted.

"I was like a goodwill ambassador; the Godfather of Steroids, and I was
genuinely glad to be of help," Canseco wrote. "As far as I was concerned,
steroids were a miracle drug and I thought everyone should be on them….
You'd have to be crazy not to try them."


==========
  From the Journal Register News Service:
Canseco is last one who should talk about morality
By Jim Hawkins

DETROIT -- Jose Canseco, that arrogant, self-annointed paragon of truth, is
a snake. He's a skunk. He's a rat. That, my friends, is as indisputable as
the vindictive smirk on Canseco's face and those 462 steroid-tainted home
runs on his resume.

He is smarmy. He is slimy. He is self-serving. He is as oily as he is petty.

Canseco reminds me of a kid named Butch who lived in my neighborhood when I
was growing up. When Butch's mother called him home at dusk one evening, in
the middle of our street corner baseball game, he grabbed the ball and
threw it down the storm sewer. If Butchie couldn't play anymore, he was
going to make darn sure nobody else could play, either.

Now Canseco, who believes he was blackballed at the end of his artificially
enhanced, 17-year playing career and has long been persona non grata in
baseball circles, is trying to spoil the game for as many other people as
he can.

He is a loathsome creature, an embittered, washed-up ballplayer hell-bent
on dragging as many of his former friends and teammates as possible down
into the sewer with him by naming others he has allegedly known or abetted
using steroids.

If steroids were a cancer that, ignored and left untreated for far too
long, undermined the very fabric of our national pastime, Canseco is an
ugly, festering, open sore.

His latest literary effort, reportedly written in just 10 days and entitled
"Vindicated," is another case of vindictive Jose trying to get even.

"My motive, and I will make it clear and look you in the eyes, is to attack
Major League Baseball," Canseco recently admitted to a national TV interviewer.

No proof and no evidence necessary.

This isn't about steroids. It isn't about exposing the truth. It's about
Canseco's ego. Reportedly, he is writing a movie about his life in which he
(who else?) will star -- as himself. I can hardly wait.

Canseco has no credibility. Zero. None.

The latest unfortunate targets for Canseco's mudpies are the Tigers'
Magglio Ordonez and New York Yankees megamillion superstar Alex Rodriguez.

Ordonez, of course, is the reigning American League batting champ. A-Rod
and Magglio finished 1-2 in the MVP balloting last fall. No coincidence
there, right?

Names make news. Names sell books.

When Canseco's publisher and ghost writer bailed on his latest book,
believing he lacked the evidence to support his claims, Jose simply found a
substitute -- the same guy who penned O. J. Simpson's theoretical
kill-and-tell. Sleaze sells.

Canseco now claims he injected Ordonez with steroids and human growth
hormones in 2001 when the two were teammates in Chicago. Canseco, through
an intermediary, later reportedly tried to extort $5 million from Ordonez
in exchange for keeping Magglio's name out of this book. Supposedly, the
money was to finance a film that, incidentally, never got made.

Ordonez reported the matter to Tigers officials and to Major League
Baseball who, in turn, referred it to the FBI. Serious stuff.

But that didn't stop Canseco.

Mention Canseco's name to Ordonez and Magglio makes a face.

He is angry. He is hurt.

And he is helpless to defend himself.

Ordonez knows better than to get into a spraying contest with a skunk,
especially one who is broke and desperate. Magglio knows, no matter how
loudly he might proclaim his innocence, some of that stink is going to stick.

"Canseco should be in jail," snarls one of Ordonez's Tiger teammates.

But he doesn't want his name mentioned, either. Canseco may turn on him in
his next book.

Canseco never mentioned Ordonez in his 2005 book, "Juiced." He now claims
that was because he "played favorites," and "felt a small connection to Maggs."

With friends like Jose, who needs enemies?

Canseco also admits in his new book that he "hates (Alex Rodriguez's
bleeping) guts," because A-Rod, a bachelor at the time, supposedly hit on
Canseco's ex-wife, Jessica, a former Hooters waitress and Miss Fitness America.

However, former Canseco confidants told SI.com that Jose's hatred for
Rodriguez is about money, not love, stemming from the fact that A-Rod
refused to hire Canseco and his twin brother, Ozzie, to be his agents -- a
move that cost Canseco $12.6 million in commissions in 2001 when Rodriguez
signed his $252 million blockbuster deal with the Yankees.

Canseco claims that he introduced A-Rod to a shadowy steroid supplier from
Canada whom he identifies only as "Max."

Asked on ABC's "Nightline" to further identify "Max," Canseco replied, "The
time is not right now."

Maybe "Max" will be unmasked in Book Three.

I don't profess to know whether Canseco is telling the truth about Ordonez
or not.

Frankly, at this point, I don't care.

I do know I wouldn't trust Jose Canseco to give me the correct time.

Canseco long ago confessed to using drugs to enhance his performance and
prolong his career.

He wasn't the only one, of course. Not by a long shot.

If I had to hazard a guess, I would say half of the players in the big
leagues tried some sort of performance enhancing substances at some point.

But baseball has cleaned up its act, albeit belatedly. The game and its
fans are moving on.

Maybe that's what bothers Canseco the most. The game has passed him by and
he is being left behind. His five minutes are up.

Contact Jim Hawkins at jim.hawkins@... and read his blog at Blog
Central at theoaklandpress.com.


==========
  From the Star-Ledger:
A-Rod on Canseco's plate
April 02, 2008
By Jenny Vrentas

Just after 3:30 yesterday afternoon, Jose Canseco showed up at Bookends
bookstore in Ridgewood ready to promote his second book "Vindicated," and
willing to continue his allegations against Alex Rodriguez.

After signing about 100 copies of "Vindicated," in which he says that he
introduced Rodriguez to a Canadian steroids dealer he refers to as "Max,"
Canseco noted Rodriguez's previous weight gain of 20 to 30 pounds and
subsequent move to third baseman when he was acquired by the Yankees as
evidence of steroids use.

He also furthered his speculations of Rodriguez's affair with his ex-wife
Jessica saying that when he confronted Rodriguez about it, Rodriguez denied
it, but in a way that "wasn't reassuring." Canseco also said that when he
spoke to Jessica about it last year, she didn't acknowledge the affair but
also didn't deny it.

The first excerpts of "Vindicated" were leaked on a blog last week, and the
book was officially released on Friday. Since then, Rodriguez has issued a
standard "no comment" line in regards to Canseco's allegations.

Yesterday, before the Yankees' season opener, Rodriguez again declined to
respond to Canseco's comments at the book signing.

Canseco has said that he will reveal the identity of "Max" if the material
in "Vindicated" is challenged, but yesterday he said that he doesn't expect
that will happen.

"Both books are the absolute truth," Canseco said, referring to
"Vindicated" as well as "Juiced," his previous book. "I don't think people
can question the truth of these books anymore."

Canseco said he doesn't have guilt about galvanizing steroid use in Major
League Baseball but he is clearly still upset about being "blackballed" and
becoming a "pariah," as he terms it, by MLB. He likened steroids to a
"demon" within professional baseball that couldn't be stopped, so he felt
like he had to write both "Juiced" and "Vindicated" to stop it.

The Mitchell Report probed the use of steroids and other performance
enhancing substances last December, but Canseco said he considers the
report "incorrect, incomplete and inconclusive," in part because he wasn't
contacted for information on any of the players named.

Canseco is quick to defend Roger Clemens, the highest-profile player named
in the Mitchell Report.

"Was I always suspicious of Roger using steroids? Yes," Canseco said. "Have
I ever seen Roger using steroids or did I ever inject him or supply him or
did he make a comment that he was using steroids? No."

Canseco said he doesn't expect he will publish another book with details on
steroid use in baseball. Understanding the content of this one, though, he
warned the younger customers at the book signing yesterday to hold off for
a while.

"You're too young for this book," Canseco told 8-year-old Rudy Estevez, of
Wyckoff. "Give it 10 more years. You have to be 18, at least."


==========
  From the NY Daily News:
A-Rod stays mum on Jose Canseco
By Mark Feinsand With Mark Lelinwalla
April 2nd 2008

Alex Rodriguez maintained his silence regarding all things involving Jose
Canseco Tuesday. A-Rod said he would have nothing to say about Canseco's
allegations "for the rest of the year," vowing not to comment regardless of
what Canseco has to say during his book tour.

Canseco believes A-Rod is trying to make the issue disappear, telling the
Daily News on Sunday that he will bring out "Max," the unidentified
steroids supplier he claims he introduced to Rodriguez if A-Rod tries to
attack his credibility "I've got the ace in the hole," Canseco said. "And
he knows it. So there's no way that he's going to fight me. He's trying to
make it go away."

Canseco also discussed A-Rod with ESPN's Jeremy Schaap in an interview set
to air on April 15, saying, "Ask (Rodriguez) point blank did he ever use
steroids, see what he says. Then ask him at the same time right after he
gives an answer to that question, did he ever introduce you to a known
steroid dealer? See what he says to both."

Rodriguez didn't allow the opportunity to ask about the dealer yesterday,
but on Feb. 21, Rodriguez was asked directly by a reporter if he had ever
used any type of performance-enhancing drugs. Rodriguez's answer: "No."


==========
  From Newsday:
Canseco: A-Rod trying to ignore history
By Katie Strang | caitlin.strang@...
April 2, 2008

While Alex Rodriguez has been reticent in responding to allegations of
steroid use, Jose Canseco hasn't been shy about sharing his thoughts on the
Yankees' star third baseman.

Canseco said Rodriguez's relative silence on the issue is an attempt at
trying to "sweep it under the rug."

"He should just say it was the truth and move on," Canseco said at a book
signing in Ridgewood, N.J. for his newest book, "Vindicated."

In "Vindicated," the sequel to his original steroid tell-all (or tell-most)
"Juiced," Canseco said he introduced Rodriguez to a steroid supplier, to
whom he refers in the book as "Max."

"Now obviously I don't know if he used steroids, but I did put him in
contact with an individual who was a known steroid dealer," Canseco said.
"We don't know what happened after that, but if you look at his physicals
and charts in spring training after that, it looks like he gained 20-30
pounds, which is interesting. When he was acquired by the Yankees, he was
moved over to third base instead of left at shortstop."

Canseco questioned Rodriguez's recent responses by saying if he was ever
wrongly accused, he'd immediately, and publicly, fight back.

"Really, you have to win this in the public's opinion, and how do you do
that? Take a polygraph, pass it and get the results out," Canseco said.

Although his two books emphasize exposing the gritty details of steroids in
baseball, Canseco said he would only reveal the identity of "Max" if the
veracity of his claims are questioned, a scenario he doesn't anticipate.
While Canseco has no problem admitting his disdain for Rodriguez, who he
believes chased after his now ex-wife during their marriage, he doesn't
believe his hard feelings will hurt his credibility with readers.

"They may question the motivation, but they won't question the
truthfulness," Canseco said.

Canseco didn't reveal much new information, but reaffirmed many of the
elements already excerpted and reported from his new book, which drew more
than 100 people to Bookends bookstore seeking a signed copy from the former
slugger. Canseco said he always believed Roger Clemens used steroids --
although he never had concrete evidence, that Rodriguez was formerly
involved with his wife, and that the Mitchell Report was "incorrect,
incomplete and inconclusive."

Canseco said the "funniest and scariest" part about the report was that no
one from Major League Baseball even bothered to contact him, even after
much of what he detailed in "Juiced," turned out to be true.

"Why didn't they call me?" Canseco asked. "It doesn't make any sense."

Although Canseco said the response he's received thus far has been much
more "positive and believing" than his previous book tour, he knows how he
is viewed in the Major League Baseball Community.

"To them, I'm a pariah," Canseco said.

While he doesn't think he'll shed that stigma anytime soon, or possibly
ever, Canseco said he wants his legacy to be that of someone who told the
truth and brought baseball back to its "natural state."

"I stood against thousands and won," Canseco said. "I spoke up against an
incredible, mammoth, powerful juggernaut, which is Major League Baseball,
and usually nobody survives that."


==========
  From News-Press.com:
Canseco's Fla. attorney: Client met with baseball investigators
By David Jones
April 2, 2008

NEW YORK — Miramar attorney Robert Saunooke, who represents Jose Canseco,
told the news-press.com sports bureau at a book signing this afternoon at
Barnes and Noble in New York City that his client met with investigators
with Major League Baseball just prior to his appearance.

Canseco was at the store signing his new book, "Vindicated."

Fans lined the streets outside the Fifth Avenue store as early as 10 a.m.,
two and half hours before Canseco’s appearance.

"I think this could be a perfect situation for him," Saunooke said of
Canseco being a part of the new investigative unit of Major League Baseball.

The two Major League representatives who met with Canseco were Victor
Burgos and Eduardo Dominguez. Saunooke said it was uncertain exactly what
capacity Canseco would be working with the league.

In the Mitchell Report, it was requested that MLB establish an
investigative unit and Burgos and Dominguez are part of that new unit.

"This is something new for them," Saunooke said. "I think (Canseco) would
be perfect to help get it done."


==========
  From Sports Illustrated:
Call to action
Baseball needs to pick up where Canseco left off
April 1, 2008

Jose Canseco might be telling the truth, but his reputation is still taking
a beating.

It has become increasingly difficult to discern who looks guilty amid
baseball's parade of steroid suspects and whistle blowers, when everyone is
wearing a clown's nose. Next up on your lineup card: Jose Canseco and Alex
Rodriguez.

Do you believe the lug-head prose of Canseco in his latest potboiler?
Canseco is the 43-year-old lounge act who is scarily comfortable in his
skin as a smarmy opportunist while outing his old syringe buddies' dark
secrets, this time in Vindicated. A-Rod is his current target.

"He's not who he portrays himself to be," Canseco said in a recent phone
interview with SI. "He's a phony.... He's a talented individual -- and I'll
say he's the best player in baseball -- but did he use steroids? Yes, I
believe he did."

Do you buy the artful A-Rod's boilerplate no-comment reply to Canseco last
week?

"His lawyers want him off the subject. The less he says the better for
him," Canseco said. "Basically, what are you going to say against the truth?"

Rodriguez is the 32-year-old reigning MVP, home run champ and an image
paradox. He poses as a family guy and yet found himself labeled as
"Stray-Rod" by the tabloids last year. He usually chooses his words from a
PR crib sheet but, when left to his own verbal devices in February, A-Rod
exaggerated the number of times he was drug tested in 2007 to make
baseball's anti-doping program sound more vigilant than it is.

Is there anyone who can tell honesty from hyperbole? Is there an angel of
mercy who can save baseball from the kind of joyless epic of innuendo that
accompanied Barry Bonds on his way to Hank Aaron's record and threatens to
do the same along A-Rod's path to trump Bonds?

Do angels have bald heads as sleek as Airstream trailers? Jeff Novitzky,
the IRS special agent who gave us BALCO, is expected to interview Canseco
when the Vindicated book tour swings through the Bay Area on April 9 and 10.

This is where Canseco's real tell-all account could unfold. He will be
talking to Novitzky freely -- happy to do it, Canseco said -- while surely
understanding the perils of lying to a federal investigator.

Topic A will be Canseco's insights on Roger Clemens. But what if Novitzky
asks, "Who is Max?" In Vindicated, Max is the alias Canseco uses to
describe the steroid source he introduced to Rodriguez in the late '90s.
There were internal debates at the book's publishing house about whether
Max would be named. Did Max want money for his story? Jennifer Bergstrom,
the book's publisher at Simon Spotlight Entertainment, did not allude to
any financial or legal entanglements when she explained in an e-mail, "It
was a very difficult decision, but we decided it was up to Max to come
forward himself."

Novitzky isn't bound by editorial guidelines. He is free to ask Canseco for
Max's identity, particularly if this person has tentacles to BALCO or other
steroid distribution rings.

"If he asks, I'll look for guidance from my attorney," Canseco says, "and
we'll see how we can help."

If Novitzky chooses to investigate A-Rod, his slow-drip meticulous methods
mean uncovering the truth could last as long as it takes to get to the
center of a Tootsie Pop.

Baseball could expedite closure -- for once. MLB recently created what you
might call a Nip It Police. As recommended in the Mitchell Report,
commissioner Bud Selig has formed an investigative unit -- filled with
veteran detective types that evoke either visions of Costner in The
Untouchables or Shaggy in Scooby-Doo (you pick) -- which is free to probe
steroid allegations even when a player has not failed a drug test.

"It can be an observation, a third party allegation or an anecdote," said
Bob Dupuy, MLB's president and chief operating officer, adding, "The
threshold for an investigation is any information that deals with the
security of the game and integrity of the game."

MLB isn't saying whether Vindicated's A-Rod allegations have rung the
alarms of its investigators, but Canseco wasn't aware of any sleuthing by
baseball's investigative branch.

"No one has spoken to me," Canseco said. "It's the strangest thing. If
baseball had come to me from Day One and said, 'Jose, we know you're doing
steroids and others are, too; help us get it out of the game,' I would have
helped."

Canseco is freighted by motives, but so far most of his allegations (see
Rafael Palmeiro and Co.) have been proven true. Baseball might have
preserved some dignity and at least offered the illusion of caring about
doping by reaching out to Canseco long ago in an attempt to stop the loon
in his path.

Attention is as good as currency to Canseco. He craves the power of
relevance. True, there is no doubt that his Bentley lifestyle has been
downgraded to BMW after two divorces, brushes with the law and a civil suit
over a fight that cost him, according to court records, $376,064.

But his two gotcha novels -- with Vindicated as 240 pages of
self-glorification wrapped around 20 pages of note about the holes in the
Mitchell Report, the steroid injection he says he gave Magglio Ordonez and
the tawdry A-Rod accounts -- are less about Canseco's greed than his
grievances.

"I'm dangerous, and baseball knows it," Canseco said.

Danger can be mitigated. Clemens played to Canseco's ego perfectly. After
Clemens appeared on 60 Minutes in January, Canseco wrote in his book that
he was contacted by Roger's lawyers to talk with him about Brian McNamee's
allegations. Team Rocket wanted Canseco, who had always doubted Clemens'
purity through implication, to sign an affidavit saying Clemens had not
attended a 1998 party at Canseco's house and discussed steroids, as McNamee
claimed.

Canseco flew to Houston and as he writes in Vindicated, "When I got there,
Roger picked me up at the airport." He had Canseco at "Hello." As Canseco
wrote, the more he spent time with Roger "the more I came to believe that
I'd been wrong about him. So I signed the affidavit."

In other words, he flipped. Just like that. A little lovin' on Canseco's
psyche -- no matter how contrived -- went a long way. Baseball officials
should try that, because if they don't value Canseco's insider information
-- even if some of it is dubious, even if they've had a longtime rift with
him -- he'll just spew more of it in his next book. And you can already see
him licking a pencil tip for No. 3, on what the game's general managers,
trainers and owners knew.

And he knows a lot of owners -- including a former Rangers owner named
George W. Bush.

"I'd assume he knew, yes," Canseco says. "They all knew what was going on:
Their players were using steroids."

It's up to baseball's new detective squad to unearth the truth about A-Rod,
about Ordonez, about their owners, before Canseco makes it a trilogy.


==========
  From Florida Today:
Canseco may help baseball
Ex-player has unusual bathroom meeting with investigators
By David Jones
April 3, 2008

In a meeting that was as mysterious and bizarre as the topic has become,
admitted steroid user and author Jose Canseco met with two members of the
newly-formed Major League Baseball Department of Investigations just prior
to a book-signing at a midtown Manhattan Barnes & Noble on Wednesday.

Canseco rode an escalator to the second floor of the bookstore and was
ushered into a bathroom a little after noon. Security stood in front of the
entrance and did not allow anyone to enter. Inside Canseco, wearing dark
shades and muscles still bulging from his tight shirt, talked with senior
investigators Victor A. Burgos and Eduardo Dominguez. They discussed the
steroids issue with Canseco.

Miramar attorney Robert Saunooke confirmed to FLORIDA TODAY the meeting,
and that his client has agreed to meet with Major League Baseball and
offered help cleaning up the steroids issue in baseball, if desired.

"I've got goose bumps, I'm in shock," Saunooke said.

Baseball officials never approached Canseco after his first book, Juiced,
was published. It included detailed information about the use of steroids
in baseball while he was playing. The current tour is for his second book,
Vindicated, which hit the stands Monday.

About 150 people were in the original line waiting for Canseco to sign his
latest book.

Canseco, who last played in 2001 for the Chicago White Sox, said the
meeting with MLB on Wednesday left him, "Extremely shocked because the
timing seems to be incredible."

He seemed puzzled why it took so long for baseball to seek information from
him.

"They could have reached out to me before I wrote my first book," he said.
"They could have solved this issue easily. They could have reached out to
me after my first book when, ironically, they reached after me after my
second book. I don't really know what to make of it. I don't know what
their motives are. I'm definitely willing to help them out as much as
possible and we'll find out how it turns out."

Canseco's whirlwind tour across the nation continues today with a signing
in Boston. According to Jennifer Robinson of Simon & Schuster, the ex-home
run star will be in Chicago on Friday, Los Angeles on Monday, San Diego on
Tuesday, Oakland on Wednesday and San Francisco next Thursday.

At the conclusion of his promotional tour in a few weeks, Canseco will then
sit down with Major League Baseball officials to discuss what he knows.
Canseco and his lawyer seemed puzzled at why MLB is talking to him now but
both felt it was a good thing.

"I don't know (what he can do)," Canseco said. "But from what they told me,
this is a recently established branch so maybe they are trying everything
possible to clean up the sport and maybe I can help them in any way
possible, I don't know. This is kind of strange. It was a shocker to me."

Canseco cooperated with Sen. George Mitchell's report on performance
enhancing used in baseball which was announced in December and caused the
issue to gain even more national attention. The Mitchell report suggested
the creation of MLB's investigative arm that is currently being formed.

Saunooke joked, "Maybe they could make him the commissioner of steroids."

Asked if his hand had grown tired from signing so many books, Canseco joked
no, but his voice was worn down. He has caused even more attention since
the second book came out, which claimed he introduced Yankees star Alex
Rodriguez to a steroids dealer. Rodriguez has declined comment.

Canseco also attacked Boston pitcher Curt Schilling, who called the author
a "fake." Canseco, in turn, called Schilling a "pathetic human being." On
Tuesday, at another book-signing, Canseco told the New York Post the reason
he has told about Rodriguez's possible steroid use is because he thinks the
current Yankee star had an affair with his ex-wife, Jessica.

As the days go on, the Canseco comments have grown more and more
controversial. But it now appears baseball wants him on its side, instead
of the other way around.

Saunooke said Canseco has offered to help MLB in the past.

"His exact words were, 'Why now?' '' said Saunooke, who attended the
bathroom meeting. "Why not three years ago, why now? They agreed 100
percent. The point is well-taken and we told them once the book tour is
over we will be more than happy to talk with them and see what, if anything
we can do, and whatever we can do to help. It's exactly what we've been
asking to let us do for a long, long time."

Added Saunooke, "It's something he's been saying all along is, 'If they
would just come and ask me and come and talk to me, I would have been able
to help them. I wouldn't have had to write these books.' ''

Saunooke said it wasn't a case of MLB bringing Canseco back in the fold.

"But at least they are acknowledging there is a problem," Saunooke said.
"And they are going to the person who helped expose it and it gives more
validity to what Jose has been saying all along."

Fans who waited for hours to get Canseco's signature on the newest book
brought varying attitudes. Roy Mark Ramdas, from Rutherford, N.J., was
standing in line outside of the bookstore by 10 a.m. Wednesday. He carried
a clipbook about five inches thick with photos, articles, etc., he'd
collected on Canseco for the last 19 years -- since he was about 12.

"He's the only one out there who's telling the truth," Ramdas said.
"Everything he has said has come to pass."

James Littreal of Staten Island, a Yankees fan, said New Yorkers aren't
fazed by Canseco's claims. They live in a tabloid society and it's looked
at more as entertainment, waiting to see what Canseco will say next.

"Who knows," chuckled Littreal, "what the truth really is nowadays."

Contact Jones at 242-3682 or djones@...


==========
  From examiner.com:
Walcoff: Canseco still on attack
Apr 2, 2008
By Rich Walcoff

SAN FRANCISCO - The self-professed Godfather of Steroids is off the juice
and embracing a new view. Jose Canseco told me on KGO Radio this week he no
longer uses anabolic steroids or human growth hormone and regrets relying
on chemicals to advance his major-league career.

But the former American League MVP has no qualms about fingering alleged
steroid users in his new book, “Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars and the
Battle to Save Baseball.” Convinced he was blackballed from the game for
his candor about the rampant use of steroids, which he claims was upwards
of 80 percent of major-league players, Jose attacks fellow steroid users
with a vengeance.

Canseco says Barry Bonds knew he was using and thinks Roger Clemens and
Alex Rodriguez, among dozens of All-Stars, were also on
performance-enhancing drugs. If you don’t believe it, just check out
results of his lie-detector tests outlined in the book. Bottom line,
whatever his motivation, while the commissioner and team owners turned a
blind eye to the growing problem, Jose exposed the lie.

Unfortunately, Canseco can’t escape his past either. He frequently dreams
of hitting mammoth home runs in front of roaring crowds only to awaken from
his rock-star-like flashbacks to realize he is a lonely, twice-divorced
42-year-old living with tarnished memories. Jose returns to the Bay Area
for book signings April 9 at Barnes and Noble in Oakland and April 10 at
Books Inc. in The City.


==========
  From the New York Times:
Author Up: Canseco Has His Opening Day
By Dave Caldwell
April 2, 2008

RIDGEWOOD, N.J. — Tuesday turned out to be opening day for José Canseco,
too. Arriving 18 minutes late and wearing wraparound sunglasses and a day
or two’s worth of stubble, Canseco signed copies for the first time of his
second book, “Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars and the Battle to Save
Baseball.”

When Canseco was introduced to about 35 people in the basement of Bookends,
a shop on the main street of this quiet Bergen County town, he was warmly
applauded. The response to the second book, he said, has been different
from the first.

“I think the title could have been, ‘I Told You So,’ but that’s already
been taken,” he said after he had signed about 100 copies.

In his first book, “Juiced,” which was released in 2005, Canseco said that
up to 85 percent of the players in Major League Baseball had used anabolic
steroids, including him and Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi, among others.

“He was pretty much the guy who opened up the can of worms,” said Matt
Whitfield of Chatham.

“Juiced” became a best seller and made Canseco a hero to some fans for
revealing steroid use among players. Some of those fans waited up to six
hours Tuesday to have him sign the new book.

“He saved baseball; that’s how I look at it,” said Walter Gurbisz of
Edison. “I think he’s helping baseball for doing this.”

In “Vindicated,” Canseco wrote that he introduced Alex Rodriguez to a
steroids supplier, whom he called “Max” and did not identify further.
Canseco did not say that Rodriguez had used steroids, but he said he
thought it was interesting that Rodriguez had not issued a strong denial.

“From what I understand, he hasn’t said much,” Canseco said of Rodriguez.
“He’s trying to sweep it under the rug.”

Canseco said later, “I don’t think people question the truthfulness of
these books anymore.”

Although he said he considered himself a pariah who no longer had contact
with Major League Baseball, Canseco said he thought the game had cleaned
itself up since the publication of his first book. He said he had run out
of things to write about.

“I don’t think you’re going to see me doing another one of these types of
books — on this subject matter,” he said. “I hope not.”

About 70 people joined the velvet-roped line for an autographed copy of the
book. Canseco shook hands and posed for photographs, including one with an
8-month-old boy with a pacifier in his mouth, and another with a soldier in
battle fatigues.

The turnout for Canseco’s book signing for “Juiced” at Bookends was
somewhat larger, but that one began at 6 p.m.

On Tuesday night, Julie Andrews, a star from another universe, began
signing books at 7 p.m., a few minutes before the first pitch at Yankee
Stadium.


==========
  From MLB.com:
Canseco: Ordonez claim was payback
Former slugger says call to Magglio was for 'investment'
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

DETROIT -- Jose Canseco told a Detroit radio station that he included
Magglio Ordonez in his latest book, "Vindicated," only after The New York
Times ran a story suggesting he had tried to extort money from Ordonez. He
also said he had tried to reach Ordonez about what he called an investment
opportunity.

Canseco appeared with host Frank Beckmann on WJR on Wednesday and repeated
his accusation that he injected Ordonez with steroids while they were
teammates on the 2001 White Sox. However, he suggested that he didn't
originally plan to include it in the book.

"He was a very, very, very late addition to my book because of what he did
with that article," Canseco told Beckmann. "He would've never been in my
book if he would've just not done anything at all, or not written
[anything] or had this article somehow placed in the newspaper about me.
That was ridiculous."

A January report in the Times cited Major League Baseball sources saying
that Canseco approached Ordonez offering to keep his name out of the book
if Ordonez helped finance a film project Canseco was pursuing. The report
went on to say that Ordonez contacted the Tigers, who contacted Major
League Baseball, but that Ordonez chose not to press charges.

When Beckmann asked Canseco why he was going to leave Ordonez out, Canseco
said, "Because I didn't need any more players to justify my position. But
he basically slit his own throat."

When Beckmann suggested Canseco vindictively put him in the book, Canseco
said, "Just as he vindictively said to the media, or indirectly said to the
media, or somehow fixed this to say I was trying to extort money from him.
Are you kidding me? That's ridiculous."

The book appeared in stores last week. In a chapter near the end of the
book, Canseco claims that Ordonez asked him about steroids, and then
describes a conversation and the ensuing injection.

Ordonez has declined comment on Canseco's book.

Though Canseco has previously denied contacting Ordonez about the book, he
told Beckmann that he had tried to reach Ordonez.

"I tried to contact Magglio and his agent and a few other people for an
opportunity for an investment," Canseco said. "I called them constantly. No
one ever returned my phone call. Now, the next thing I hear in the paper is
that I'm trying to extort money from Magglio Ordonez."

The interview ended abruptly when Beckmann brought up Ordonez's statistics
in the years leading up to Canseco's season with him and asked why there
wasn't a significant increase in performance.

"Are you calling me a liar?" Canseco asked. "Are you calling me a liar? Later."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the
approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


==========
  From the NY Daily News:
Baseball turns to Jose Canseco for help in steroids investigation
By Christian Red
Wednesday, April 2nd 2008

Former major leaguer Jose Canseco has written two books - 'Juiced' and his
new one, 'Vindicated' - that blow the whistle on rampant steroid use in
baseball.

All it took was three years and two tell-all books - "Juiced" and the
just-released "Vindicated" - to get Major League Baseball to take some
interest in what former Bash Brother Jose Canseco has to say about steroids
in America's pastime.

At Canseco's book signing in midtown today, the power hitter-turned-author
had some unexpected guests, who weren't present to collect the slugger's
autograph. Victor Burgos and Eduardo Dominguez, two members of MLB's newly
formed Department of Investigations, visited the Barnes & Noble at 46th and
Fifth Ave. to introduce themselves to Canseco and to try to set up a meeting.

"We had no clue. They just showed up, out of the blue," Robert Saunooke,
Canseco's attorney, told the Daily News. "They said, 'We would like Jose to
come help us.' We're like, 'Sure.'" Saunooke said no meeting date was
decided and that he would hold off making any arrangements until after the
"Vindicated" book tour concludes April 10th in San Francisco. He then added
that he and Canseco were puzzled as to what took baseball so long to seek
help from the self-admitted Godfather of steroids.

"We asked them, 'Why now? Why not two years ago? Why so long?'" said
Saunooke. "They said, 'Those are valid questions.'"

Canseco told the Daily News in an exclusive interview Monday that he has
long felt that baseball "blackballed" him and "slowly, but surely choked
(him) out of the game."

Even though "Juiced" blew the lid off baseball's steroid problems after its
release three years ago, Canseco was largely vilified for his candid
nature. Apparently the claims in "Vindicated" - that Canseco introduced
three-time MVP Alex Rodriguez to a steroids dealer in the late '90s and
that Canseco injected Tigers outfielder Magglio Ordoñez with steroids in
2001 - were enough to have MLB extend an olive branch.

"Jose's statements (today) were, 'This is great, excellent. Finally,
baseball is taking it seriously.' He wished they had contacted him sooner.
Whatever he can do, he'll be happy to do," said Saunooke.

Following the release of the Mitchell Report last December, one of former
Sen. George Mitchell's recommendations to commissioner Bud Selig was to
establish an investigative unit. That department, now in place, reports to
MLB president and COO Bob DuPuy. Although MLB would not comment on the
investigators' meeting with Canseco today, there may be interest from MLB
finding out more about "Max," the unidentified steroids dealer Canseco
writes about in his current book.

When the investigative unit was formed in January, MLB said it "will have
broad authority to conduct investigations."

"Now, Jose will no longer be saying, 'Why, why, why hasn't (MLB) called
me?' He'll be saying, 'Guess what happened today?'" said Saunooke. "It does
raise a lot of questions. Why now? Is it the A-Rod allegations? Do they
want to know who "Max" is? Who knows? What if they want to know who Max is,
so they can get to Max and go after A-Rod, because they believe Jose over
A-Rod? I don't know. Who knows what will happen. I don't know what this
will translate into. No clue."

Saunooke said he was just pleased - not vindicated - that something other
than disdain was being directed toward his client.

"I would love to see it translate into something where Jose was working
with baseball again, where they brought him back in and there was some kind
of fence mending. But that's not for me to decide," he said.


==========
  From the Sporting News:
MLB officials interview Canseco in bathroom
Ex-slugger is 'extremely shocked. I don’t know what their motives are'
April. 3, 2008

Joe Canseco met with two members of the recently formed Major League
Baseball Department of Investigations before a book signing Wednesday in
Manhattan, USA Today reports.

The author of Juiced and now Vindicated said he met with investigators
Victor Burgos and Eduardo Dominguez inside a bathroom of the bookstore,
according to the report.

An unidentified Major League Baseball official told USA Today the officals
sought out Canseco for questioning as they will anyone who claims to have
information about illegal drug use in baseball.

Canseco said the meeting left him “extremely shocked.” “I don’t know what
their motives are,” he added. “I’m definitely willing to help them out as
much as possible.

In his new book, Vindicated, Canseco charges that he arranged a meeting
between a steroids supplier and Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez in the
late ‘90s.

Hello Canseco Fans...

So, the big new out earlier today is that Jose says in his new book that he
introduced Alex Rodriguez to a steroids distributor (and that A-Rod tried
to sleep with Jose's wife).  Interesting.  Also interesting is Jose siding
with Roger Clemens, claiming he has never seen Roger "use, possess, or ask
for steroids or HGH."

The complete article is below.  I don't know about you guys, but I can't
wait to read this book.  You can pre-order it through Amazon (you'll have
your hands on it next week if you do) for 34% off the cover price PLUS
another 5% off for pre-ordering. Here's the link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.\
com%2FVindicated-Names-Liars-Battle-Baseball%2Fdp%2F1416591877%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3\
Dbooks%26qid%3D1203906827%26sr%3D1-3&tag=talkingpoker-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&\
creative=9325

-Mark


==========
First, a little humor from the Onion:
February 28, 2008
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/canseco_hey_guys_who_wants_to_come

Canseco: 'Hey Guys, Who Wants To Come To My Big Steroid Party This Weekend?'

MIAMI—Former MLB star and admitted steroid user Jose Canseco extended an
informal invitation Monday to over 500 current and former professional
baseball players, requesting their presence at his house this coming
weekend for his annual steroid party.

"Hey guys, big steroid bash at my place," Canseco said while handing out
flyers at a Toronto Blue Jays spring training intrasquad game. "Nothing too
fancy, just a bunch of guys, hanging out, taking steroids. Tell your friends."

The party is historically an extravagant affair, usually featuring women in
bikinis carrying silver trays of various types of anabolic steroids, four
VIP suites upstairs where guests can sample steroids from Canseco's
personal collection, a giant 40-foot-tall ice syringe filled with Dianabol,
oil paintings of steroids on the walls, a keg of steroids, a disco ball,
and a punch bowl spiked with steroids.

"Let me break it down for you: food, babes, steroids," said Canseco,
leaning over the outfield fence of Dunedin Stadium, to Blue Jays
centerfielder Vernon Wells. "Any steroid you want. Winstrol-Stanozolol,
Deca-Durabolin, Sustanon, Anadrol, you name it. I even got some exotic
steroids from South America, and I might bust out my own special homemade
steroid blend. Oh, and if everyone chips in $5, I might get a steroid
fountain. It's gonna be sweet."

"Imagine taking steroids all night long, how cool that would be," said
Canseco, trying to get the attention of right-fielder Alex Rios. "Then
multiply that by 100. That's how much this party's going to rule."

According to colored flyers for "Jose's 22nd Annual Roid-Fest" featuring
block-lettered words reading "Music," "Cool!" "Steroids," "Awesome," and
"Injections," the event will take place at Canseco's four-acre lakefront
mansion in Fort Lauderdale. The event has been touted as a good chance for
players to relax, try out some new steroids, bulk up before the season,
meet other people who enjoy steroids, share steroid-related stories, and
"just have fun."

"Psst," Canseco said to Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Scott Kazmir while he was
warming up in the bullpen. "Hey Scott, hey man, Scott, hey Scott. Hey. Hey
man, you wanna come over and take some steroids at my house Saturday?
Everyone's gonna be there. Free roids, man. Free roids. They're good for
you. It'll be fun. Trust me. Steroid party. My place. Be there."

Canseco said that the event will be catered, featuring hors d'oeuvres such
as steroid-stuffed lobster puffs, mini steroid-burgers, and according to
Canseco, "a big steroid cake filled with steroids." Bowls of pretzels,
testosterone cypionate, and Cheetos will be situated in the house and by
the pool, and will be replenished throughout the night.

"There will be a hot tub out back filled with steroids, and then we'll go
in it and eat all the steroids, and then we'll fill it back up with hot
water," Canseco said. "Then we'll sit in the hot tub, talk about steroids
and stuff, have some laughs, do some steroids, whatever. Then these hot
girls in string bikinis will come into the hot tub and do steroids with us.
Perfect end to a perfect evening."

For entertainment, there will be a variety of games, including "Steroid
Twister," "Guess That Steroid"—a game in which blindfolded guests must
correctly identify the type of steroid that they just ingested—and
something that Canseco only described as everyone dropping their pants and
injecting steroids into each other's buttocks.

"Ever try a cherry steroid spritzer?" Canseco reportedly said to Cardinals
first-baseman Albert Pujols Tuesday. "It's like a wine spritzer, but with
steroids. Come on, come to my house. If you come, everyone will come. You
didn't come last year. You owe me."

"One thing, though: At the end of the night, we all have to pose for a big
group photo," Canseco added. "We can do one where we're all doing goofy
poses and wearing silly hats and stuff, since we'll all be in such a good
mood on account of all the steroids. But then we have to do a more serious
one, where everyone looks straight ahead at the camera."

Most players said they would attend.

"I guess I'll go," said Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada. "[Canseco] kind of
creeps me out, though. He's always writing stuff down and trying to talk to
me about how to 'cycle' and 'stack' performance-enhancing drugs, but I have
to hand it to the guy—he knows how to throw a steroid party."

"Even though I most certainly do not use steroids, and I never have, and
the mere thought is reprehensible, that steroid party should be a good
time," Tigers DH Gary Sheffield said. "Sometimes things get a little out of
hand, like in 2003, when I lost my shit and almost killed a guy and then
blacked out. But you know what they say—it's not a steroid party till
something gets broken."

"Canseco's steroid parties are always lame," Pirates first-baseman Adam
LaRoche said. "Last year when I showed up, all the steroids were already
gone and it was just Jose Canseco, Sammy Sosa, and Rafael Palmeiro sitting
on the couch, roided out of their minds, watching Mr. Baseball on TBS."

Roger Clemens said that he would not be attending, but asked for directions
to Canseco's house just in case he has to drop by for a few minutes to pick
up his wife.


==========
Today's AP story:
Jose Canseco says he introduced A-Rod to steroids distributor in his
upcoming book

NEW YORK (AP)—Jose Canseco says in his new book that he introduced Alex
Rodriguez to a steroids distributor and that A-Rod pursued Canseco’s wife,
according to the Web site of freelance writer Joe Lavin.

Lavin says on the Web site that he obtained the book, “Vindicated: Big
Names, Big Liars, and The Battle to Save Baseball,” on Monday from a
bookstore in Cambridge, Mass. The book is due to be released April 1.

Lavin writes Canseco’s book discusses A-Rod, Roger Clemens and Magglio Ordonez.

He says Canseco claimed he didn’t inject Rodriguez but “introduced Alex to
a known supplier of steroids.” Lavin also says “Canseco claims that A-Rod
was trying to sleep with Canseco’s wife.”

“I really, absolutely, have no reaction,” Rodriguez said Tuesday when asked
about the claim relating to the steroids distributor. As far as the
allegation regarding Canseco’s wife, Rodriguez responded:

“I don’t know how to answer that.”

Canseco writes about the infamous June 1998 party at his house. Brian
McNamee, Clemens’ former trainer, has said Clemens spoke with Canseco at
the barbecue and soon after approached the trainer about using
performance-enhancing drugs. According to Lavin, Canseco wrote that Clemens
did not attend.

Earlier this year, Canseco gave an affidavit to congressional investigators
stating Clemens was not there and that he had never seen Clemens “use,
possess or ask for steroids or human growth hormone.”

Lavin wrote the Ordonez reference was “that old yarn of one player
injecting another with steroids, possibly in the buttocks.” Canseco and
Ordonez were teammates on the 2001 Chicago White Sox.

The New York Times reported in January that Canseco offered to keep Ordonez
“clear” in the book if the Detroit outfielder invested in a movie project
promoted by Canseco, claims Lavin said Canseco wrote he denies.


==========
Joe Lavin's Book Review:
March 25, 2008
Jose Canseco Reviewed: With Spoilers

There I was, wandering through a quaint Cambridge bookstore on Monday, when
I noticed a copy of Jose Canseco's new book "Vindicated: Big Names, Big
Liars, and The Battle to Save Baseball" in their tiny sports section.
That's odd, I thought. I didn't know the book had come out yet. It turns
out that it hasn't. The book's not due to be released until April 1st, but,
for some reason, there was a copy for sale. And so I bought it.

It's a roughly 250-page book that deals with many things, but, of course,
all you want to know about are the Big Names. In here, Canseco accuses
three more players of using steroids, and they are:

(Spoiler Alert: Don't read any further if you don't want to know how the
book ends!)

Magglio Ordonez
Roger Clemens
Alex Rodriguez

The Ordonez story is, by now, routine -- just that old yarn of one player
injecting another with steroids, possibly in the buttocks. Canseco does
point out that the recent New York Times report -- that Canseco had offered
to keep Ordonez "in the clear" if Ordonez invested five million dollars in
a documentary that Canseco was producing -- is not true. Canseco says there
was no blackmail, and that there is no documentary at all, which is
Sundance's loss, I guess.

Meanwhile, the evidence against Clemens is somewhat flimsy, and Canseco
even admits that he's not completely sure that Clemens used steroids. After
a home run, Clemens would just make jokes like, "Man, you must have had
your juice this morning!" Other times, he would say that he was off to take
his "B-twelve shots," which, Canseco says, is how players often refer to
steroids. He does later state that Clemens did not attend the
much-discussed barbecue at Canseco's house which was mentioned in the
Mitchell Report.

Canseco wanted to include his suspicions about Clemens in his first book,
"Juiced," but the publishers wouldn't let him. When later he told 60
Minutes and ESPN about Clemens, the comments were mysteriously edited out
of the reports. Canseco began to think there was some sort of conspiracy
afoot, specifically:

Roger Clemens was from Texas. He went to play for the Astros, to be close
to his family. George W. Bush, a former owner of the Texas Rangers baseball
team, is, like Clemens, a proud Texan. Clemens is a personal friend of Bush
Sr. and his wife, Barbara. Clemens still has a standing invitation from
Bush Jr. to visit the White House anytime. Getting the picture? Maybe the
president of the United States, or his daddy, the ex-president, made some
calls and took care of things for good ole Roger.

The saddest part of this entire book is that I think I might actually
believe this. I really can see President Bush putting off the important
work of government in order to help out a ballplayer.

As for Alex Rodriguez, Canseco says he didn't inject Rodriguez, but that he
"introduced Alex to a known supplier of steroids." Canseco didn't mention
Rodriguez in the first book because he "hated the bastard." He was worried
that people would have "questioned [his] motives" had he included Rodriguez.

Why all the hatred, you ask. Well, Canseco claims that A-Rod was trying to
sleep with Canseco's wife. Apparently, even after Canseco had been nice
enough to help A-Rod find a friendly steroids supplier, A-Rod kept calling
Canseco's wife.

And, in case there's any further confusion about Canseco's true feelings,
he ends the chapter by saying:

So A-Rod, if you're reading this book, and if I'm not getting through to
you, let's get clear on one thing: I hate your f***ing guts.

As for the Mitchell Report, Canseco feels he was ignored ("I was
Mitch-slapped!") and is still bitter about it. Like many, he also feels
that George Mitchell, a director of the Red Sox, showed a clear bias in
favor of the Red Sox when conducting his investigation.

In case you're wondering, this is all true because Canseco took a lie
detector test. Actually, he took two different types of lie detector tests,
and the results are included in the book. Or he could be just saying that
he took a lie detector test. What we really need is for him to take a lie
detector test to see if he really took a lie detector test. It's only a
matter of time before he's a guest on Fox's "Moment of Truth."

Of course, my problem here is that I've never really liked Canseco and have
never really thought of him as a reliable witness, you know, except for the
minor inconvenience that much of what he has said in the past has turned
out to be true. It seems that most of the media feels this way too. We
don't really want him to be telling the truth, but, at this point, who knows?

By the way, Clemens and Rodriguez aren't the biggest names in the book. The
biggest may well be Mike Wallace. Canseco describes a conversation the two
had after his 60 Minutes interview:

When the cameras stopped rolling, Wallace asked me if we could talk,
off-camera. He kept me there for another hour, clearly curious about
steroids. . . . He wondered how the steroids and human growth hormones
(HGH) might help him, a man in his eighties, live a longer, healthier life.
He wanted to know everything. . . . When Wallace was done interrogating me,
I could see I had piqued his interest. Whether I'd made a convert of him, I
can't say. Still, I know, I was pretty convincing.

Yes, apparently, Mike Wallace could be juiced. It makes sense. How else to
explain how Wallace has stayed on top of his game well into his eighties?
No word yet on whether Andy Rooney is juiced too.

Hello Canseco Fans...

I realize it has been a long, long, LONG time since I have sent an email
out to this list - almost three YEARS, in fact!  I apologize for that, but
honestly, Jose just hasn't been in the news that much in his retirement
years.  You may have caught a glimpse of him in a charity poker tournament
(or the WSOP), or making an appearance at a the Playboy Mansion or another
Hollywood party, but it's just not the same as when he used to be playing
ball every day... at least not for me.

Jose's first book, "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How
Baseball Got Big" really blew the cover off of the whole steroids in MLB
thing.  Here is a link, in case you haven't read it yet:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060746408/ref=ase_talkingpoker-20\
/104-5171690-2109502?v=glance&s=books

I can't help but wonder if MLB would have ever taken any action, let alone
if there would be seemingly unending Congressional hearings on the subject
if not for Jose writing that book and speaking up when he did.  I mean,
what can you say about watching Rafael Palmeiro INSIST that Jose was a liar
and that he had never taken steroids even once in his life - under oath -
only to test positive for steroids a couple of months later, effectively
ending his baseball career???  I mean, sure, McGwire looked like a complete
idiot that day, refusing to answer the questions directed at him and
pleading the 5th over and over instead, but at least he didn't perjure
himself in front of Congress.  Not the best idea, Raffy... and now it looks
like Roger Clemens may not have gotten the memo.

Jose second book is set to hit the shelves soon.  You can pre-order
"Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and the Battle to Save Baseball" for 34%
off the cover price here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.\
com%2FVindicated-Names-Liars-Battle-Baseball%2Fdp%2F1416591877%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3\
Dbooks%26qid%3D1203906827%26sr%3D1-3&tag=talkingpoker-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&\
creative=9325

In other news, Jose will be having an autograph signing on March 8th:

-----
Come out and meet the controversial Jose Canseco on Saturday March 8th 2008
from 1pm-3pm. Jose will be appearing at Pro Image located in the beautiful
Freehold Raceway Mall -- Freehold, NJ. This is a very rare public autograph
appearance for Jose. Arrive early because a fan and media frenzy is
expected. There will be memorabilia for sale at the appearance available
for purchase and for those who cannot personally attend we are offering
mail order. Ticket prices and available items are available by clicking on
the following link:
http://www.signingshotline.com/mailorder/prices.asp?EventID=81534&Promoter=PSI&E\
ventDate=3/8/2008&Player=Jose+Canseco

For more information please contact Pro Sports Investments at 877-580-6673
-----

This is a great opportunity for you to get your cherished Canseco
collectibles signed.  If you can make it to the signing in person, GREAT -
don't forget your camera.  But if not, you can mail in your items (due 3/7,
so don't delay) to have them signed.  Follow the link above for more info.

Lastly, I was to take a minute to recognize the person I think is possibly
the ULTIMATE Jose Canseco collector.  I used to have a collection that was
up there with the best of them (certainly in the Top 5 in existence, in my
opinion), but Brian Fitzgerald has my collection CRUSHED like a Canseco
shot to the upper deck.  His collection was featured in last April's issue
of Beckett, and really is something to behold.  Bryan made a DVD that
features some of the gems of his collection, many of which I didn't even
know existed, since they hit the market after I got out of the game.  You
can drool over it here:
http://completist.wordpress.com/2008/01/27/heavenly-collections-jose-canseco/

Well, that's it for now.  After not sending out a single email to you guys
in 2006 or 2007, I feel like I owe you more, but that's all I've
got.  Enjoy Jose's new book - I know I will!

-Mark

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to send out a quick note that Jose will be on VH1's "The
Surreal Life 5."  It was supposed to air in September, but it's starting
next week, on July 10th:
http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/the_surreal_life_5/series.jhtml

If you miss it, fear not, it will be rerun about 1000 times according to
their schedule :)

The news below is very, very, very old (Congressional steroids hearings
from March(), but it's stuff I collected and never got around to sending
out... better late than never, hopefully.

-Mark


==========
Canseco Collection for Sale:
  From Mike: deadwoodmike@...

I have decided to sell my Canseco collection. I haven't had time to go
through it lately but I estimate it right at or over 2,000 cards (all
different) plus autographed photos, bats and
advertising pieces.

I also have numerous pins, glasses, books, starting lineups, video and
other misc. items. As far as the cards go, 95% are already cataloged and
organized by year including rookies, many rare and hard to find early
issues, unusual parallels and food issues.

I also have a huge amount of numbered cards (some as low as #10) and bat,
ball & jersey cards, plus I have close to 100 extra rookie cards, some
graded too!
-----
If you are interested in this, please email Mike at the email address
above, not me.


==========
  From the AP:
House invites Canseco to testify
March 4, 2005

Former slugger Jose Canseco and several players he has accused of joining
him in abusing steroids have been invited to testify before a House committee.

''There's a cloud over baseball, and perhaps a public discussion of the
issues, with witnesses testifying under oath, can provide a glimpse of
sunlight,'' said Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., chairman of the House Government
Reform Committee.

Davis and the top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Henry Waxman of California,
announced Thursday that they were inviting Canseco and six other former or
active players, including the New York Yankees' Jason Giambi and former St.
Louis Cardinal Mark McGwire, to testify at a March 17 hearing.

A spokeswoman for Waxman, who last week wrote Davis to urge hearings on
baseball's response to the steroid scandal, said they don't know if the
players will agree to attend. Commissioner Bud Selig has also been invited.

Canseco, in a recently released book, admits using steroids and alleges
that he injected the drugs with McGwire and introduced steroids to other
stars, including Rafael Palmeiro of the Baltimore Orioles. Palmeiro and
others named by Canseco have denied using the performance-enhancing drugs.


==========
  From the AP:
March 10, 2005
Baseball Vows to Fight Steroids Subpoenas
By RONALD BLUM, AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK - Major league baseball responded with outrage to congressional
subpoenas for Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi and other top stars,
vowing to fight them all the way to court.

Curt Schilling, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro and Frank Thomas also were
summoned Wednesday to testify at the March 17 hearing of the House
Government Reform Committee (news - web sites). Also called were players'
association head Donald Fehr, baseball executive vice presidents Rob
Manfred and Sandy Alderson and San Diego general manager Kevin Towers.

The committee, which has no interest in hearing from Barry Bonds, also
demanded a variety of documents and records of baseball's drug tests.

Stanley Brand, a lawyer for the baseball commissioner's office, said the
committee had no jurisdiction and was interfering with the federal grand
jury by trying to force testimony from Giambi and others. He said the
committee wanted to violate baseball's first amendment privacy rights and
was attempting to "satisfy their prurient interest into who may and may not
have engaged in this activity."

"The audacity, the legal audacity of subpoenaing someone who's been a grand
jury witness before there's been a trial in the case in California is just
an absolutely excessive and unprecedented misuse of congressional power,"
Brand said.

"Not even the Iran (news - web sites)-contra committee attempted to do
that, and when it did, it tainted irreparably the prosecutions that came
out of that investigation. Now if that's what Congress wants to do to
advance what it says is the public interest in combating a very serious
problem that baseball has confronted, then in my judgment they've torn
loose from their legislative moorings and they're marauding in an area of
the law that has very serious consequences for the judicial system."

Gene Orza, the union's chief operating officer, declined comment.

Canseco, Fehr and Manfred have agreed to testify, with Manfred speaking on
behalf of baseball commissioner Bud Selig. Before the subpoenas were
issued, Brand told the committee the other players were declining
invitations to appear. Thomas said Monday that he would testify.

It remained unclear whether the hearing will take place as scheduled.

"It's impossible to predict the exact course that this is going to take,"
Manfred said. "Players have individual decisions they're going to have to
make, the union has decisions it's going to have to make."

David Marin, a spokesman for committee chairman Rep. Tom Davis, said the
committee has no plans to contact Bonds, who also testified before the
grand jury.

Bob Cohen, McGwire's agent, questioned "what's the ultimate purpose of the
hearings?"

Brand and Manfred said baseball will attempt to fight the subpoenas. If
they are not complied with, the committee could vote contempt citations,
which would have to be approved by the full House of Representatives and
certified by a U.S. Attorney. If that happened, Brand said the fight over
the subpoenas would head to U.S. District Court.

"It is important the American people know the facts on baseball's steroid
scandal," Davis and Rep. Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record), the
ranking Democrat, said in a statement. "Consistent with our committee's
jurisdiction over the nation's drug policy, we need to better understand
the steps MLB is taking to get a handle on the steroid issue, and whether
news of those steps — and the public health danger posed by steroid use —
is reaching America's youth."

Marin maintained the committee had proper jurisdiction over steroids and
baseball.

"We can't fathom that they will advocate noncompliance with a congressional
subpoena," he said. "What kind of message does that send?"

Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative founder Victor Conte was indicted last
year on charges of distributing illegal steroids that eventually made their
way to as many as 30 baseball, football and track and field stars. Also
indicted were Greg Anderson, Bonds' weight trainer; James Valente, BALCO's
vice president; and Remy Korechemny, a track coach.

A trial date has not been set, and Brand said testimony from players would
be "whipping up a torrent of pretrail publicity."

Another congressional hearing on steroids is scheduled for Thursday, when
the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee is to hear from witnesses,
including labor lawyers from the commissioner's office and the NFL, and
representatives of the NCAA (news - web sites) and the U.S. Anti-Doping
Agency.

Rep. Cliff Stearns (news, bio, voting record), chairman of the House
Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection subcommittee, said Selig was
invited to speak at the hearing but declined.


==========
  From the AP:
Schilling Plans to Attend Steroids Hearing
Fri Mar 11, 2:18 PM ET   Sports - AP
By RONALD BLUM, AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK - Curt Schilling plans to attend next week's congressional hearing
on steroid use in baseball, becoming the first current player to agree to
testify before the panel.

Speaking at Boston's spring training camp in Fort Myers, Fla., the Red Sox
ace said Friday that he has "nothing" to offer the panel.

"I'm still real confused as to why I was put in this group and why there
are other players that aren't in this group," Schilling said.

The commissioner's office has said it will fight the subpoenas, which also
were issued to Jason Giambi, Sammy Sosa, Frank Thomas and Rafael Palmeiro.
Former players Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire also were summoned for the
March 17 hearing of House Government Reform Committee (news - web sites)
along with three management officials and union head Donald Fehr.

Thomas has said he was willing to appear but didn't want to travel because
he is recovering from ankle surgery. Giambi said Friday that his lawyers
were unsure whether he will testify.

"They said don't worry about it until we find out what's going on and
what's going to happen," Giambi said, adding that his representatives are
awaiting more information on the hearing. "That's why we're kind of left in
limbo-land, what they want to accomplish, what they want to talk about."

Canseco asked Thursday for immunity if he's to testify fully before the
committee, but a spokesman for the lawmaker who will chair the proceeding
offered no promises.

Another House panel on Thursday held the first of what it said could be a
series of hearings on the subject, with several congressmen chastising
baseball for what one called its "extremely weak" drug-testing program. The
subcommittee chairman said all major U.S. sports leagues should work toward
uniform steroid penalties.

"I don't think it's grandstanding," New York Yankees (news) player
representative Mike Mussina said. "I think in light of what's happened the
last year or so maybe, people are looking for some answers. The public
wants to get some answers, so they're trying to find some answers."

Canseco, the 1988 AL MVP, has admitted using performance-enhancing drugs
and his best-selling book accuses several stars of steroid use.

"We've asked for immunity," said Canseco's lawyer, Robert Saunooke. "We
hope they give it to us. We're still going to show up even if we have no
immunity and offer whatever testimony we can that does not expose Jose to
legal liability."

David Marin, a spokesman for committee chairman Tom Davis, said: "At this
point, there are no plans to offer immunity to any witness."

Henry Waxman, the committee's ranking Democrat, said he would not be
opposed to immunity. He sees the hearing as a chance to find out about the
role of steroids in the majors and to address the effect on young athletes,
not to expose whether individual players used the drugs.

"With all the reports we've had in the past decade — major league baseball
has refused to investigate," Waxman said. "Now with the great interest in
the subject because of Jose Canseco's book, and people who said they did
and did not use steroids, it's brought things to a head."

Players were in the process of hiring lawyers and deciding whether to act
jointly or individually.

McGwire's spokesman, Marc Altieri, said his client hasn't decided whether
to appear. Thomas, at spring training in Arizona, said: "If it happens,
I'll go. It's not a problem."

Also summoned were Fehr, baseball executive vice presidents Rob Manfred and
Sandy Alderson, and San Diego general manager Kevin Towers. Fehr and
Manfred will appear; Towers said Thursday he wasn't sure.

"I certainly hope the purpose of the hearings is as described, a real
substantial purpose to it," Fehr said in Tampa. "I'm a little concerned
about the way it has developed."

On Wednesday, baseball lawyer Stanley Brand said the committee had no
jurisdiction and was interfering with a San Francisco federal grand jury
investigation involving steroids. Davis and Waxman responded Thursday,
sending Brand a letter stating "your legal analysis is flawed. ... Any
failure to comply with the committee's subpoenas would be unwise and
irresponsible."

"Baseball and ballplayers do not, by virtue of their celebrity, deserve
special treatment or to be placed above the law," they wrote.

No players were invited to Thursday's Energy and Commerce Committee
hearing, where chairman Joe Barton said his panel might issue subpoenas for
commissioners of the major sports leagues.

Barton said use of performance-enhancing drugs is tainting sports, noting
that as San Francisco Giants (news) slugger Barry Bonds pursues the career
home run record there are questions about whether he's been aided by steroids.

"With Babe Ruth, people didn't worry about him taking steroids. They
worried about him eating another hot dog," Barton said.

Waxman said Bonds, who wouldn't comment Thursday, wasn't among the players
asked to appear because "the feeling was that if he were invited, all the
attention would go to Barry Bonds and would distract from the overall
mission of the hearing."


==========
  From the New York Daily News
McGwire injected steroid cocktails, sources tell N.Y. Daily News
By MICHAEL O'KEEFFE, CHRISTIAN RED and T.J. QUINN
March 13, 2005

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The recipe called for 1/2 cc of testosterone cypionate
every three days; one cc of testosterone enanthate per week; equipoise and
winstrol v, 1/4 cc every three days, injected into the buttocks, one in one
cheek, one in the other.

It was the cocktail of a hardcore steroids user, and it is one of the
"arrays" Mark McGwire used to become the biggest thing in baseball in the
1990s, sources have told the New York Daily News.

Long before Jose Canseco claimed he injected McGwire in the behind in his
tell-all autobiography "Juiced," the man known as Big Mac denied ever using
illegal steroids. But according to FBI sources, McGwire's name came up
several times during "Operation Equine," a landmark anabolic steroids
investigation that led to 70 trafficking convictions in the early 1990s. No
evidence against McGwire or any other steroid user was collected, and one
former agent who worked undercover in the case says McGwire was not a target.

But two dealers caught in Operation Equine told the Daily News that a
California man named Curtis Wenzlaff provided Jose Canseco and McGwire,
among others, with illegal anabolic steroids. One informant in the case
says Wenzlaff injected McGwire at a gym in Southern California on several
occasions, and established "arrays" of performance-enhancing drugs such as
the aforementioned cocktail.

"Curtis was an expert on how to take drugs," one of the informants in the
case says. "The West Coast - that was the Mecca of drugs back then. And
Curtis was involved with some serious people. Curtis gave me the same cycle
that Mark McGwire (allegedly) was on. The best cycle (of steroids) I ever
did came from Curtis."

Reached by the Daily News, a former member of the gym where Wenzlaff and
McGwire allegedly worked out together - Racquetball World in Fountain
Valley, Calif. - said he saw them work out together "maybe five times" and
that the two discussed using steroids in his presence.

"No comment," said Wenzlaff when asked to confirm the accounts.

A month-long review by the Daily News of court documents, FBI records and
interviews with sources on both sides of the law found that Operation
Equine was a massive warning sign of what was to come in the American
sports landscape. Dealers like Wenzlaff were befriending ballplayers like
Canseco all over the country, and those players were passing on their
new-found expertise to friends in the game.

"In hindsight, we could have gotten the big names - (Michigan State
lineman) Tony Mandarich, Canseco - the problem is, where do you draw the
line?" says Bill Randall, who was the FBI undercover agent during Operation
Equine. "You have to remember, there was no benchmark, nothing for us to
model the investigation on. We wanted to get to the root of the problem,
that's all we were after. We could have hammered Canseco, but again, that
wasn't the thrust. And if we had started going after Major League Baseball
players, we'd never get up to these big-time dealers."

Representatives for Canseco and McGwire said the former players did not
remember meeting Wenzlaff, and were not aware their names came up in the
FBI's investigation, although an FBI source provided the News with previous
telephone numbers for Canseco and McGwire and a pager number for Canseco
from Wenzlaff's old phone book.

"We're not going to comment on anything at this time," said Marc Altieri,
McGwire's representative, "but we believe one should consider the sources
of such allegations."

"Jose doesn't want to deny knowing him, but he just doesn't remember the
guy," said Robert Saunooke, Canseco's attorney."

However, Wenzlaff's longtime friend Reggie Jackson, who Wenzlaff insists
never used steroids or knew he was dealing them, says he saw Wenzlaff and
Canseco work out and socialize together.

"Yes, they had spent some time together," says Jackson, who met Wenzlaff
after his career ended with the Oakland A's in 1987. "Curt's a good guy
that got mixed up in steroids at a very young age. He's a good, solid,
stand-up guy and he's honest."

Jackson, who let Wenzlaff stay in his Oakland home for long stretches in
the late 1980s, says he was not aware that Wenzlaff had allegedly supplied
steroids to Canseco or anyone else until last year when Wenzlaff testified
before a Senate subcommittee investigating steroid use in pro, college and
high school sports.

The two convicted sources who connected Wenzlaff to Canseco and McGwire
declined to be named, saying they feared retribution from some of the
steroid dealers they informed on. But two FBI sources confirmed the men's
identities and said they provided credible information throughout the
operation and, like Wenzlaff, avoided jail time for their cooperation. One
FBI source also said the men's fears about retribution are well-founded.

"That's why I'm amazed at what Jose said in the book," Wenzlaff says.
"There are some people who might come after him."

---

A man in an overcoat and a sharp charcoal gray suit enters the Old Town
tavern in Ann Arbor, Mich., last week, and Wenzlaff recognizes the face
instantly.

He extends his right hand to the shorter man with slicked-back black hair
and smiles as they share a vigorous handshake.

"Eddie Schmidt," Wenzlaff says.

"I haven't heard that name in a while," the other man says. He grins.

The last time these two men saw each other, "Schmidt" and Special Agent
Greg Stejskal were putting handcuffs on Wenzlaff, explaining to him that
his life had just changed. Wenzlaff was being charged with conspiracy to
distribute anabolic steroids and was told he had best cooperate.

"We were in a hotel room in Santa Monica, and all of a sudden there's a
knock on the door, and there's (Stejskal)," Wenzlaff says. "I just said,
'Oh, dirty word.'"

Schmidt's real name is Bill Randall, and for 33 years he was an FBI agent,
based mostly in Ann Arbor. Fifteen years ago he went undercover for two and
a half years posing as a Chicago gym owner looking for new steroid connections.

To this day the 70-plus convictions Randall and Stejskal helped secure are
considered the standard in steroid law enforcement. The BALCO case, for the
sake of comparison, has rocked the sports world and may end up doing far
more to change the steroid culture in this country. But in the BALCO case
only four men have been indicted; BALCO has drawn far more attention
because of the witnesses against those four men, including Barry Bonds,
Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield.

Curtis Wenzlaff is now 41, married, a father of three, working in
"strategic alliances" for a renewable energy company and living in Flint,
Mich. His hair is almost gone, but he still has the build of an NFL free
safety. He still lifts - more than his doctors want him to - and is
fanatical about his diet.

He orders a grilled chicken sandwich on a dry bun. He drinks chai tea, but
later in the evening will have an Amstel Light.

Wenzlaff doesn't take steroids anymore, he says, unbuttoning his shirt to
show a thin white line that runs the length of his sternum. "They cracked
my chest three times - open heart," he says.

He told his doctors about all the steroids he had taken - "You don't lie to
your doctor, you don't lie to your attorney," he says - and was told he had
a congenital problem.

"Unrelated," he says.

As he sits with his sandwich and tea, Wenzlaff says he will discuss one
name from his past: Jose Canseco.

"I supplied a bunch of players, but I'm not going to name any other names,"
he says. "Jose's different because he opened the door with his book."

He will not discuss McGwire or anyone else. But yes, Wenzlaff says, he
helped turn Canseco from a dabbler into a maestro of performance-enhancing
drugs.

"On a scale of one to 10, he was a four. When I left, he was an eight,"
Wenzlaff says. He adds that they haven't spoken in years.

"That would square with what Wenzlaff told us," Stejskal told the News last
month. "He was sort of Canseco's guru."

---

Wenzlaff's arrest on July 7, 1992, was the end of a life in steroids that
began in the early 1980s when Wenzlaff was playing high school football, he
says. He began going to a World Gym in Fountain Valley, Calif., where he
met a trainer - he won't identify him - and asked him what steroids could
do for his body.

He went to the gym not just with his father's blessing, but with his
father, he says.

"I wouldn't go in and train until the gym closed at 10 o'clock at night,"
Wenzlaff says. "It was a private affair. My dad would be working out and I
would come in. This is where I gained all this knowledge."

He would sleep in a sensory deprivation tank for 45 minutes between
workouts while his trainer's voice was piped in, telling him to imagine
doing leg extensions or some other workout without tiring.

"I mean the water is absolutely body temperature. It's so perfect that you
don't know where the water line started on your body. Totally dark. And I
was told then - whether this is true or not, I don't know - one hour of
sleep is equivalent to six hours solid sleep in a bed. I don't know, but in
between workouts, I would sleep in there at the gym."

The after-hours workout group, a catch-all for power lifters, body builders
and athletes, was a cult unto itself that made the extreme the norm. The
members would tape each other's hands to weight bars, making it impossible
to let go. They would lift weights while breathing pure oxygen from a tank.

They also shot up, swallowed and rubbed steroids on their bodies,
experimenting with doses and combinations and sharing results. "You could
use the term guinea pig on me. There were other guinea pigs that we hung
out together and everybody was doing something different," Wenzlaff says.

"And I was one of the first to be trained with a cattle prod."

The cattle prod, he says, was a motivational technique.

"I remember my first night they brought it in I was on the leg extension
machine," he says. "They took two weightlifting belts and tied me in so I
couldn't get up."

Then he'd start lifting the weight while one of his workout mates counted
reps with a hand clicker.

"He'd yell, 'Come on, come on, come on! do more!' I start to slow down,"
Wenzlaff says. "He would set the cattle prod on my thigh. 'I can't do any
more! I can't (deleted) do any more!' ZAP! I did some more."

Eventually, he says, the prod wasn't necessary. His mind had been trained
to push his body to new limits.

"It gets you here," he says, pointing to his head.

He earned a football scholarship to Cal State University, kept up the
workouts and graduated in 1987. Wenzlaff became a local legend, setting gym
power records in multiple categories. That fall, Wenzlaff says a mutual
friend introduced him to a baseball player who had just retired after his
final season with the Oakland A's, Reggie Jackson.

"I think he was as excited to meet me as I was honored to meet him,"
Wenzlaff says. "I had every power record in the gym."

Jackson asked Wenzlaff if he would work with him when he returned to town.
At the time, Wenzlaff says he was living in his car - "by choice" - because
he had a one-way ticket to Hawaii. His plan was to find work in a gym and
he knew someone with his expertise would not need to wait long for an
opening. But the chance to work with a future Hall of Famer changed
everything, he says, and he decided to temporarily move in with a woman he
had just met the night before so he could give Jackson a number to call.

"There were no cell phones in those days," Wenzlaff says. "I had to have a
number to give him."

Jackson called after a week, and after they began working out together
Jackson offered Wenzlaff a job up in the Bay Area as a sort of public
liaison. Wenzlaff not only accepted the job, he moved into Jackson's house
on and off for several years. California property records confirm they
lived on Yankee Hill in Oakland.

Wenzlaff says he never told Jackson about the steroids he used and sold.
"No way. He's like a father figure to me. I didn't have a home; I wasn't
going to (mess) that up," he says.

It was Jackson who introduced Wenzlaff to the A's, bringing him around
during trips to the Oakland Coliseum. Wenzlaff says he visited the
clubhouse on several occasions, but said any steroid use took place away
from the stadium, in private gyms.

Because of his friendship with Jackson, Wenzlaff says he met professional
athletes and actors, turning some into clients he would train.

"Reggie knew everybody," Wenzlaff says.

Wenzlaff claims he provided Canseco with steroids and taught him how to use
them properly. They hung out together, chased women together and worked out
together for a brief time - he says he can't remember how long - and then
Canseco went his own way.

"I was just a small window in his career. That's all," Wenzlaff says.

---

Stejskal, the agent who told the Daily News last month that he warned Major
League Baseball about a rising steroid problem at least 10 years ago,
declined interview requests for this story. After he was quoted last month
he was told not to speak to the media anymore. But before he was
admonished, he told the Daily News what he learned about Canseco during the
investigation.

"Canseco was one of those people that we heard would take orders from other
people who would say 'Hey, can you get me some of this?' and he would do
that. We didn't characterize that as being a dealer. That was just somebody
acting as a middle man," said Stejskal, who put Major League Baseball
security in touch with Wenzlaff to discuss Canseco's burgeoning steroid
allegations about a year ago. "We were a little skeptical at first because
Wentzlaff kinda comes off as he has a high opinion of himself. So
consequently we weren't quite sure. But as we did some more checking and we
were able to get his phone records and things like that, it was clear he
did have a relationship with Canseco."

In addition, an undercover agent saw a photo of Wenzlaff with Canseco,
recorded Wenzlaff on a wiretap talking about providing steroids to Canseco,
and the FBI found Canseco's private phone number in Wenzlaff's phone book
after they arrested him.

Stejskal and Wenzlaff actually grew close over the years - "Hey, he kept my
a-- out of jail," Wenzlaff says - but one area in which they differ is
whether steroids have any legitimate role for people who don't have a
medical need for them.

Because of his heart problems taking steroids now would be too dangerous,
Wenzlaff says, but otherwise, yes, he would still be using them.

"But I don't have anything to prove anymore. I'm not trying to get a
scholarship. It was satisfying to walk on the beach and know you look like
you could have gone into a bodybuilding contest. That was good enough for
me," he says.

"Now, I have no reason to."


==========
  From CBC Sports:
Players testify at baseball hearing
March 17, 2005

Six of baseball's biggest stars made emotional opening statements Thursday
at a congressional hearing investigating Major League Baseball's new
drug-testing policy and steroid abuse in the game.

Active big-leaguers Sammy Sosa, Curt Schilling, Frank Thomas and Rafael
Palmeiro, as well as retired sluggers Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, were
subpoenaed last week to appear Thursday before the House Government Reform
Committee in Washington, D.C.

After Canseco briefly addressed the Committee, Sosa, via a translator, said
that he has never used steroids during his opening statement.

McGwire slammed allegations made by Canseco in his recently published book
that he injected McGwire with steroids while they were teammates. McGwire
did not say whether he used steroids during his career and said he won't
"participate in naming names" of players who used steroids.

In his opening statement, Palmeiro said emphatically that he has never used
steroids and took Cancesco to task for claiming he saw Palmeiro take
steroids while they were teammates.

Like McGwire and Palmeiro, Schilling slammed Canseco, saying his claims
"should be seen for what they are: an attempt to make money at the expense
of others."

Testifying by close-circuit TV, Thomas said he never took steroids.

Commissioner Bud Selig, players' union head Donald Fehr and other baseball
executives will also testify.

In beginning Thursday's hearing, Representative Tom Davis (Republican,
Virginia) the Chairman of the Committee, implored baseball to "not simply
turn its back on recent history, pronounce that the new testing policy will
solve everything, and move on."

"You can't look forward without looking back," added Davis.

Davis then went on to scold players and baseball officials for not being
co-operative with the Committee.

"Major League Baseball and the players' association greeted word of our
inquiry first as a nuisance, then as a negotiation, replete with
misstatements," said Davis.

"I understand their desire to avoid the public's prying eye. ... But I
think they misjudged our seriousness of purpose. I think they misjudged the
will of an American public who believes that sunshine is the best
disinfectant."

Representative Henry A. Waxman (Democrat, California), the Committee's
ranking minority member, echoed Davis's comments.

"There is a pyramid of steroid use in society and today our investigation
starts where it should­ with the owners and players at the top of that
pyramid," Waxman said.

Davis warned the "hearing will not be the end of our inquiry, far from it.
Nor will Major League Baseball be our sole or even primary focus. We're in
the first inning of what could be an extra-inning ball game. This is the
beginning and not the end."

A spokesman for Representative Davis told CBC Sports Online that players
who testify at the hearing do not face criminal prosecution.

Instead, Thursday's hearing serves as an investigative review of baseball's
recently instituted drug-testing policy. White also explained the hearings
give Congress "a chance to shine some light on what it thinks is an
important public health issue."

However, the belief is that players who testify would leave themselves open
to potential criminal charges sometime in the future.

Canseco tried to get immunity in exchange for his testimony, but the
Committee refused to give immunity to any of the players.

In response, Canseco's lawyer said the former big-league slugger will
invoke his Fifth Amendment right to refuse to answer questions that would
incriminate him when he testifies.

Representative Mark Souder (Republican Indiana) warned players against
pleading the fifth, saying it would be a "terrible tragedy."

Major League Baseball's steroid testing program was criticized in past
years as being too lenient, but a new testing plan introduced this year
calls for tougher penalties. A first-time offender will be suspended for 10
days. Second-time offenders will be suspended for 30 days. Third-time
offenders will be suspended for 60 days. Fourth-time offenders will be
suspended for one year.

All suspensions are without pay.

Under the new plan, every player will undergo at least one unannounced test
on a randomly selected date during the playing season. There is no specific
limit on the number of tests to which any player may randomly be subjected,
and players are subject to random testing during the off-season.

Selig and MLB executive Sandy Alderson defended baseball's drug policy in a
prepared statement released prior to Thursday's proceedings.

"Some have suggested that greater penalties, particularly for first
offenders, would be in order," the statement read. "With the guidance of my
medical advisors, however, I agreed to the lesser penalties on the theory
that behaviour modification should be the most important goal of our policy
and that the penalties in our new policy were well-designed to serve that
goal."


==========
  From the AP:
In baseball's day of extraordinary theater, McGwire won't say whether he
took steroids
By HOWARD FENDRICH, and RONALD BLUM
March 18, 2005

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a room filled with humbled heroes, Mark McGwire
hemmed and hawed the most.

His voice choked with emotion, his eyes nearly filled with tears, time
after time he refused to answer the question everyone wanted to know: Did
he take illegal steroids when he hit a then-record 70 home runs in 1998 --
or at any other time?

Asked by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., whether he was asserting his Fifth
Amendment right not to incriminate himself, McGwire said: ``I'm not here to
talk about the past. I'm here to be positive about this subject.''

Asked whether use of steroids was cheating, McGwire said: ``That's not for
me to determine.''

To a couple of other questions, all he would say is: ``I'm retired.''

The dark clouds over baseball rained on Big Mac, whose powerful bat once
captivated the nation.

``I know that he was in anguish yesterday just being there,'' baseball
commissioner Bud Selig said Friday on NBC's ``Today'' show. ``Everybody has
to do what they have to do. The other players were very outspoken.''

McGwire was just part of Thursday's show at the House Government Reform
committee's hearing on steroids in baseball, when lawmakers repeated
threatened federal legislation to govern drug testing in not just baseball,
but perhaps all U.S. sports.

President Bush, who in his State of the Union address in 2004 called for a
crackdown on steroids, watched the highlights of the hearings, his
spokesman said Friday.

Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One, press secretary Scott
McClellan declined to offer support for the congressional effort, saying
Bush does not believe that federal intervention is the way to go.

``Baseball has taken important steps to respond to concerns that have been
expressed about the use of steroids,'' he said. ``It's important for
baseball to continue to take steps to confront the problem.''

Five current and former players, three of them among the 10 leading home
run hitters in history, found themselves sitting biceps-to-biceps on
Capitol Hill instead of a baseball field, wearing business suits instead of
uniforms, forced by subpoena to testify before Congress about whether they
cheated by using steroids.

Heads turned, strobes flashed and necks craned to get a glimpse of them on
a day of extraordinary theater. The players bemoaned steroids as a problem
for their sport but denied the drugs are widely used.

Jose Canseco, whose best-selling book, ``Juiced,'' drew lawmakers'
attention, said anew that he used performance-enhancing drugs as a player.
Baltimore Orioles teammates Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro said they haven't.

McGwire in the past has denied using steroids but under oath repeatedly
declined to respond directly. Peering at lawmakers over reading glasses,
his goatee flecked with gray, McGwire was pressed to say whether he had
taken performance-enhancing substances or whether he could provide details
about use by other players. Over and over, he said he wouldn't respond.

All of the players offered condolences to the parents of two young baseball
players who committed suicide after using steroids. The parents testified,
too, along with medical experts who talked about the health risks of steroids.

``Players that are guilty of taking steroids are not only cheaters -- you
are cowards,'' said Donald Hooton of Plano, Texas, whose son, Taylor, was
17 when he hanged himself in July 2003.

During a hearing that lasted 11 1/4 hours, lawmakers questioned baseball's
new drug-testing plan, including a provision allowing for fines instead of
suspensions. A first offense could cost 10 days out of a six-month season,
or perhaps a $10,000 fine.

``That's the best we could do in collective bargaining,'' commissioner
Selig said. ``The penalties would be much tougher if I had my way.''

He added that he would suspend anyone who fails a test, vowing: ``There
will be no exceptions.''

Canseco's book included claims that he injected McGwire with steroids when
they were teammates with the Oakland Athletics and that Palmeiro used the
drugs. In a tense scene, they sat at the same table, never directly
addressing each other. During a break, Canseco was left out while the other
players huddled.

``Steroids were part of the game, and I don't think anybody really wanted
to take a stance on it,'' Canseco said. ``If Congress does nothing about
this issue, it will go on forever.''

Several congressmen gushed about the sport, recalling how as children they
collected baseball cards and autographs and looked up to players. For the
most part, members of the committee appeared deferential and unwilling to
press the players, saving their harshest criticism for baseball officials.

``Why should we believe that the baseball commissioner and the baseball
union will want to do something when we have a 30-year record of them not
responding to this problem?'' asked Rep. Henry Waxman of California, the
committee's ranking Democrat.

The paneled hearing room was full when the players appeared, with camera
crews lining the walls and clogging the aisles. Much of the crowd cleared
out when the players left, leaving empty seats for Selig's testimony.

He said the extent of steroids in baseball had been blown out of proportion.

``Did we have a major problem? No,'' Selig said. ``Let me say this to you:
There is no concrete evidence of that, there is no testing evidence, there
is no other kind of evidence.''

Questions about steroids have intensified as home runs have increased.
McGwire and Sosa were widely credited with helping restore baseball's
popularity in 1998 when they chased Roger Maris' season record of 61
homers. McGwire's mark lasted only three seasons before San Francisco's
Barry Bonds hit 73.

Bonds and the New York Yankees' Jason Giambi were not called to the
hearing. Both testified in 2003 to a grand jury investigating a
steroid-distribution ring, and there were concerns testimony to Congress
could hinder the probe.

Boston pitcher Curt Schilling, a vocal critic of steroid use, sat at one
end of the witness table, with Canseco at the other. Palmeiro, Sosa and
McGwire were in between.

Schilling took a shot at Canseco, saying claims in the former slugger's
book ``should be seen for what they are: an attempt to make money at the
expense of others.'' He even called him a ``liar.''

But Schilling backtracked from his earlier claims of rampant steroid use,
saying ``the issue was grossly overstated by people, including myself.''

While boosting strength, steroids also can lead to dramatic mood swings,
heart disease, cancer, sterility and depression; using most steroids
without a doctor's prescription for medical purposes has been illegal since
1991.

Baseball banned steroids in September 2002 and began testing for them with
penalties in 2004. Several congressmen pointed out that other major U.S.
sports leagues have stricter policies and suggested legislation might be
needed to make the testing uniform.

Hey everyone,

I am WAY behind on sending out Canseco news lately, but this was pretty big
breaking news, so I wanted to get it out right away.  I'll try to send the
older stuff out soon.

Quick summary:
1. Jose testified at the House committee steroid hearings.  It was very
interesting to watch, and I hope some of you got to see it.
2. Jose will be on the next season of "The Surreal Life" - It is set to air
sometime this fall.
3. Jose and Ozzie finally had their date in court for the civil trial
resulting from that bar fight three and a half years ago.  The maintained
their innocence, but were found guilty by a jury.

One thing I found very interesting during this trial was the estimates from
both sides of Jose's net worth.  The prosecution's accountant estimated it
at $1.9 million, and Jose himself estimated it at just $500,000.  Assuming
the truth lies somewhere in between, I'm still surprised by this.  I
thought he had a lot more money.  Draw your own conclusions about how this
relates to incentive for writing his book, why he is selling all his
baseball merchandise, and of course those $2500 "Spend the Day with Jose"
packages from a couple of years ago.

I really thought the Cansecos were going to be found innocent during this
trial.  It's a shame, but hopefully this will finally be behind them once
and for all... well, once they write those rather hefty checks to the guys
from the bar fight, that is.  I wonder if the transcripts from the trial
are public record... I'd love to read through them for myself.

I'll try to send out the older (steroids) news soon.  For now, here's the
latest.

-Mark


==========
  From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:
Canseco brothers start trial for brawl at S. Beach nightclub
By Ihosvani Rodriguez
April 19, 2005

Jose Canseco is a former ball player, steroid user, barroom brawler,
best-selling author and whistleblower.

His latest role is that of defendant in a Miami-Dade County courtroom where
he and his twin brother, Ozzie, are fending off claims they injured two
California men during a South Beach bar fight.

The civil trial, which began Monday with jury selection, is the latest
chapter in Canseco's ongoing struggle with the law and celebrity scandal.

Canseco's name returned to the controversial spotlight earlier this year
after he penned a tell-all book about the alleged widespread steroid use in
Major League Baseball. But his name has been a regular on Miami-Dade
courtroom dockets since the 2001 Halloween bar fight that left two
convention visitors from California with bloody faces.

In court documents, Christian Presley claims he suffered a broken nose, and
his colleague, Alan Cheeks claims his lip was busted so severely he could
no longer play the sax. Both men are seeking an undisclosed amount for
their injuries and punitive damages.

Most of Canseco's recent legal woes stem from the skirmish in South Beach's
Opium Garden.

The Havana-born twins have said they grudgingly pleaded guilty to
aggravated battery charges only to spare their family the grief of a
criminal trial. Both brothers were given three-years probation.

But Jose Canseco violated his probation within a year by leaving Florida
for several weeks and failing to take anger-management classes. He served
30 days in jail in 2003. Months later, the former slugger traded his ball
uniform for red jailhouse garb once again when he tested positive for
steroids during a drug test as part of his probation. He served nine weeks
in jail and was ordered to house arrest.

On Monday, the 40-year-old twins returned to court appearing like bulging
bookends as their civil attorney, Robert Saunooke, sat between them. The
brothers flashed identical smiles toward the prospective 40 jurors, some of
whom said they were big fans.

"This is not about baseball, not about steroids or troubles with the law,"
Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Herbert Stettin told the prospective jurors.
"We're here just for the incident and hope you could put everything else
you've heard about the Cansecos aside."

The six jurors and three alternates selected late Monday include a former
bartender, a former Peace Corp volunteer and a man who said he was stabbed
during a fight in his youth. Those rejected include one of Canseco's former
classmates at Coral Park High School and a woman who said she can't be fair
to celebrities because the son of a famous salsa music singer once broke
into her home.

Saunooke told reporters that Presley and Cheeks assaulted Jose Canseco's
date that evening by lifting up her skirt and groping her. The brothers
were attacked after they confronted the men and asked them what happened,
said Saunooke.

"This case is going to be very simple," Saunooke said. "It was self-defense
from top to bottom."

Cheeks' attorney, Christienne Hopkins Sherouse, told reporters her client
was standing at the bar when the two brothers came up to him and pummeled
him and Presley without warning.

"He was sucker punched," she said.

Jose Canseco, a media-darling who once charged fans up to $2,500 to spend
an afternoon with him during his house arrest in Davie, declined to comment
about the case. He said only that the "truth is finally going to come out."
Opening statements are scheduled for 9 a.m. today.

Ihosvani Rodriguez can be reached at ijrodriguez@... or
305-810-5005.

==========
  From the AP:
Cansecos to dish out over $1 million

MIAMI -- Jose Canseco and twin brother Ozzie were ordered by a jury Tuesday
to pay nearly $300,000 in punitive damages to two men who were beaten by
the former major leaguers at a Miami Beach nightclub four years ago.

Jose Canseco, the 1988 American League most valuable player, must pay
$240,000 and his brother $50,000. The same jury awarded the victims more
than $700,000 in compensatory damages a day earlier.

The decision on punitive damages came after disputes about Jose Canseco's
net worth in the lawsuit by Christian Presley and Alan Cheeks. Both sued
for injuries from the Halloween fight in 2001 at the Opium Garden nightclub.

Lawrence Epstein, an accountant hired by the two men, testified that Jose
Canseco has a net worth of about $1.9 million and Ozzie has virtually no
net worth.

Jose Canseco's assets include two homes in California worth almost $5
million combined, a $500,000 advance on his best-selling book "Juiced" and
$300,000 from an appearance on the TV show "Surreal Life," Epstein said.
Canseco's liabilities total about $3.7 million, mostly mortgages and child
support payments, Epstein said.

Taking the stand Tuesday, Jose Canseco again denied hitting either man and
estimated his net worth at closer to $500,000. He acknowledged owning or
leasing several luxury cars but said he has lived beyond his means since
retiring from baseball in 2001. Confronted with his own public statements
that he had plenty of money, he said: "That's wishful thinking."

He was told to pay $225,000 to Presley and $15,000 to Cheeks while all of
Ozzie Canseco's payment would go to Cheeks.

The fight started after Presley accosted Jose Canseco's date, Amber Glick.
She had testified that she was grabbed that night be someone she could not
identify. Presley denied groping Glick.

Cheeks' attorney, Christi Sherouse, asked Jose Canseco if he was sorry for
what happened. "Absolutely not, I never struck him," he replied.

Jose Canseco hit 462 home runs during a 17-year career with Oakland, the
Chicago White Sox, Texas, Boston, Toronto, Tampa Bay and the New York
Yankees. Ozzie Canseco had a long minor league career and played briefly in
the majors.

Jose Canseco recently testified before Congress about steroid use in major
league baseball, which he claimed in his book is rampant.

Hey everyone,

Right after I sent out the update last night, I saw the news that the
remainder of Jose's book signing tour has been postponed.  Apparently, he
gets worse hate mail than I do, and he actually received a death threat via
email.  The FBI worked with AOL and has determined who sent it.  I wonder
how this will turn out for the sender... In any case, the new dates for the
tour haven't been determined yet, but I'll update the site as soon as I
hear anything.

Speaking of book tour disruptions, seems some idiot radio personality made
a scene at the signing in Tampa the other day.  You know how these radio
guys are - anything for publicity.  Funny thing is, he's probably a Canseco
fan.  If you'd like to check out some video from the incident, follow this
link:
http://www.mjmorningshow.com/cc-common/feeds/view.php?feed_id=263&feed=/mainfeed\
.html&instance=1&article_id=16039

In other news, Jose says MLB can give his 1988 MVP Award to runner up Mike
Greenwell if they chose to do so.  That article and the rest of the news is
below...

-Mark


==========
  From the Chicago Sun Times:
Death threat halts Canseco tour
February 26, 2005
BY CHRIS DE LUCA

TAMPA, Fla. -- On the same day Jose Canseco's book tour postponed its
scheduled stop in the Chicago area for next week because of a death threat,
the former slugger's attorney shrugged off news one of the stars named in
the book is considering a lawsuit.

Robert Saunooke, Canseco's Florida-based attorney, doesn't put much stock
in claims by Rafael Palmeiro, the Baltimore Orioles' slugger and a former
Cub, who says he is considering taking legal action after being identified
by Canseco as a steroid user.

''If push comes to shove, Jose will bring other people to the stand who
will say the same things he is saying -- people who witnessed the same
things,'' Saunooke said Friday about Palmeiro's threatened lawsuit. ''I
know these baseball players stick together, but it's a different story when
you are sitting on the stand, facing perjury charges.''

Palmeiro said Thursday he is considering a lawsuit against Canseco and
would use the lawfirm of Orioles owner Peter Angelos to pursue such a case.

''I have the best law firm and the best lawyer standing in the wings in
Peter Angelos,'' Palmeiro told reporters. ''I have options available for
me. He stands behind me, and he's ready. I will look at all my options, and
I'll decide.''

Saunooke pointed out the difficulties in pursuing such a suit.

''The reality is they are impossible lawsuits to win -- for either side,''
he said. ''It's just a waste of money because the hurdle is so high. People
already think [Palmeiro] is on steroids whether Jose wrote it or not. I
understand he is frustrated, but I think he is just posturing.''

Speaking with reporters at the St. Louis Cardinals' camp, manager Tony La
Russa echoed Saunooke's point, stressing that Mark McGwire should not
pursue legal action.

''I vaguely remember law school, but I remember that when you start getting
into libel and slander, that's one of the toughest proofs in the world,''
said La Russa, who passed the bar in 1979, the year he got his first
major-league managing job with the White Sox. ''It is so difficult. ... The
players can do whatever they want to, but you've got to think long and hard
before you make that investment.''

Saunooke said he and Canseco were encouraged that Congress reportedly is
considering investigating baseball's steroid scandal, based on the claims
made in Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball
Got Big.

The book has sparked controversy and more.

An e-mail death threat submitted through Canseco's Web site
(josecanseco.com) forced the interruption of his cross-country book-signing
tour. Saunooke said the FBI is investigating and has identified the sender
of the e-mail with help from AOL.

The ''Juiced'' tour was supposed to roll into the Chicago area next week,
with visits to Anderson's Books in Naperville on Monday and the Borders
Books and Music on State Street on Tuesday.

''We are not taking the threat lightly,'' Saunooke said. ''It's not that I
believe Jose is in immediate danger. He's a black belt in three different
kinds of karate, so he can take care of himself. We are more concerned
about the people who come to the book signing.''

Saunooke said the Chicago-area visit would be rescheduled for mid-March.

''He definitely wants to get to Chicago because he knows he has a lot of
fans there,'' Saunooke said of Canseco, who spent half of the 2001 season
with the White Sox.

An incident during a signing at a Sam's Club in Tampa on Thursday also led
to the tour beefing up its security. According to Saunooke, a local radio
personality, posing as a fan, confronted Canseco when the former player was
taking a restroom break and began hollering and displaying a sign reading
''traitor.''


==========
  From MSNBC:
Canseco's book provoking death threats
Report: Book-signing tour halted as FBI investigates
Jose Canseco's book, "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How
Baseball Got Big" is causing a furor in the baseball world.
Feb. 26, 2005

Jose Canseco's book is not only producing controversy. It's now provoking
death threats.

The Chicago Tribune reported Saturday that Canseco was forced to halt his
book-signing tour because of an e-mail death threat that was submitted
through his Web site.

Canseco's attorney Robert Saunooke told the paper that the FBI has
identified the sender of the e-mail with help from AOL and is currently
still investigating the threat.

"We are not taking the threat lightly," Saunooke told the Tribune. "It's
not that I believe Jose is in immediate danger. He's a black belt in three
different kinds of karate, so he can take care of himself. We are more
concerned about the people who come to the book signing."

Canseco upped his security after an incident during a signing in Tampa last
Thursday. A local radio personality, posing as a fan, taunted Canseco and
started yelling and displaying a sign that read "traitor," Saunooke told
the Tribune.

Book signings, intended for several Chicago bookstores next week, would be
rescheduled, Saunooke told the Tribune.

In Canseco's book, "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How
Baseball Got Big,'' he admits he consistently used steroids during his
playing days and accuses former teammates, including Mark McGwire, of also
taking using steroids.

==========
  From the Chicago Tribune:
Canseco says he's willing to take lie-detector test, give up 1988 MVP
By TEDDY GREENSTEIN

CHICAGO - Moments after saying he didn't write "Juiced" to make a quick
buck, Jose Canseco said he planned to address the book's claims by taking a
lie-detector test for a pay-per-view TV event.

"Something is being constructed right now," Canseco said Tuesday on "Cold
Pizza," ESPN2's morning show. "We are going to set up some type of
polygraph examination."

There will be no need to ask Canseco whether he deserved to win the 1988
American League MVP award. Canseco said runner-up Mike Greenwell can have
it and that baseball officials can remove his name from the trophy.

"I want no ties to Major League Baseball," Canseco said during his first
live TV interview since his book was released a week ago.

"Cold Pizza" then contacted Greenwell, who agreed the award should be his.

"As far as I'm concerned, he didn't win it fair and square, he was cheating
during that time," Greenwell said. "So, yes, I'd love to have that award. I
think I earned it."

Greenwell said winning the MVP award would have boosted his legacy and
earning power, but that was not enough motivation for him to have blown the
whistle on Canseco.

"Did I have suspicions Jose was using steroids in `88? Absolutely," he
said. "Would I have ever said anything? No, because to a lot of people that
would mean I was crying that I didn't win."

Canseco said his motivation for coming clean about his career was "for the
truth to come out (about) why I was blackballed from Major League Baseball,
being 38 years old and 38 home runs short of 500."

Canseco said allegations he wrote the book to make money are "probably one
of the weakest excuses to try to attack me. There are so many things being
said about me that are absolute lies. Just like during my playing career,
the media has blown everything out of proportion with every incident I was
involved in, starting with bar brawls to domestic violence. That's why this
book needed to be written, so the public could see the truth."

Canseco also left little doubt about another motivation_to bring down
former teammate Mark McGwire.

"Mark McGwire was the all-American boy," he said. "Once that's said about a
player, he's protected by the system, by society. There's no wrong you can
do. From that point on, he and I were constantly put against each other. I
was the black knight and he was the all-American boy."

Canseco, who said he has not been contacted by anyone in the book but has
received death threats from the public, began his national book tour
Tuesday. After starting on the East Coast, he heads to Chicago next week.

He's scheduled to sign copies at 7 p.m. Monday at Anderson's Books in
Naperville, Fla. He's set to appear at 12:30 p.m. March 1 at Borders Books
&1/4 Music on 150 N. State St.

But White Sox fans don't have to wait until then to give Canseco a boost.
He's selling an autographed Sox game jersey on josecanseco.com for $749.95.

Hey everyone,

Since my last email, a number of you have written to ask me more about
Jose's book signing tour.  I don't have any information other than what
I've posted on the site, but I wanted to let you know I updated it with
some more dates today:
http://www.canseconet.com/

By the looks of things, Jose will be in Illinois, Texas and then California
over the next couple of weeks.

If you can't make it to one of the signing sessions, you can purchase a
copy of Jose's book from Amazon for $17.13 (the retail prize is $25.95):
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060746408/ref=ase_talkingpoker-20\
/104-5171690-2109502?v=glance&s=books

I ordered and read a copy of the book, and I have to say, it was much
better than I expected it to be... somewhat eye opening too.  It's one of
those books that once you open it, you don't want to put it down and get
through it very quickly.  This is definitely a "must read" for every
Canseco fan out there.  Let me also say this: Agree or disagree with him,
Jose makes a strong case for responsible use of steroids.  A very strong case.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book.  My only complaint is that he focused
too much on the steroids stuff and didn't tell enough non-steroid stories
about his baseball days.  I would have especially loved to read about more
of his on the field experiences, which he hardly even mentioned.

In other news, wait until you read the first article below.  When the
sports writer from my local paper contacted me, I figured he was writing an
article about Jose and just wanted a quote or two from me (that he could
then twist around like that last reporter did).  To my surprise, the
article was about ME, and he didn't misquote me, twist my words, or make me
look like some obsessed fan!  Check it out.......

-Mark


==========
  From Florida Today:
Canseco fan now in limbo
Indialantic's Petrillo created first Web site
February 24, 2005

He is older now, relatively speaking. Mark Petrillo is 30, but when he was
24 he finally got to meet his boyhood idol and absolute all-time favorite
athlete.

Jose Canseco.

At the time, Petrillo said meeting Canseco might've been "the best five
minutes of my entire 24-year life. No kidding."

He isn't.

Petrillo, an Indialantic resident, might be the world's biggest Jose
Canseco fan. Way back in 1995, when dinosaurs roamed the Internet world,
Petrillo started what became the first-ever Web site dedicated to all
things Jose Canseco. Do a Jose Canseco Google search and it's Petrillo's
exhaustive www.canseconet.com that emerges at the top of the list, even
before Canseco's own official Web site.

Hundreds of photos, audio and video clips, a chat room, links, personal
stories, 1,245 e-mail subscribers . . . it's an impressive site that has
won multiple Web awards.

Petrillo also has thousands of Jose Canseco baseball cards -- perhaps every
card that's ever been issued -- and enough memorabilia that he could fill a
room with it. Among a myriad of other things, he has a pair of game-worn
Canseco spikes, several game-used autographed Canseco bats and a game-worn
T-shirt that Canseco is also wearing on a baseball card photo. "The way the
shirt is cut, you can clearly see that it's the same T-shirt on the
baseball card, which is pretty cool," he said.

Petrillo has all of these mementos and one other thing -- a huge question
mark as to what to think of his idol's recent revelations of steroid use.
How exactly does a fan, a real fan, handle such news?

"Good question," Petrillo said from his Indialantic home. "I'm still trying
to figure out how I feel."

This is no stalker or sycophant. Petrillo is college educated, intelligent
and well-spoken; a self-employed management consultant and Internet
developer. But so much of his life has been wrapped up in absolute
adoration of Jose Canseco. Even in college, he would take baseball road
trips, sometimes driving almost a thousand miles to see Canseco play.

You know the famous Comiskey Park photo of a fan holding a big bull's-eye
sign in the outfield seats with the name "Jose" on it? Yep, that was Petrillo.

As he read through Canseco's bombshell book, Petrillo realized he wasn't
"as disappointed as I thought I'd be." Canseco's tome is actually a
fascinating read, surprisingly well-written, containing much more depth
than the extracted media excerpts indicate. It offers context to Canseco's
steroid use, as well as to what will undoubtedly come to be known as
baseball's "Steroid Era."

"I'm not saying I agree with what he did," Petrillo said. "But I can
understand why the players did it. You ask yourself, 'Where does the blame
lie?' I believe it lies with baseball. They knew what was going on. They
could've stopped it, and didn't. I don't necessarily think it's the
players' fault."

On the one hand, Petrillo realizes that Canseco's steroid use "cheapens his
career." But on the other hand, "I realize he wasn't alone."

So where does it all balance out? When memories and realities clash, which
wins?

There are no easy answers.

Given Petrillo's history with Canseco, this is going to take time. It isn't
like a video game, where he can just hit the reset button. This was a major
chunk of his life.

Petrillo grew up outside Philadelphia, a Phillies fan. But as a kid, he
noticed almost cosmic connections to the Oakland A's, and in turn to Jose
Canseco. The A's were originally from Philadelphia, and Petrillo's
grandmother was a lifelong friend of Philadelphia A's Hall of Famer Jimmie
Foxx.

"I also grew up on Oakland Street," he said.

As a boy, Petrillo recalled dropping a quarter into a vending machine for a
baseball card, and Jose Canseco popped out. That was about the same time he
sent index cards to various players for autographs. Sure enough, it was
Canseco who responded with a signature.

As an adult, Petrillo's access to Canseco and the game-worn memorabilia
he's received have been because of his popular Web site and his stature as
Jose Canseco's No. 1 fan.

So where will it go from here?

"I don't know," Petrillo said. "Luckily for me, I'm older now, so I've
mostly outgrown being a serious Canseco fan. I'm 30. Your interests change.
I used to be a baseball fanatic, but I haven't been to a game since Jose
Canseco retired. I'm more of a football fan now."

Contact Kerasotis at 242-3694 or HeyPeterK@.... Listen to him Friday
mornings from 8:30 to 9 on WMEL-AM 920.


==========
  From the AP:
Palmeiro considers lawsuit against Canseco
By DAVID GINSBURG
February 24, 2005

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -- The Baltimore Orioles' Rafael Palmeiro is
leaving open the possibility of filing a lawsuit against Jose Canseco, who
said he introduced the first baseman to steroids in 1992 when both players
were with the Texas Rangers.

Canseco cited Palmeiro as a steroid user in his new book. In an interview
on the CBS television show ``60 Minutes,'' Canseco said he injected the
drug into Palmeiro.

Palmeiro issued a statement last month in which he denied he ever used
steroids, and he emphatically backed up that assertion Thursday after his
first practice of spring training. Palmeiro also said he's considered
hiring the law firm of Orioles owner Peter Angelos to take legal action
against Canseco.

``The one thing I can say is I have the best law firm and the best lawyer
standing in the wings in Peter Angelos,'' he said. ``I have options
available for me. He stands behind me and he's ready. I will look at all my
options and I'll decide.''

Palmeiro, 40, ranks among the greatest hitters in baseball history. The
four-time All-Star has 551 career homers, 2,922 hits and a .289 batting
average. He would prefer to focus on preparing for his 20th big league
season, but the topic kept swinging back to steroids during an impromptu
interview session in the Baltimore dugout at Fort Lauderdale Stadium.

``I can't worry about those things. Along the way, there's always going to
be someone saying something about you, whether it's true or not. You just
go on,'' Palmeiro said. ``My job right now is to get ready for baseball. My
mind has to be here.''

Orioles manager Lee Mazzilli told Palmeiro that he has the full support of
the team.

``It's totally unfair because it's always hearsay,'' Mazzilli said. ``I
think in this country you're innocent until proven guilty. They don't have
to defend themselves. If you feel good about yourself, you shouldn't worry
about what people say.''

Palmeiro is at a loss in trying to figure out why Canseco chose to include
him as one of several players that used steroids.

``He and I grew up playing ball together in the Miami area, but we never
did anything together other than play on the same team,'' Palmeiro said.
``We went our separate ways after high school and I never saw him again
until he was in the big leagues and I was in the minors. He and I have
never been close friends or anything. We were teammates, but that's about
it.''

Palmeiro initially was concerned that Canseco's accusation might upset his
two sons, ages 10 and 14, but that fear was unfounded.

``We were watching TV, and my oldest son saw it on the news. He started
laughing,'' Palmeiro said. ``He's like, 'What's this guy saying?' My kids
understand that a lot of the stuff is made up. (Canseco) has his reasons
for accusing people, and he's got his reasons for writing a book that's
trying to bring our game down.

``This game was great to him. He was the only one at fault for destroying
himself. He should be thankful that he had an opportunity to play.''

   ==========
Lastly, here is an except from an email I received from a Canseco fan who
went to Jose's first book signing:

I said I'd let you know how the signing went.  It was scheduled to start
at 7pm.  I got there at 4pm.  I was the 4th person in line.  The
bookstore gave the first 20 of us chairs to sit on.  Everyone beyond that
had to stand up.  We had to sit outside the bookstore until 6:15pm.
Luckily it wasn't raining.  Two Spanish channel news stations were there.
One did a live broadcast at 6pm.  I appeared in the background of the
broadcast, as well as the first 3 people in line.  There were also
reporters from the NY Times and the Bergen Record.  They both spoke to
me, as well as some of the other people near the front of the line.  I
have a copy of the NY Times article.  I didn't get quoted.  I haven't
gotten the Bergen Record yet, but my sister knows someone who lives in
that area.

Jose arrived at 6:45pm and signed some books for people who were friends
of the book store owner.  Then he started signing for those of us in
line.  He wouldn't stop to take pictures with anybody because his
security people wanted to keep the line moving.  I really wanted to get
my picture with him, but we were only allowed to take as many pictures of
him as we wanted too.  I took 7 pictures.  I'm still near the beginning
of my roll of film, but when I finish it and get it developed, I'll scan
in the pictures and send them to you.  Jose did answer peoples questions,
but again his security people wanted to keep the line moving, so it was
quick answers.  I asked how long it took him to write the book and if he
did all of the writing himself.  It took him 2 years he said, and yes he
did all of the writing.  No ghost writers.

He was dressed in this very nice looking blue suit and had on a World
Series ring.  He's also very tan.

I was out of the bookstore and in my car at 7pm.  It was really nice of
him to start signing early.  He was going to sign until 9pm and then he
was scheduled for a live interview.

Hello again Canseco fans...

Well, the media frenzy over all this steroid stuff has continued, and
somehow I'm even getting sucked into it now.  I've had 3 reporters contact
me in the past few days.  What I find particularly amusing is how while I
wasn't misquote, by changing the context of what I wrote, the meaning of my
words changes completely.  I wrote much more than just this, but notice the
"spin" applied here.

What's in the article:
-----
"I feel that Jose's admitted steroid use cheapens his career," Mark
Petrillo, 30, an Internet developer from Indialantic, Fla., said on Monday.
"I realize he wasn't alone in his steroid use, but to me, it still takes
away from what he accomplished on the field."

When those words come from the keeper of a popular Canseco Web site
(canseconet.com) and fan club, you know there's a crazy spin on this
baseball season.
-----

What I actually wrote (again, there was much more (notice the "on one hand"
part)):
-----
I realize this is the question you are most interested in me answering....
unfortunately, I'm not really sure how I feel.  One one hand, I feel that
Jose's admitted steroid use cheapens his career.  I realize he wasn't alone
in his steroid use, but to me, it still takes away from what he
accomplished on the field.  How would Jose have done without performance
enhancing drugs?  Would he still have made 40/40?
-----

No big deal.  Just interesting.  I see now how easily people's words can be
twisted.

One more thing before we get to the news... I was personally contacted by
Walter Boyer, the owner of BOOKENDS Book Store in Ridgewood, NJ.  That's
Jose's first signing event, and he asked me to invite you all to attend on
Tuesday night (2/22).  For anyone nearby, this is a great opportunity to
meet Jose.  Here are the details:

-----
BOOKENDS
232 East Ridgewood Avenue
Ridgewood, NJ 07450
Phone: 201-445-0726
Website: http://www.book-ends.com/

JOSE CANSECO - TUES., FEBRUARY 22 - 7:00PM
The hottest Sports Story this Winter is Jose Canseco's "tell all" Baseball
Book, "Juiced" and he will kick off his National Book Tour with a visit
to  Bookends on Tuesday, February 22nd at 7:00pm! He will be on 60 Minutes,
Howard Stern, Today Show and Fox TV all this week telling his side of the
biggest scandal in Sports today! Don't miss it...but if you cannot make it,
just call the store to place your order over the phone!
-----

On to the latest news...........

-Mark

==========
The Canseco-fan owner of this blog contacted me and asked me to pass his
link along to you.  He's been trying to stay on top of what he calls
"CansecoGate 2005" - click on the links on the right side of his blog to go
back to the beginning.
http://socialdecline.blogspot.com/


==========
  From the Arizona Republic:
Canseco is vile, but we must listen
By Paola Boivin
Feb. 9, 2005

Jose Canseco, the man who sold his 1988 MVP plaque on eBay for $30,000,
wants us to buy his tell-all book.

Jose Canseco, the man who auctioned off a few hours in his company when he
was under house arrest, wants us to read about his performance-enhanced
teammates.

I will. In a heartbeat.

Canseco's voice, as smarmy and desperate as it sounds, needs to be heard.
When it comes to steroids, we're at only the tip of this MLB landfill, and
we must hold our noses and weed through the trash until all the evidence is
uncovered.

Think about this: Three baseball MVPs - Canseco, Jason Giambi and Ken
Caminiti have admitted using steroids. Doesn't that cry of a baseball era
in need of a power wash?

Details of the soon-to-be-published book Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant
'Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Big were reported in the New York
Daily News and include an incident in which Canseco says he injected former
teammate Mark McGwire with steroids in the bathroom stall of the Oakland
A's clubhouse. Canseco also writes that McGwire introduced Giambi to
steroids and that Canseco injected several big-name players, including Ivan
Rodriguez, with performance-enhancing drugs.

No one is suggesting Canseco is a credible source. This is a man with few
friends left in baseball and in dire need of money and attention. He would
be laughed off a witness stand.

That doesn't mean his allegations shouldn't be explored. Hypothetically,
what if Canseco has simply decided to come clean, so to speak? Who put a
time limit on telling on truth?

If Canseco is hurting innocent people with this book, then let's hope the
wrongly accused have their day in court, too, whether it's through a
lawsuit or a full-out assault on Canseco's character.

At the very least, this book is raising questions, questions that aren't
being answered by baseball's steroid policies.

Consider Tony La Russa, who was Canseco's manager in Oakland. Hidden in his
angry rebuttal this week to the book's accusations, La Russa acknowledged
that Canseco often spoke openly in the clubhouse about his steroid use.

Really, Tony? Knowing this information, what measures did you take to
protect the sanctity of the game?

Thought so.

Consider all the players who might be scared straight, and clean, by
Canseco's book. If one of their own had the gall to crack the clubhouse
code of loyalty, someone might again in the future.

If it takes the sensationalistic nature of this book to secure the public's
attention, I'm all for it. If Eminem can provoke anti-war debate with his
song, Mosh, and a silly little ad featuring Terrell Owens can inspire
discussion about NFL hypocrisy, I'm all for Canseco's book rekindling the
steroid debate.

Something needs to light a fire. The result of every poll addressing public
reaction to steroid use in baseball screams indifference, which is bizarre
considering the poetic love we have for the game, a love that has
apparently become dangerously unconditional.

Go ahead. Dismiss Canseco. Just remember: When there's smoke, there's a
raging inferno that avoidance won't extinguish.

==========
  From the San Jose Mercury News:
La Russa's credibility on the line
By Ann Killion

This is an interesting two-step Tony La Russa is dancing.

He has been on a worldwide tour as the self-appointed defender of Mark
McGwire's purity, and he's staking that claim to his own credibility.

But, by his own admission, the former A's manager knew Jose Canseco was
using steroids when he was with the team and yet never did anything about it.

Why not? His justification is that it was pointless. The system -- the
league, the players' union, the culture -- didn't want that information.

That's credibility?

Perhaps it is in the world of baseball, where the concern seems to be more
about Canseco breaking "the code" than about what he's actually saying.

What we've learned since Canseco's book hit the shelves is that the tag
"Bash Brothers" was a prescient bit of marketing. Canseco has bashed
everyone he played with. His former teammates and manager are now bashing him.

We've also learned that the A's may have been the first dynasty of the
steroid age, whether you believe all of Canseco's accusations or only the
ones that include himself.

After all, he was the brightest light for a few years, such as 1988, the
year the A's beat Boston at Fenway Park and went on to their first World
Series in more than a decade. He was the league MVP, the
40-home-runs-and-40-stolen-bases superstar.

"Jose Canseco is God," McGwire said that October.

That was the autumn of Ben Johnson in Seoul, South Korea. The autumn that
Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post said that Canseco was suspected of
using steroids and that other players talked about a "Jose Canseco
milkshake." Boswell later said that his source was La Russa.

But Boswell -- as happens with everyone who breaks "the code" -- was
instantly discredited.

"That's a very irritating inference that he took," La Russa said at the
time. "It wasn't anywhere near what I meant. It bothers me that he put me
in there as a source. It's bull."

The charge led to chants of "ster-oids, ster-oids" at Canseco from the
Fenway fans. La Russa's reaction? "I think it was brutal . . . a real cheap
shot."

La Russa is a loyalty guy. You throw at his hitters, he'll throw right back
at yours. If anyone could transcribe the unwritten rules of baseball, he's
the guy to do it.

But was he adhering too strictly to "the code" when he failed to act on his
knowledge of Canseco's use? Did he take it to his boss, Sandy Alderson, the
man who traded Canseco away? If so, what does that say about Alderson, now
a high-ranking baseball executive and a man who could have launched an
investigation?

Alderson told "60 Minutes" that he had heard only rumors about steroid use,
nothing substantive. He also issued a press release Wednesday discrediting
a report by an FBI agent who claims to have warned the league about steroid
use.

The league's position on Canseco's charges is that it doesn't want to deal
with hypotheticals. "Nobody has been convicted or indicted," Commissioner
Bud Selig said.

That sounds suspiciously like the league's stand in September 1988, when
Boswell's allegations were made: "Just because there has been one report,
that wouldn't get us into any kind of investigation. . . . It's an
unsubstantiated charge," was the league's line back then.

All part of "the code."

The other part of "the code" is that it's all about weight training. That's
the fallback Canseco used 15 years ago -- weights and playing volleyball in
the Miami sand. He and Dave McKay -- then an A's coach, now in St. Louis
with La Russa and one of the lead Canseco-bashers -- even wrote a book
together, "Strength Training for Baseball," that came out in 1990. Back
when the A's knew Canseco was using.

We wanted to believe Canseco back then because he was a superstar. So we
don't want to believe now because he's a down-on-his-luck jackass?

In the past week, La Russa's anti-Canseco campaign has been hard to avoid.
He has been on "60 Minutes," "The Best Damn Sports Show," in the op-ed
pages of newspapers. On Wednesday, he even called KNBR radio of his own
volition to talk to Gary Radnich. McGwire, by contrast, has only issued
statements (and by not appearing on television he can prevent the cynical
from noting how much smaller he looks these days).

La Russa is showing his loyalty. He's protecting his former player and his
own reputation.

But the truth is that he won plenty of games with the help of a guy who was
using steroids. La Russa knew it. And he didn't break "the code."

==========
  From the Arizona Republic:
Weird stories give baseball a shot in arm - and butt
By Paola Boivin
Feb. 15, 2005

Randy Johnson is with the Yankees. Mike Piazza is married. The Red Sox are
World Series champions, and somewhere in Hades, Lucifer is in pursuit of
thermal underwear.

Workouts begin this week in preparation for a Major League Baseball season
that already has more crazy angles than a Picasso. Leave it to Jose Canseco
and Jason Giambi to send fans into a mad bout of 'roid rage.

"I feel that Jose's admitted steroid use cheapens his career," Mark
Petrillo, 30, an Internet developer from Indialantic, Fla., said on Monday.
"I realize he wasn't alone in his steroid use, but to me, it still takes
away from what he accomplished on the field."

When those words come from the keeper of a popular Canseco Web site
(canseconet.com) and fan club, you know there's a crazy spin on this
baseball season.

Once we shake the unsettling vision of Canseco injecting Mark McGwire's
bare backside, we'll be back. Baseball has that pull. We love the smell of
fresh-cut grass, even littered with pill bottles and used needles, the way
Kilgore loved his napalm in the morning.

We're fickle when it serves the purpose of feeding our baseball addiction.
Have you listened to a Chicago Cubs fan lately? "It's about time the bum
Sosa is gone."

Uh-huh. Aren't you the same guy who kept a Sosa painting surrounded by
votive candles in his closet?

Because of a stellar 2004 season, marked by record attendance and monster
ratings, this steroid scandal is nothing more than a distraction. Biceps
will be smaller but attendance bigger, because David beat Goliath in Yankee
Stadium, which means anything's possible in this suddenly balanced world of
baseball.

A desert team beset by off-season botches has rebounded nicely and, lookie
here, has our approval, which is more than chief operating officer-to-be
Jeff Moorad has from the commissioner's office.

The Diamondbacks also have done their part to contribute to one of the most
anticipated season openers in years. They gave the Yankees Johnson, the Red
Sox Curt Schilling and an April 3 meeting at Yankee Stadium between the
two, a pressure situation so intense it will show up on someone's Doppler.

We'll be back to baseball because we want to see Sammy in an Orioles
uniform, Pedro Martinez wearing Mets colors and Johnson in pinstripes.
Seventeen starters who won at least 10 games last season have new homes.
This wasn't an off-season. It was five months of Extreme Makeover, with
Botox clearly not the injection of choice.

Oops, did we just mention steroids again?

We'll be back because Roger Clemens, 42, is back, after saying for the
second straight year that he intended to retire.

"You got 60,000 people chanting, 'One more year!' That stuck with me," he
told reporters.

Uh-huh. We can think of 18 million other reasons, the highest paycheck for
a pitcher in major league history.

We'll be back because of our fascination with all that is Barry Bonds. Will
he look smaller? Will the boos be louder? And, oh, goodness, did we really
just hear Geraldo Rivera ask Bonds' former mistress, Kimberly Bell, "Are
you a gold digger?"

Did we really just admit to watching Geraldo? Bless me, father, for I have
sinned . . .

What a weird off-season. What's next? Pedro Martinez reporting early?

Oh, wait a minute.

Hey everyone...

Wow... it certainly has been a long time since I had any Jose news to share
with you, hasn't it?  Well, that's all changed now, since Jose's book hit
the shelves yesterday:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060746408/ref=ase_talkingpoker-20\
/104-5171690-2109502?v=glance&s=books

I have yet to read the book (my copy is on it's way), but along with Jose's
life story, I'm told this book focuses a lot of steroid use in
baseball.  Jose admits to not only using steroids, but apparently
considered himself a human guinea pig, mixing and matching the human growth
hormones so much that he became known as "The Chemist" throughout the
league.  In the book, Jose does what he's promised he was going to do for
years - he names names of fellow users..... And we're talking big names
too: McGwire, Giambi, Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez, and Ivan Rodriguez to name a
few...

This has of course caused a major backlash through the baseball community,
and I have to think Jose is a very unpopular man amongst his peers these
days.  I feel sorry for him in that regard, but I do believe him.  I don't
see what he has to gain out of lying here, other than slightly increased
book sales, and that certainly wouldn't be worth risking defamation of
character lawsuits, etc.  I believe Jose speaks (writes) the truth, and I
think opening the public's eyes is going to be good for baseball in the
long run.  MLB has had a major steroid problem for years now, and until
very recently, they have done nothing about it.  If this book indirectly
leads to baseball cleaning up it's act, then I think it's a good thing in
that regard.  What I fear though, is that Jose's strong support of steroid
use (you'll see what I mean in some quotes below) will lead to increased
steroid use in young people... And until I see proof otherwise, I am under
the impression that steroids are BAD for you.  If Role Model X (any
celebrity, really) wants to smoke cigarettes and go on drinking binges
every day, for example, so be it, but going out of your way to make those
harmful activities look cool to the children who admire you - that's what I
have a problem with.  Again, I have yet to read the book - this is my
opinion based on some of the excerpts I have seen.

As for how I feel about Jose these days (besides being disappointed in his
glorifying steroid use).... quite honestly, I'm not sure.  I understand
what happened and how his steroid use made him the exciting player he was
on the field... but does that cheapen the memories I have of him and his
monster home runs?  I don't know... it might.  I also can't help but wonder
what Jose's career would have been had he not used these illegal
drugs.  Would he have been able to get 40/40 without them?  Did he have
enough raw talent, or was it the 'roids that put up those numbers?  How
would Jose's career have turned out had he followed the rules?  Would his
body have held up better over the years, extending his career, or would he
have literally been half the man he was?  I guess we'll never know, and can
only wonder.

Anyway, that's just my opinion.  I wrote it here because a lot of people
have asked me for it recently.  And as you can see, I'm torn.

Enough of my rant.  On to the news (mostly new stuff, but a few older
things as well).............

-Mark


==========
In case anyone is interested in meeting Jose and getting an autographed
copy of his book, here are a few dates I've heard about:

Jose Canseco, former major league slugger, signing copies of Juiced
2/22/05 7:00 PM at BookEnds - E. Ridgewood Ave. Ridgewood, NJ.
2/23/05 1:00 PM at Barnes & Noble ­ Rockefeller Center. New York, NY.
2/24/05 5:00 PM at Sam’s Club ­ North Dale Mabry Ave. Tampa, FL.
2/28/05 7:00 PM at Anderson’s Book Shop - West Jefferson. Naperville, IL.
3/7/05 7:00 PM at Barnes & Noble ­ Broadway. Oakland, CA.

==========
Here are so photos of Jose, Jessica, and Josie from last summer.  He
certainly is tan.  Looks like maybe he's had his teeth whitened too:
http://www.dailyceleb.com/production/?view=event&eid=2278&startRow=96&event_type\
=premieres

More of Jose and Josie:
http://www.dailyceleb.com/production/?view=event&eid=2236&cap=jose+canseco

==========
Jose and Josie deliver a message for NORAD pre-Christmas:
http://www.noradsanta.com/english/celebrity/index.html

==========
  From the AP:
CANSECO'S NEW BOOK IS WELL TIMED
December 26, 2004

As he builds a new life in Southern California - thousands of miles from
where he grew up - Jose Canseco can laugh and say, "I told you so."

With baseball's steroid controversy raging, the timing couldn't be better
for the release of Canseco's book, Juiced, which is due out in mid- to
late-January ($24.95) and will be preceded by an interview with Mike
Wallace on CBS' 60 Minutes.

A secret preliminary copy, which agent Doug Ames said is not the final
version, accuses several big-name baseball players of using steroids.

Canseco, 40, said he's not surprised Barry Bonds used steroids and
estimates 75 percent of players take them. "Are they testing the guys they
know are using steroids? No," Canseco relayed to me through Ames.

Canseco's life after baseball remains bizarre.

Having sold his 1988 AL MVP plaque for $30,000 and his Rookie of the Year
ring for $5,100 on eBay, the Coral Park High grad is parting with
everything that meant anything in his career.

"Baseball is over," Canseco said through Ames. "I don't care. I'm doing my
new life, which is acting."

Ames insists Canseco "doesn't need the money" but is devoid of sentiment.
"We sold the MVP plaque because it was sitting around and the dogs were
eating it," Ames said.

==========
Blurb from the Miami Herald around the same time frame:

...He has sold at least 50 pieces, including All-Star Game rings and a
jersey that Roger Clemens gave him. Soon, Canseco will sell his possessions
from his 40/40 season in 1988: the 40th home run ball, the 40th stolen
base, a bat, his shoes and a jersey. Asking price: $150,000....

==========
  From the San Francisco Chronicle:
Canseco swings away in 'Juiced'
Steroid accusations leave former teammates, La Russa livid
February 7, 2005

Jose Canseco says he personally injected Mark McGwire with steroids (a
needle to the buttocks) and that he, McGwire and Jason Giambi shot steroids
together while teammates with the A's, according to Canseco's new book,
"Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big."

The allegations were published in Saturday's New York Daily News, which
didn't provide excerpts. It reported that Canseco, in the book, claims he
wouldn't have become a big-leaguer, let alone the 1988 American League MVP,
if he hadn't used steroids.

The Daily News, citing the book, referred to the A's clubhouse as "an
abuser's paradise." According to the report, Canseco's book says A's
players candidly spoke about injecting steroids in bathroom stalls. Canseco
takes almost full responsibility for steroid use in baseball during the '90s.

Furthermore, according to the Daily News' account, the book says Canseco
personally injected steroids into three prominent Texas Rangers -- Rafael
Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez and Ivan Rodriguez -- after he was traded to Texas
in August 1992, and Canseco says in the book that President Bush, who owned
the Rangers at the time, must have known about the steroid abuse but didn't
react.

The book is scheduled to be released on Feb. 21. The Associated Press
reported that the book's release might be moved up.

"I'm so pissed off at him," said St. Louis manager Tony La Russa, who
managed Canseco in Oakland. "First of all, I think he needs the money.
Secondly, I think he's jealous as hell. Jose had a head start over Mark and
screwed it up. The jealousy eats at him.

"Early, Mark was, 'See it and hit it,' " La Russa said Sunday. "From about
'93 to the end of his career, Mark became one of the smartest hitters in
the game. Jose signed his big deal and started half-stepping with the way
he played the game.

"Last but not least, Jose never took responsibility for anything. When the
Expos cut him (in spring 2002), Jose's line was, 'I'm being blackballed by
baseball.' When we traded him, it was, 'They weren't loyal to me.' It's
always someone else's fault, not his."

La Russa has said many times that McGwire used natural means, including
constant weight lifting and a solid diet, to strengthen his body. Former
teammates Terry Steinbach and Carney Lansford agreed, in other interviews
with The Chronicle on Sunday.

However, ex-A's pitcher Dave Stewart wouldn't say Canseco's accusations
weren't true.

"I could never say 'Josie' is a liar," Stewart said. "I don't like his work
ethic, and I don't like him as a teammate. But one thing I can't say about
him is he's a liar.

"As far as what Josie's saying, I can't deny it or verify it. I'm not going
to pretend it didn't happen because I don't know. We weren't in the same
circles, but I'd have to say he definitely knows what's going on in his
circle. Nobody I associated with on the team was a steroid user (among the
players Stewart mentioned: Lansford, Rickey Henderson, Dave Henderson and
Dennis Eckersley).

"If this is all made up, he'll suffer some serious damages. But if you're
an admitted steroid user, believe me, you'd know who uses them."

McGwire said in a statement published in the Daily News: "I have always
told the truth, and I am saddened that I continue to face this line of
questioning. With regard to this book, I am reserving comment until I have
the chance to review its contents myself."

As for Giambi, he told a federal grand jury in the BALCO steroids scandal
that he had injected himself with a human growth hormone during the 2003
season and started using steroids at least two years earlier, according to
a transcript reviewed by The Chronicle.

Canseco, McGwire and Giambi were A's teammates for most of the 1997 season,
before McGwire was traded to St. Louis on July 31.

Stewart is no Canseco fan and said Sunday that he told La Russa before the
final game of the '90 World Series that he wouldn't pitch with Canseco in
the lineup. Canseco, 1-for-12 in the Series, was benched. In the '88
Series, he was 1-for-19. He was 5-for-14 in the '89 Series.

"Josie took away from those teams by being part of those teams," Stewart
said. "He worked against what we were working for. ... Everyone knew he was
a key ingredient. But in the World Series and playoffs, it seemed like he
didn't want to be there. ... The guy was poison. He was weak-spirited. ...
He was one disturbance after another, and this book is typical Jose."

Like La Russa, Steinbach took exception to Canseco's accusations that
McGwire was a steroid user.

"I came through the system with Mark; we were roommates in '87," said
Steinbach, recalling their rookie year. "Mark wasn't one of those guys who
all of a sudden one offseason got so big you couldn't recognize him, like
they say about steroid users. Mark loved to lift weights. ... He was in the
gym regularly.

"Jose? No, at least not in the gym at the Coliseum or the gyms set up for
us on the road. He was phenomenal in '88. Up to that point, he showed up on
time and did his drills. All of a sudden, he didn't do the extra work in
the outfield, and it showed. It frustrated us as teammates. It was
frustrating that 24 guys marched to the same beat and Jose didn't."

La Russa suggested Canseco's work habits deteriorated after the slugger
signed his five-year, $23.5 million contract in June 1990, baseball's most
lucrative deal at the time.

"When Jose got his contract, he changed," La Russa said. "He quit working,
and he was bigger than anybody. He'd talk about the juice, and others would
talk to him about his health. He'd just laugh. ... At the same time, Mark
was a prime example of a guy who'd work, work, work."

In the book, according to the Daily News, Canseco says McGwire put
androstenedione (the steroid precursor was legal at the time) in his locker
in 1998, when he hit 70 homers to break Roger Maris' record, so it would be
discovered by the media and cover up his use of illegal steroids.

"That's so silly," said Dave McKay, who has been on La Russa's coaching
staffs for 19 seasons and headed the strength and conditioning program in
Oakland. "It's such a ridiculous comment by Jose. We're not that smart. It
was just what Mark needed -- more headlines. The fact is, he was
embarrassed when someone said there's a possible steroid inside andro. He
wasn't using it to get bigger; he was using it for recovery after games."

McKay disputes McGwire used steroids and said he never saw any ballplayers
take steroids.

"I'd be absolutely shocked to hear that Mark used a steroid or anything
that would hurt him -- he was always so careful with what he put in his
body, " McKay said.

"I know Mark well enough that if he used it, he'd tell me. This makes no
sense. We had a program, and all the players followed it. The only one who
didn't was Jose. He became smarter than us and wanted to do his own thing."

A White House spokesman, Trent Duffy, wouldn't comment on the book or
Canseco's reference to Bush during his days with the Rangers. Duffy did
reiterate Bush's stance on steroids, saying, "The President has said
steroids ought to be banned from baseball and players and owners should get
together and get rid of it once and for all. Every time the President hosts
teams at the White House, he makes a point to remind the players they're
examples for young people all over the world and to keep their bodies clean."

On another matter, the Daily News reported, Canseco writes about having sex
with hundreds of women -- not, however, Madonna, though he did, he says in
the book, make out with her in her Manhattan apartment.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“I’m so pissed off at him. First of all, I think he needs the money.
Secondly, I think he’s jealous as hell.”
- Tony La Russa

“The guy was poison. … He was one disturbance after another, and this book
is typical Jose.” - Dave Stewart

“It was frustrating that 24 guys marched to the same beat and Jose didn’t.”
- Terry Steinbach

==========
  From ESPN the Magazine:
Little Doubt Canseco Played in Juiced Era
By Buster Olney
February 7, 2005

Ken Caminiti peeled away the first layer of baseball's pretense, a sad and
pathetic and doomed addict speaking out loud about his own use of steroids
to Sports Illustrated. The next real bombshell came from Jason Giambi,
whose proud fortress of deception -- how many times did he tell us how hard
he worked? -- collapsed only when he testified, with extraordinary detail,
under the threat of prosecution.

And now Jose Canseco will become the loudest of the steroid confessors in a
forthcoming book, and he possesses the least credibility of any player who
has talked about the problem. The first instinct will be to ignore him,
because:

There was no steroid-testing policy in baseball during Canseco's career.

1. He's out to make a lot of money and will do anything to pump up his
product. (Does this surprise us, by the way? Isn't that the same
combination of desire and remedy that got Canseco and a lot of other
players into steroids in the first place?)

2. He's an egomaniac who might need attention more than he needs the money.

3. He's a rat, apparently cashing in on private conversations and supposed
friendships.

The book might not hit the stores for a couple of more weeks and already
he's under attack. Arn Tellem, Giambi's agent, issued a quick response,
saying, "This book, which attacks baseball and many of its players, was
written to make a quick buck, by a guy desperate for attention, who has
appeared on more police blotters then lineup cards in recent years, has no
runs, no hits and is all errors."

Tough talk; sounds good. Just one problem: Generally, a lot of what Canseco
is expected to allege in the book will smack of the ugly truth.

Now, only Canseco and Mark McGwire -- and the other All-Stars reportedly
implicated -- know for sure whether they shared needles and Juice
tutorials. There's going to be a lot of Jose-said, he-said that comes out
of this. Within two weeks, you will probably see many denials that look a
lot like Tellem's: Canseco is a bad guy, what he's saying is wrong, he's
got no credibility (Let's remember that based on what we've seen and heard,
there would be no prohibitive favorite in a truth-telling contest between
Canseco and Giambi).

But Canseco's broader assertion -- that there were a lot of steroids in
baseball, dating far back -- fits perfectly with all the anecdotal evidence
and sport-wide assumptions. Commissioner Bud Selig deserves credit for
pushing the tougher testing regimen across the finish line, and MLB also
gets points for starting the steroid testing in the minors. However, those
changes have taken place only in recent years, and the underground
discussion of steroids dates back well into the 1980s -- about the time
Canseco emerged in the majors for Oakland.

Scouts and executives already were chortling and rolling their eyes back
then about hitters who bulked up suddenly and absurdly, and suddenly were
beset by muscle strains. If you were around the game and didn't hear any of
that, well, you purposefully had planted your head in the sand, whether you
were an owner, a player, a union leader, a writer. Everybody knew;
everybody blew it, to varying degrees.

When Sammy Sosa's bat split in 2003 and a palm-sized spot of cork was bared
for the world to see, the resulting controversy and ethics debate was
laughable to many in the game. It was like prosecuting Mrs. O'Leary for
breaking a farm zoning law while Chicago burned. There was a lot of
hand-wringing over the impact of a little cork in an era when many of the
greatest performances came out of a vial.

I believe most of what occurred from 1987 to 2004 was legit, but sadly, all
of the players in this era will be stained by the steroids. No
black-and-white asterisks will be printed next to the names and numbers,
but when baseball fans and historians look back at this period of time,
they will forever apply their own statistical translations. Thirty-five
home runs in 1998 is roughly equal to -- say, 20 -- in 1968.

Steroids has held the game hostage for almost two decades, and there will
be constant reminders of that; inevitably, other steroid users like Jose
Canseco will come out and tell us more about what we already thought was
happening. At this point, we should not be shocked. We should know that no
individual player -- not even Giambi -- should be turning into a pariah for
steroid use, because the stuff had become part of the game's competitive
fiber and culture.

Baseball can't change its recent past now. Its challenge is to change its
future, to clean up and aggressively pursue steroid-users. That way, we can
get back to a climate when we might ignore the Jose Cansecos.

==========
  From the New York Daily News:
Let players answer Canseco's charges
By BILL MADDEN
February 8, 2005

NEW YORK - It is unclear exactly what Jose Canseco hopes to achieve with
his scorched-earth, take-no-prisoners steroids tome that will hit the
bookstores sometime in the next couple of weeks.

On one hand, it would appear that Canseco, sounding much like beat poet
Allen Ginsberg's celebration of LSD in the '60s, is seeking to justify the
use of steroids so that baseball will recognize them as a viable, logical
and safe "breakfast of champions." On the other hand, in painting such a
wide brush across so many of his fellow baseball superstars of the '80s and
'90s, Canseco would seem to be doing a pretty good job of undermining all
the records and achievements of the game he has said "blackballed" him.

Canseco may be an attention-seeking buffoon in the eyes of some, but his
claims are disturbing, if only because they open up a whole new level of
denial over the presence and knowledge of steroids in the clubhouse.

It is certainly not surprising to hear Tony LaRussa's impassioned defense
of Mark McGwire and condemnation of Canseco: If McGwire was as juiced as
Canseco claims, it's a reflection not only on the accomplishments of those
great LaRussa-managed Oakland A's teams of 1988-90, but on LaRussa himself.
According to the manager, when he learned of the sort of revelations
Canseco planned to put in the book regarding McGwire and steroids, he
contacted his coach, Dave McKay, who's been with him since 1985 and who
supervised McGwire's workouts.

"I've seen (McGwire's) workouts and I've seen what he went through,"
LaRussa said. "All I know is what I see. And Mark McGwire got where he was
through his workouts and taking all the legal nutrients and other things
like that that he was taking under our supervision. As for what Canseco
says went on in my clubhouse, I will say that he's full of it for the
simple reason that he and McGwire were not close friends. They didn't hang
out together. They didn't spend time together. And as for the other
charges, all I can say is ask the other guys on the team. Ask Terry
Steinbach. Ask Carney Lansford. Ask Dave Stewart. They've all checked in on
this."

According to Canseco, both he and McGwire were shooting up in the A's
clubhouse bathroom. As Canseco attests in his ode to steroids, workouts are
only a part of the body-building process. What's particularly disturbing is
the detail in which Canseco describes steroid use by McGwire and some of
his teammates on the Texas Rangers. Canseco makes it sound as if this was
all a very open secret on both teams, that everyone knew those trips to the
bathroom stalls were about more than two guys revisiting the toilet
training of their infancy.

So if that's the case, how did LaRussa not know what was going on? Or Kevin
Kennedy, the manager in Texas in 1993? If you believe Canseco, they all had
to know, everyone from the owners on down, which, in Texas, would have been
one George W. Bush. In Oakland, which apparently comes off as the cradle of
steroids in baseball in Canseco's book, what with McGwire passing the juice
torch to Jason Giambi, the GM was Sandy Alderson, currently commissioner
Bud Selig's VP of operations.

"You can only go so far," LaRussa said of any attempt to police the
clubhouse too closely. "When you step in in any way the union gets involved
and brings up the issue of privacy. Canseco would often walk around our
clubhouse bragging about how quickly he could bulk up."

You can see where all this is going. In a couple of weeks, "60 Minutes" is
said to be planning a segment on the book and all of Canseco's charges, and
at the end of this week, Giambi is expected to hold his own press
conference in New York to explain all his previous denials of steroid use
in light of his reported admissions to the BALCO grand jury in San Francisco.

It's no longer just about Barry Bonds and the home run record. It's about
owners, general managers, managers, trainers and the players themselves.
What did they know and when did they know it?

Because of Canseco's credibility, the public ultimately may dismiss his
book as the ravings of a self-serving jerk who, as Giambi's agent Arn
Tellum put it, "has appeared on more police blotters than lineup cards in
recent years." At least it comes out after baseball (albeit kicking and
screaming through the halls of Congress and amid the siren calls of the
media) finally recognized the seriousness of the problem and implemented a
far more comprehensive and punitive steroids policy.

  From here on, it is probably not in baseball's best interest to comment
any further on this book. Let the players themselves answer Canseco's charges.

And after that, it will be up to baseball historians and Hall of Fame
voters to determine the impact all of this has had on the game and its
hallowed records.

==========
  From ESPN.com:
Steroid allegations draw Palmeiro's ire
Feb. 9, 2005

Orioles first baseman Rafael Palmeiro on Monday denied Jose Canseco's
assertion in his forthcoming book that he used steroids while the two were
Texas Rangers teammates.

In book excerpts published by The New York Daily News on Sunday, Canseco
claims he introduced the performance enhancers to Palmeiro, Ivan Rodriguez,
and Juan Gonzalez when Canseco joined the Rangers in 1992.

"I categorically deny any assertion made by Jose Canseco that I used
steroids," Palmeiro said in a statement. "At no point in my career have I
ever used steroids, let alone any substance banned by Major League
Baseball. As I have never had a personal relationship with Canseco, any
suggestion that he taught me anything, about steroid use or otherwise, is
ludicrous.

"We were teammates and that was the extent of our relationship. I am
saddened that he felt it necessary to attempt to tarnish my image and that
of the game that I love."

Rodriguez and Gonzalez said that they had not seen the book.

"I'm in shock," Rodriguez told El Nuevo Dia newspaper for Tuesday's
editions in Puerto Rico. "He is saying things that aren't true, and it
hurts me a lot that he would say things like that because I've always had a
lot of respect for him, and I've even helped him many times when things
weren't going well for him."

Gonzalez's agent, Alan Nero, said, "Our immediate reaction is we feel sorry
for Jose, that he felt he had to do this for whatever reason. And we feel
badly for everyone he implicated in this.

"Juan has never used steroids and has never been in favor of their use.
And, in fact, in 2000, when Major League Baseball did its survey, Juan was
in favor of testing and was one of only two players that volunteered to be
tested at that time," Nero said.

Orioles owner Peter Angelos also issued a statement Monday supporting
Palmeiro and said he's willing to offer any legal assistance that Palmeiro
would need to clear his name.

"The Orioles are solidly behind Rafael Palmeiro and have absolute
confidence in him and in his denial of the Canseco story," Angelos said.
"The Orioles will do everything we can to be of assistance to Raffy in
meeting these allegations that have no foundation. We know him well and the
kind of athlete he has been and the vigorous manner in which he has
trained. He is a highly professional athlete."

According to the Daily News' account, Canseco writes in "Juiced: Wild
Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big," that he
personally injected Mark McGwire with steroids; that he saw McGwire and
Jason Giambi inject each other; and that President Bush "had to have been
aware" of rampant steroid use among the Rangers when he owned the club in
the early 1990s.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said he spoke to Bush about
alleged steroid use.

"If there was, he was not aware of it at the time," McClellan said.

"He has recognized, for some time now, that steroids is a growing problem
in professional sports, particularly Major League Baseball," he said.
"That's why the president has made addressing the issue a priority in his
administration."

Canseco's long-awaited book was scheduled for release by Regan Books on
Feb. 21. But the New York Times reported Monday night that the book will be
released Feb. 14 instead.

Parent company HarperCollins posted a book description on its Web site that
said Canseco "made himself a guinea pig of the performance-enhancing drugs"
and added the 1988 AL MVP "mixed, matched and experimented to such a degree
that he became known throughout the league as 'The Chemist.' "

McGwire, who has long denied steroid use, said in a statement to the Daily
News: "I have always told the truth and I am saddened that I continue to
face this line of questioning. With regard to this book, I am reserving
comment until I have the chance to review its contents myself."

Ex-A's pitcher Dave Stewart couldn't say one way or another whether
Canseco's claims are true.

"I could never say 'Josie' is a liar," Stewart told the San Francisco
Chronicle. "I don't like his work ethic, and I don't like him as a
teammate. But one thing I can't say about him is he's a liar.

"As far as what Josie's saying, I can't deny it or verify it. I'm not going
to pretend it didn't happen because I don't know. We weren't in the same
circles, but I'd have to say he definitely knows what's going on in his
circle. Nobody I associated with on the team was a steroid user [among the
players Stewart mentioned: Carney Lansford, Rickey Henderson, Dave
Henderson and Dennis Eckersley].

Terry Steinbach, McGwire's roommate in 1987 when the pair were A's rookies,
said McGwire worked out to build his physique.

"Mark wasn't one of those guys who all of a sudden one offseason got so big
you couldn't recognize him, like they say about steroid users," Steinbach
told the Chronicle. "Mark loved to lift weights. ... He was in the gym
regularly.

"Jose? No, at least not in the gym at the Coliseum or the gyms set up for
us on the road. He was phenomenal in '88. Up to that point, he showed up on
time and did his drills. All of a sudden, he didn't do the extra work in
the outfield, and it showed. It frustrated us as teammates. It was
frustrating that 24 guys marched to the same beat and Jose didn't."

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who managed both players with
the Oakland A's during the late 1980s, defended McGwire in an interview
with The New York Times on Sunday.

"I am absolutely certain that Mark earned his size and strength from hard
work and a disciplined lifestyle," La Russa told the newspaper. "When he
was a kid in 1987, he hit 49 home runs. It's a real shame. For some people,
this is going to put a stain."

Canseco hit 462 home runs in a major league career between 1985 and 2001.
He played seven full seasons for the A's before being traded to Texas in
'92. He also played for Boston, the Yankees, Toronto, Tampa Bay, Oakland
again, and the White Sox.

McGwire's 16-year career ended in 2001. He finished with 583 home runs,
hitting 196 in his four full seasons with St. Louis following a July 1997
trade to the Cardinals. In 1998, the year McGwire and Sammy Sosa took their
swings at Roger Maris' record 61 homers, McGwire finished with 70 to Sosa's 66.

Three seasons later, Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs, a record that had been
called into question long before Bonds, according to leaked grand jury
testimony from the BALCO hearings, acknowledged this winter that he
unknowingly used steroids.

A few years ago, Canseco claimed that 80 percent of major leaguers had
taken steroids. Last spring, he said: "I think the numbers may have
changed. Who knows? Maybe the numbers have diminished."

==========
  From the Orlando Sentinel:
Sadly, Canseco right on mark about McGwire
By Mike Bianchi
February 9, 2005

Spare me the shock.

Spare me the outrage.

Spare me the denials.

Did we really need Jose Canseco to tell us Mark McGwire was on steroids?

As if we didn't already know.

A reporter busted McGwire long ago for taking androstenedione -- a form of
testosterone-producing steroid now banned by baseball. If McGwire was
taking andro, why wouldn't he take something a little stronger to make him
hit the ball a little farther?

Let's stop playing dumb, shall we? Let's stop treating Canseco like some
sort of low-down, lying scum for actually having the gall to stick a
syringe not only in McGwire's buttocks but in McGwire's myth. Let's just
come out and admit what we've suspected for quite sometime now: McGwire's
home run total, just like Barry Bonds' home run total, is as artificial as
the nose on Michael Jackson's face.

Just because Canseco is a loose cannon doesn't make him a liar. Sure,
Canseco might be a complete knucklehead in all other aspects of life, but
when he writes a book on steroid use in baseball, he is the foremost
expert. If anybody knew what players were using steroids back in the 1990s,
it's the ultimate juicer himself.

If Canseco writes in his new book that he personally injected steroids into
McGwire's backside in a bathroom stall in the Oakland locker room, why
should we not believe him? The common question being asked is, "Why would
anybody believe Canseco?" I've got a better question: "Why would anybody
believe baseball?"

The baseball establishment is already trying to discredit Canseco by saying
he is making these outlandish claims about McGwire just to sell books and
make a little bit of money. But hasn't baseball used steroids to sell its
game and make a whole lot more money?

Canseco's claims in 2005 aren't any more outlandish or inflated than
McGwire's home run total in 1998. If Canseco makes money on his book, it
won't be nearly as much as the millions made by the hulked-up, bulked-up
McGwire for breaking Roger Maris' home run record. Or the millions made by
Major League Baseball during the McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run chase that not
only rescued the sport but transcended it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Steroids aren't ruining
baseball. Steroids saved baseball.

The dramatic duel between McGwire and Sosa is credited with being the key
catalyst in helping baseball recover from the lingering resentment of the
1994 strike. Isn't it clear now that without andro (and who knows what
else) that there would have been no home run duel?

Maybe this is why we're seeing many in the baseball media pile on Canseco
the same way they piled on Steve Wilstein, the Associated Press reporter
who broke the story about McGwire taking andro. It seems nobody is quite
ready to admit that we were all duped seven years ago when McGwire broke
the record.

Remember how you felt back then? It was one of those magical moments when
you remember exactly what you were doing at the time. I was reading a
bedtime story -- The Little Red Caboose -- to my daughter, Tess, when my
wife rushed in and told me McGwire was up in the fourth.

Here's what I wrote about McGwire the next day: "We don't get that many
stories to tell our grandkids. This one is a keeper, right up there with
Lindbergh and man on the moon. Except this was a man and his moonshots. One
small step for man, one stupendous, tremendous home run trot for mankind."

Sadly, that summer now feels more like a bummer.

At the time, it seemed too good to be true.

And now we know why.

Because it wasn't.

==========
  From the Rocky Mountain News:
Former A's teammate defends McGwire
Weiss says he doesn't believe Canseco's allegations
February 10, 2005

Walt Weiss, a former Oakland Athletics teammate of Jose Canseco and Mark
McGwire, said Tuesday he does not believe Canseco's claim that he injected
McGwire with steroids.

"I'd like to vouch for 'Big Mac,'" Weiss, a Colorado Rockies coach, said
from Hawaii, where he is vacationing. "I spent a lot of time with Mac in
the weight room in spring training, on the road during the season, and in
the off-season, we lived near each other and worked out. So I saw firsthand
the time that (McGwire) put in both on the field and in the weight room.

"He was a tireless worker and a great teammate, so I certainly have no
problem vouching for 'Big Mac' and the work that he put into his craft."

Canseco was the American League Rookie of the Year with the Athletics in
1986. McGwire won the honor the following year and Weiss made it three A's
in a row when he was chosen in 1988.

==========
  From ESPN.com:
Canseco: Bush Had to Know About Steroids
Feb. 10, 2005

After months of talking about naming names in a tell-all book, retired
slugger Jose Canseco is about to do just that.

The New York Daily News published details of Canseco's book, which is still
in the editing stages, in Sunday's editions.

Canseco writes that he personally injected Mark McGwire with steroids and
that he saw McGwire and Jason Giambi inject each other, according to the paper.

The long-awaited "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How
Baseball Got Big," is scheduled for release by Regan Books on Feb. 21.
Regan publicist Paul Olsewski told The Associated Press in an e-mail that
the release date could be moved up.

Parent company HarperCollins posted a book description on its Web site that
said Canseco "made himself a guinea pig of the performance-enhancing drugs"
and added the 1988 AL MVP "mixed, matched and experimented to such a degree
that he became known throughout the league as 'The Chemist.' "

McGwire, who has long denied steroid use, said in a statement to the Daily
News: "I have always told the truth and I am saddened that I continue to
face this line of questioning. With regard to this book, I am reserving
comment until I have the chance to review its contents myself."

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who managed both players with
the Oakland A's during the late 1980s, defended McGwire in an interview
with The New York Times on Sunday.

"I am absolutely certain that Mark earned his size and strength from hard
work and a disciplined lifestyle," La Russa told the newspaper. "When he
was a kid in 1987, he hit 49 home runs. It's a real shame. For some people,
this is going to put a stain."

La Russa also disputed Canseco's claim that the two sluggers injected
steroids together as teammates.

"We detailed Mark's workout routine -- six days a week, 12 months a year --
and you could see his size and weight gain come through really hard work, a
disciplined regimen and the proteins he took -- all legal," La Russa told
The Times.

"As opposed to the other guy, Jose, who would play around in the gym for 10
minutes, and all of a sudden he's bigger than anybody."

Canseco claims he introduced the performance enhancers to Rafael Palmeiro,
Ivan Rodriguez, and Juan Gonzalez when he joined the Rangers in 1992.

Rodriguez and Gonzalez said that they had not seen the book and declined
comment. Attempts to contact Palmeiro's agent have been unsuccessful.

"Neither our current owner, general manager and manager were with the
Rangers then," Rangers spokesman Gregg Elkin said. "The Rangers continue to
support baseball's initiative to get steroids out of the game."

Canseco's steroid use apparently wasn't hidden from La Russa during their
time in Oakland. According to La Russa, Canseco would openly discuss
steroids and ignore advice to stop doping.

"He'd say, 'Come on, man, what are you talking about? I got the world by
the tail,' " La Russa told The Times. "Sometimes you suspected, and then
guys would deny it. Jose would make a joke of it."

In his book, Canseco also writes that President Bush "had to have been
aware" of rampant steroid use on the Texas Rangers when he owned the club
in the early 1990s, the Daily News reported.

The White House had no comment on Canseco's specific allegation, but did
say the President called on leagues and players unions to eradicate steroid
use in his 2004 State of the Union address.

Giambi's agent, Arn Tellem, took issue with Canseco's credibility.

"This book, which attacks baseball and many of its players, was written to
make a quick buck by a guy desperate for attention, who has appeared on
more police blotters than lineup cards in recent years, has no runs, no
hits and is all errors," Tellem told the Daily News.

La Russa, who has managed the Cardinals since 1996, also blasted Canseco's
motives for the book.

"He's hurting for money and he needs to make a score," La Russa told The
Times. "What's a more sensational thing to say, and who's a more
sensational target to pick than Mark?

"Secondly, I think he's very envious and jealous that Mark had the career
he had. If you line them up side by side, which we did in '86, '87, '88,
Jose was the more talented player and, in fact, more intelligent about the
game.

"Mark wanted an uncomplicated swing and a 'see it, hit it' approach. He
didn't have a lot of information on the other pitchers. Jose was really
cerebral at the start, and look at where their careers have gone."

Canseco hit 462 home runs in a major league career between 1985 and 2001.
He played seven full seasons for the A's before being traded to Texas in
'92. He also played for Boston, the Yankees, Toronto, Tampa Bay, Oakland
again, and the White Sox.

McGwire's 16-year career ended in 2001. He finished with 583 home runs,
hitting 196 in his four full seasons with St. Louis following a July 1997
trade to the Cardinals. In 1998, the year McGwire and Sammy Sosa took their
swings at Roger Maris' record 61 homers, McGwire finished with 70 to Sosa's 66.

Three seasons later, Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs, a record that had been
called into question long before Bonds, according to leaked grand jury
testimony from the BALCO hearings, acknowledged this winter that he
unknowingly used steroids.

A few years ago, Canseco claimed that 80 percent of major leaguers had
taken steroids. Last spring, he said: "I think the numbers may have
changed. Who knows? Maybe the numbers have diminished."

==========
  From A St. Louis paper:
February 10, 2005

.....It's actually laughable to see all these baseball people rushing to
attack Canseco's reliability when this is a sport that has been
perpetrating a fraud for the past few decades with its record books
dominated by bloated, chemically enhanced heroes. So now that Canseco is
out stumping his sordid tales in "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash
Hits and How Baseball Got Big," how dare anyone remotely associated with
this game try to play the holier than thou card?

The Canseco bashers will line up and attack him as a liar. They will call
him a self-promoting snitch who violated nearly every sacrosanct law of the
clubhouse by ratting out his former teammates. They will say he's trying to
soil baseball to get onto the best-seller list. And they'll be right, of
course. Yet despite that, they'll still come away looking like the bigger
snake oil salesmen because they're defending a sport whose greatest records
and biggest stars are just as fraudulent as Canseco.

Whatever they say about him, it won't be enough to detract from the
overwhelming evidence that Canseco is probably telling plenty of truths
about baseball's Steroid Era. And if you are willing to reconcile that
troubling truth, then by extension, you must be willing to accept an even
more unsettling fact that will surely make many folks here in St. Louis
squirm:

Mark McGwire is just as big a propped-up, juiced-up fraud as Barry Bonds,
Jason Giambi and the late Ken Caminiti.

==========
  From the AP:
Canseco book fast seller on first day
By RONALD BLUM
February 15, 2005

NEW YORK (AP) -- Jose Canseco's autobiography that accuses several top
players of steroid use and charges baseball management long ignored
performance-enhancing drugs got off to a fast start on its first day of
publication.

Amazon.com listed ``Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How
Baseball Got Big'' as third on its best seller list Monday.

The book had an initial printing of 150,000 copies but it was unclear how
many copies were bought. Regan Books does not disclose sales figures,
spokeswoman Jennifer Suitor said.

``I don't think it's a good thing, obviously, because it's bringing a bad
light to the game,'' New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter said Monday.
``This is a time, obviously, baseball is in a negative light and Jose is
not helping out. In terms of his accusations, the only people that know are
him and whoever he is accusing. The unfortunate thing is, if it's not true,
you're looking at guys having to defend themselves over something they
haven't done.''

Mark McGwire, one of the former teammates Canseco accused of using
steroids, issued a written denial.

``The relationship that these allegations portray couldn't be further from
the truth,'' McGwire's statement said. ``I also worry how these false
allegations will taint the accomplishments of the Oakland Athletics'
coaches, players and executives who worked so hard to achieve success
during the era in question, along with the other players and organizations
affected by this book.

``Most concerning to me is the negative effect that sensationalizing
steroids will have on impressionable youngsters who dream of one day
becoming professional athletes. Once and for all I did not use steroids or
any other illegal substance.''

McGwire was not available for interviews.

In the book, Canseco is an unabashed advocate of performance-enhancing drugs.

``By the time my 8-year-old daughter, Josie, has graduated from high
school, a majority of all professional athletes -- in all sports -- will be
taking steroids. And believe it or not, that's good news,'' he writes.

``I have no doubt whatsoever that intelligent, informed use of steroids,
combined with Human Growth Hormone, will one day be so accepted that
everybody will be doing it. Steroid use will be more common than Botox is
now. Every baseball player and pro athlete will be using at least low
levels of steroids. As a result, baseball and other sports will be more
exciting and more entertaining.''

Canseco calls himself the ``godfather of steroids in baseball,'' saying ``I
single-handedly changed the game of baseball by introducing them into the
game.''

He says both baseball management and the union tried to ignore steroid use.

``Are players the only ones to blame when Donald Fehr and the other bosses
of the Major League Baseball Players Association fought for years to make
sure players wouldn't be tested for steroids?'' he wrote, adding: ``Fehr
had to know the truth.''

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig said last week that the sport's leadership
was unaware of possible steroid use until 1998. Fehr declined comment Monday.

Canseco expresses resentment at the way he was treated by management and
the media.

``There was a huge double standard in baseball, and white athletes like
Mark McGwire, Cal Ripken Jr. and Brady Anderson were protected and coddled
in a way that an outspoken Latino like me never would be,'' he wrote.
``Canseco the Cuban was left out in the cold, where racism and double
standards rule.''

Canseco specifically took aim at Jason Giambi, a former Oakland teammate.

``Giambi had the most obvious steroid physique I've ever seen in my life,''
Canseco wrote. ``He was so bloated, it was unbelievable. There was no
definition to his body at all. You could see the retention of liquids,
especially in his neck and face.''

He also devotes sections to players' womanizing -- including his own -- and
to umpires he calls ``the most vengeful people you'll ever meet,'' saying
they are on ``power trips.''

``There are certain things that belong with us ballplayers,'' Yankees
pitcher Carl Pavano said. ``It's a tight group. It's sad to see someone
that desperate come throw themselves out there to make money.''

The 1986 AL Rookie of the Year and 1988 MVP, Canseco spent 17 seasons in
the major leagues, finishing with 462 home runs in a career that ended in
2001, when he was 37. He clearly has a high opinion of his performance.

``I was hands down the best player in the world. No one even came close,''
he wrote. ``I was created by the media. Back in the 1980s, I was like a
rock star. Everywhere I went, I had to have bodyguards. I had it all: the
body, the personality, everything. I was Hollywood.

He blames baseball management for prematurely ending his career before he
could reach 500 homers.

``The owners realized that they needed to put the kibosh on steroid use, or
at least pretend to,'' he wrote. ``So they decided to send a loud message
to all players, by getting rid of the player most closely identified with
steroids: Jose Canseco.''

He insists he still is in good enough shape to play, saying steroids have
kept his body young.

``If you start young enough, when you are in your 20s, 30s and 40s, and use
steroids properly, you can probably slow down the aging process by 15 or 20
years,'' he wrote. ``I'm 40 years old but I look much younger -- and I can
still do everything the way I could when I was 25.''

==========
  From the NY Daily News:
To tell the truth, seems like lying is their pastime
February 15, 2005

Suddenly the real national pastime in the national pastime is protecting
your own backside, and not just Mark McGwire's, the one Jose Canseco says
he injected with steroids. Even though we're not just supposed to trust a
thing Canseco says.

Now, along with Canseco, we're not supposed to trust a man named Greg
Stejskal. Stejskal is a little different from Canseco, though. He has a
badge and is a Special Agent out of the Ann Arbor, Mich., office of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Stejskal tells the Daily News now that he warned Major League Baseball
officials over 10 years ago that Canseco and other players were using
steroids, but that his investigation went nowhere because there was no drug
policy in baseball at the time.

Baseball denies Stejskal's version of things, the way Mark McGwire denies
he ever used steroids and Tony LaRussa denies that McGwire used steroids.

Stejskal says, "They certainly looked the other way."

There are no surprises in this anymore, not even from the FBI. The surprise
is all the denial. Even now, all this time after the fact, there is so much
denial about steroids you want to walk through the subject wearing high
rubber boots.

McGwire expects us to believe him because he was everybody's All-America,
baseball's Paul Bunyan. He did more than anybody to put baseball back on
its feet during the home run summer of 1998. And we sure liked him as a
home run king a lot better than we liked Barry Bonds later on. So he has
been getting the benefit of the doubt from the baseball public for years.

The same guys who routinely go after Bonds like he's the head of the
steroid cartel in baseball somehow find a way to keep McGwire out of the
conversation. Another form of denial.

Jason Giambi? He clearly told a lie as big as his biceps last spring when
he said he'd never used steroids. Now, though, we're supposed to give him a
hug because he swears he's telling the truth.

LaRussa wants us to believe him when he says that Canseco's version of life
with the Oakland A's team that LaRussa managed is a "fabrication." But
apparently only the parts about McGwire.

Gary Sheffield says that BALCO provided him with vitamins and a substance
known as "the clear" a few years ago. He says he thought it was some kind
of cortisone. He says he had no idea that it was a steroid and that he gave
it up, anyway, because it wasn't working. We're supposed to believe this
version of things even though Sheffield is another one of the ballplayers
who testified in front of that BALCO grand jury.

Here is another reason why we're supposed to believe Sheffield: He had a
great big year for the Yankees, even playing hurt, and ended up second to
Vladimir Guerrero in the MVP voting in the American League.

So Sheffield is a good Yankee, a hero Yankee already, because he says he
didn't know what he was using. It is a good angle. Giambi came clean and
allegedly told that grand jury he knew exactly what he was doing. Only he
had an awful year, so now he's the one stealing money from poor George
Steinbrenner.

Bonds - the real headliner here, along with McGwire - says that he
unwittingly rubbed steroid cream all over his body thinking it was flaxseed
oil, because his friend and trainer Greg Anderson told him it was flaxseed
oil. Bonds must have watched how Sheffield played it. Or maybe it was the
other way around. Or maybe the two of them had better lawyers than Giambi.

But it's clear - steroid "clear" - that the dumber you act about this
stuff, the more truthful we're supposed to believe you are.

The more publicity Canseco gets for this book of his, the more he is
attacked by the baseball establishment, and by the people he names in his
book. It gets better by the day. Everybody else is telling the truth about
drugs and Canseco is the only liar.

Or so they say.

Except what do LaRussa and McGwire and the rest of them do when somebody
else steps forward to back Canseco's version of things? Maybe we can
believe Greg Stejskal about Canseco as long as we don't believe him on
anybody else.

Giambi, who certainly did not dispute the leaked version of his grand jury
testimony, says that Canseco is "delusional." Really? About what parts? If
Giambi did use steroids and told the grand jury that he used steroids and
Canseco says that Giambi used steroids, who's the one acting delusional here?

LaRussa says that Canseco's story about injecting McGwire is a
"fabrication." How does LaRussa know that? LaRussa also wants everybody to
believe Canseco only did this for the money. Well, if Canseco is looking to
make the kind of money he did as a ballplayer, he better hope this book
sells on the non-fiction list as if Jon Stewart and the guys from "The
Daily Show" wrote it.

Here is Dave Stewart of the old Oakland A's talking to John Shea of the San
Francisco Chronicle the other day:

"If you're an admitted steroid user, believe me, you'd know who uses them."

In the same interview, Stewart says that he didn't think Jose Canseco was a
very good teammate, but that he didn't think he was a very good liar, either.

"I can't deny (Canseco's charges) or verify (them)," Stewart says. "I'm not
going to pretend it didn't happen because I don't know."

Nobody should try to pretend steroids didn't happen. The sport was dirty
for too long. People can't possibly think they can walk away clean now.

Hey everyone,

First, let me apologize for not getting those photos from Jose's last
tryout up yet.  I have so much going on right now, I wouldn't even know
where to begin.  It simply hasn't bee a priority for me.  I will get them
up eventually - honest.  Thanks for being patient.

Now for the new stuff: Jose is back in the news!  Apparently he's going to
be trying out tomorrow (Thursday) for the Long Drivers of America (golf)
Tour.  For the details, and some tidbits about Jose's unpublished book and
his possible movie career, see below.

-Mark


==========
  From The LA Times:
He Still Swings for the Fences

As an action movie star in a project that he expects to start shooting this
year, Jose Canseco plays a guy who steals a drug lord's artwork because the
drug lord has kidnapped his niece.

The movie has just about everything, Canseco said. "Car chases, fast
driving, fight scenes."

But no baseball. At 39, Canseco didn't hook up with the Dodgers after a
tryout this spring, but he said he was "tired of all the hypocrisy" anyway
and doesn't miss baseball.

Canseco's movie doesn't have a title, but his book does. He said "Dare to
Truth" should be out in September, by which time he's going to be even more
up to date with his karate, taekwondo and weight training.

Did we mention golf?

The 6-foot-4, 240-pound Canseco has set his sights on winning the
long-drive championship in October in Mesquite, Nev. He already has
AccuFLEX shafts and SMT Golf driver as his sponsors, and Canseco says he
can hit the ball 350 yards regularly while often topping out at 420 yards.

"I see the whole thing as a hobby," said Canseco, who was introduced to
golf by Roger Clemens when they were Boston Red Sox teammates. "Pitchers
are usually golfers because they have so much time off between starts, they
can play all the time."

Canseco had 462 home runs in his 17-year career, but he loves slamming golf
balls instead of baseballs now.

"It's just fascinating. I've already hit baseballs as far as you can hit
them," he said. "I play with guys and they see me hit a golf ball 350
yards, and they freak out."

Canseco, who lives in Encino, says he's at the Balboa driving range four
times a week and is ready now to compete in the long-driving competition.

"Just to crush a golf ball, it's amazing," he said

==========
  From Unknown:
Briefly

He's still a power hitter: Former all-star baseball player Jose Canseco
makes his debut on the 2004 Long Drivers of America Tour in Thursday's
qualifier at Tee Town Golf Ranch in Broken Arrow, Okla. Canseco will be
swinging for one of four available spots in the 48-player open division field

==========
  From Unknown:

SOUTHLAKE, TEXAS -- Former major league slugger Jose Canseco will make his
debut on the 2004 Long Drivers of America (LDA) Tour in Tulsa on Thursday,
May 20.

Canseco will compete at Tee Town Golf Ranch in suburban Broken Arrow for
one of four available spots in the 48-hitter open division field.
Thursday's qualifier, which features a modified double-elimination format,
begins at 2:30 p.m.

A press conference for Canseco is scheduled for 12 p.m. Tee Town Golf Ranch
is located at 7401 South 209th East Avenue in Broken Arrow. The phone
number is (918) 355-4727.

During his 17-year major league career, Canseco hit 462 home runs and was
named to seven American League All-Star teams. In 1988, as a member of the
Oakland A's, he became baseball?s first 40-40 man (homers/stolen bases).

"Long Drivers of America welcomes Jose Canseco to the sport of professional
long drive," said LDA owner/chief executive officer Art Sellinger.
"Everyone on our tour is eager to see how he will stack up against the
biggest hitters in golf. Obviously, he is a world-class athlete with
tremendous strength and superb hand-eye coordination. He's yet another
great athlete who's been drawn to long drive competition by our sport's
energy and excitement."

Tulsa is the third stop for the 2004 LDA Tour, which features competition
in three divisions -- open, women and senior (45-up) -- and total purses of
$600,000-plus.

Additional information on the 2004 LDA Tour is available at www.longdrivers.com

==========
  From the Edmonton Sun
One-hit wonders
Long-drive golfers blasting their way up ladder of respectability
By ROBERT TYCHKOWSKI

Hulk have six-foot-long illegal driver. Hulk will kill it.

Aaaaarrrgh! Hulk hit seven balls OB!

Hulk mad now! Hulk smash Pinnacle!

Aaaaaaarrrgh ... 400 yards!

Hulk going to Worlds in Mesquite!

Aaaaarghhh! Hulk smash Mesquite!

And that, in a nutshell, is the all-too-common perception golf purists have
about long drivers.

They consider it an "extreme'' sport. Extreme, as in stupid. Trash. Not to
be taken seriously. No more a sport than young offenders taking time out
from breaking into garages to slide skateboards down handrails.

"There are some people, like (syndicated radio host) Jim Rome who won't
give us the respect, who think this is a monster sport,'' said Wayne
Paradis, site director for the Re/Max Long Drive world championship
qualifier yesterday in St. Albert. "But it's getting better. We're trying
to conform with the USGA rules in terms of length and size of drivers,
things like that, so people will look at it as a legitimate sport. These
aren't steroid, muscle-bound people; golf is a game of flexibility, not
just strength.''

IS IT EVEN GOLF?

But is long driving even golf? Or is long driving to the PGA what monster
trucks are to Formula One - a poor cousin that folks will watch out of
curiosity once in awhile, but will never take seriously?

"Mainstream publicity? Not as much as we'd like,'' said Russ Pate,
communications director for the Long Drivers of America Tour, where
Sherwood Park's Kevin Blenkhorn is one of the top guns. "Any new sport has
to define itself and figure out what it is and what it's not, but people
are always quick to put labels on.''

Like: Goofy. Freakish. Illegal.

Yet Edmonton and Central Alberta are a hotbed for long driving, the hottest
bed in North America for the last five years if you go by the LDA numbers.
We have more events and competitors here than anywhere else and routinely
place finalists at the worlds. Drayton Valley product Jason Zubak,
four-time world champion and one of the biggest long-driving names on the
planet, isn't even the best in Alberta anymore - Blenkhorn beats him
regularly.

"The development in (Central Alberta) has seen a huge upswing in interest
the last few years. People like Jason Zubak and others can be credited with
that,'' said Pate, who's based in Dallas. "And the fascination golfers have
with distance has a lot to do with it, too. We're in a definite era of
power golf and it's spilled over into our sport.''

Or so we've heard. But aside from the odd feature here and there, long
driving remains on the outside with its nose pressed against the glass of
golf's consciousness. Its reputation as steroid-filled gorillas swinging
illegal equipment and hitting it straight once every 10 shots simply wasn't
winning over fans who've been slaves to golf's tradition for centuries.

"We've taken a lot of steps in the past few years to downplay the extreme
side of it,'' said Pate, adding clubfaces have always conformed to USGA
standards anyway. By next year, the maximum shaft length will be a
PGA-legal 48 inches. As well, competitions now reward overall consistency
rather than one barbaric hit, and the LDA recently implemented a random
drug-testing policy to further clean and legitimize its image.

"We've had guys who were swinging 61-inch clubs and we had a guy in
Mesquite swinging a 72-inch club (using a tent peg as his tee),'' said
Pate. "Those days are gone. That, to me, was more of the extreme, anything
goes, kind of element.''

One that didn't catch on.

"When I first started out in this and told golf pros I was a long driver,
they'd shake their heads and say 'whatever,' '' said Blenkhorn. "They still
don't have any respect for the one-hit wonders, but when they see you go to
the worlds year after year and see that we're using legal equipment and see
there's going to be drug testing, they start to appreciate what we can do.

"Things are slowly improving. If you wanted to watch the World
Championships they'd be on at 11 at night. Now ESPN is doing eight
half-hour shows on the LDA, which will help get us more into the mainstream.''

AN EVENT AT TROON

The LDA Tour is now seven stops a season, plus the Tour Championship, with
a $15,000 first prize for each stop. The Pinnacle Distance Challenge, for
which John Daly is the front man, is ripe with sponsorship dollars and
exposure. And in Scotland, where tradition comes before all else, there's a
long-drive event at The Troon.

"The respect is coming,'' said Paradis. "The application of USGA rules are
making a difference in how people from the media look at the event.''

And now, a PR bonanza if there ever was one: Former Oakland A's slugger
Jose Canseco will compete next week at the LDA Tour stop in Tulsa.

"We're going to see how a major-league home-run king will translate into
long driving,'' said Pate, adding Canseco's swing speed is reportedly off
the charts. "He's interested and we'll see how he does.''

The exposure won't hurt, either.

"It's an evolutionary process,'' said Pate. "One step at a time.''

Hi everyone...

As you know, Jose had a tryout with the Dodgers on Monday.  I'll get right
to the point - they did not make him an offer.  As far as I know, that was
his last attempt, and he is retiring for good now.  The next time you see
Jose might very well be in the movies - he now lives in L.A. full time and
wants to get into acting.

Vero Beach is about an hour from here, so I drove down to see the tryout
for myself yesterday.  I could probably type pages and pages about the day,
but I'll try to keep it brief.  I apologize in advance if this seems jumbled...

After I arrived at Dodgertown, I made the hike to the practice fields where
the open tryout was being held.  There were maybe a dozen reporters and
photographers in attendance, along with probably 20 fans or so (if I had to
guess).  Jose signed autographs for every single person there when he had a
chance in between practice sessions.  I didn't ask for an autograph, but I
did get a photo taken with him.  I met a couple of fans from this list,
which is always fun - Ryan and his girlfriend, and Beth and her friend.  I
also met Jose's agent, Doug Ames, Doug's brother Jim who has been helping
Jose sell all his old memorabilia, Jose's sister Teresa, and Jose's
"friend" Laura.  Everyone was very friendly and it was really nice talking
to them all.  Laura (personal trainer/fitness model) is funny - she had no
idea who Jose was when she met him at her gym last year, and to top it off,
she hates baseball.

Ok, back to my story... When I first got there, Jose was in the field,
waiting for his turn to take batting practice.  I missed his 60 yard dash,
but was told he ran it in 6.7 seconds, which is pretty fast.  I found out
later it was actually 6.9 seconds, which is still good.  After a lot of
standing around, Jose finally got his chance in the cage.  He looked ok,
but certainly not spectacular.  He saw 18 pitches and put one ball over the
fence.  The wind was blowing in, and Jose was the only player to
homer.  After BP, the Dodgers staff made the first round of cuts, sending
over half of the 100+ players in attendance home.  Jose #521 was the last
number called - he made the cut.

After the cut, Jose met with a bunch of reporters and answered their
questions.  I talked my way into joining them (I told the woman in charge I
didn't bother to get press credentials, because I didn't know I was going
to be there, but I was writing an article for Canseconet.com, blah blah
blah).  Anyway, I got there just in time to hear Jose answer three or four
questions the same way: "Read the book."  "It will be in the book."  "Read
the book" and so on.  He also said he would not accept a AAA assignment if
the Dodgers offered him one: "Been there, done that."  Then the discussion
turned to steroids.  Jose said there was a "difference between steroid use
and steroid abuse."  Jose also said the urine sample where he tested
positive for steroids while under house arrest had been tampered
with.  You'll need to "read the book" to find out who he thinks was
responsible for this.  The book is due out in September, but if I remember
correctly, we've heard that for the previous two Septembers as well, so who
knows?  I'm trying to think what else was discussed, but I don't think it
was anything you haven't read before, and I'm sure it will all be covered
in the articles below.

After lunch, the remaining players took part in a simulated game.  Jose
alternated at first base with another player, and he batted every
inning.  In my opinion, he looked ok at first - nothing spectacular, but
nothing horrible either.  At the plate, he looked decent, but
understandably a little rusty.  I saw him walk, hit two solid singles, line
out to left, pop up (way up) in the infield, and strikeout twice.

I took a bunch of photos throughout the day and even shot a few videos of
Jose at the plate.  I'll try to get them posted on the site by this weekend
(I have one there now).  Those pictures might very well be of the last time
Jose swings a bat in a professional setting...

I didn't talk to Jose much - I didn't want to bother him - but I did
briefly.  Before I left, I told him it was good to see him swinging a bat
again and wished him luck.  He responded with two genuine sounding "Thanks."

Let's see - what else?  Tommy Lasorda was there... So was Shawn Green,
dressed in street clothes (and flip flops, in fact).  I joked with Shawn,
"Hey, shouldn't you be at work?"  I briefly discussed his friendship with
Jose when they played together in Toronto, and asked him about his four
homer game.  He told me it was a combination of having a good day and
getting a little bit lucky.  He was friendly enough, but didn't seem to
really want to talk, so I didn't bother him for long.  When Jose came over
to talk to him, I could tell by what they were saying that they haven't
spoken in a while.

What else can I tell you?  When I left, I stood beyond the left field fence
for two of Jose's at bats.  I was REALLY hoping he'd homer, since I was the
ONLY person back there, and that ball might very likely be the last one
Jose ever puts over a fence... but, no such luck.

Well, I guess that's about it.  Sorry I rambled on for so long, but I know
a lot of you would want to know all the details :)

All the latest news is below.  I have a feeling Jose won't be in the news
again for a while, but don't worry, as soon as he is, I'll let you know.

-Mark

==========
Canseco waits for elusive call
   By MARC TOPKIN
St. Petersburg Times
Feb 22, 2004.

Vinny Castilla got his old job back as Rockies third baseman. Greg Vaughn
got invited to the Cardinals camp with a shot at the leftfield job. And
when Fred McGriff got a chance to come to camp on a minor-league deal with
the Devil Rays, the remaining member of Tampa Bay's failed Hit Show could
only chuckle.

And sigh.

"I've got to get me anywhere," Jose Canseco said.

Canseco, 39, has been out of the game since 2001, an exile that was not
choice but not necessarily devoid of his own doing either, given his legal
problems, steroid-related issues and threats to write a tell-all book.

He says he is happy McGriff got another chance to come home and extend his
career, but he sure sounded jealous, too.

"I thought maybe they'd give me a chance," Canseco said.

Canseco desperately wants one. He has been saying he'd like to go back to
the Rays, claiming he'd play for the minimum and donate the money to
charity and insist on going into the Hall of Fame as a Ray after he got the
38 homers he needs for 500, but that's not going to happen. He can make
similar pleas to other teams, but doesn't know if they're listening.

"It's out of my hands," he said.

Until then, he waits. His legal problems apparently resolved, Canseco has
left Miami and moved to Encino, Calif. He is getting heavily involved in
martial arts training. He supposedly has signed a lucrative deal to star in
a series of action films. He is still hosting "Spend-a-Day-With-Jose"
events. He is still working on the book, but says he'll withhold
publication if he gets signed.

He has been working out feverishly in Los Angeles and claims to be in "the
best shape" of his career. He is even taking ground balls and says - no
kidding - he could step in and play first or third base. ("Come check it
out," he boasts.) He says he has a tryout with the Dodgers on March 1 in
Vero Beach. He is 100 percent sure he could again be an impact player in
the big leagues.

"There's absolutely no doubt," he said, "I could hit 50 homers."

==========
  From Fox Sports:
KENNEDY: Canseco still has game
Kevin Kennedy

You can see the video from this interview here:
http://www.foxsports.com/content/view?contentId=2190952

Jose Canseco and I have a relationship that dates back to 1992, when he
played for me when I managed the Texas Rangers. In the four years I had
him, he was always good in the clubhouse. He was never late to anything.
There was not one issue with Jose Canseco. He was great to have on the club.

So when his agent called me Monday to tell me he was working out, I was
curious to see whether he still has something to offer. People get second
chances in this country after doing worse things than Jose Canseco has done.

I saw everything I needed to see to say, 'I'd give him a chance.' Not only
can he still compete, he can excel.

I was not surprised that he was in great shape. He's doing four different
forms of martial arts. His flexibility is amazing. I was watching him swing
the bat with his left hand only, and the ball was just jumping off the bat.
He hasn't missed a beat. The bat speed is there, and his technique has
never been better. I watched him throw, and his arm strength is tremendous.
If I were a scout a GM or manager, there isn't any reason I wouldn't give
him a chance.

Jose works out for the Dodgers on Monday morning. To me, you've got nothing
to lose if you're the Dodgers, and absolutely everything to gain. The
Dodgers have a desperate need for some power and run production. He can
provide those things.

I don't how anybody from a baseball standpoint can say no. At 39, it's not
about age. Barry Bonds is 39. If he doesn't make it, it won't be about
ability. It'll be because of other issues, not because of talent.

He knows there are issues out there regarding his past. He said, "It's not
like I haven't made mistakes. But the perception about me is wrong." I
agree with that. I've always said this about Jose: whatever you want to
think about him, he's not a liar. He speaks from the heart.

Jose has a book coming out in September, and he told me there were some
things he couldn't share with me because they're covered in the book. But
he did have some interesting things to say about the circumstances that put
him in jail for a violation of his probation. He said that his lawyers
found out that the urine test he took while under house arrest in 2002 was
switched -- that someone wanted to see him test positive for steroids. He
said someone wanted to make sure he wouldn't get back in the game.

(Editor's note: Canseco was released from a Florida jail in August of 2003
after serving two months. Prosecutors dropped charges alleging that he had
violated the terms of his probation by taking steroids while under house
arrest as a result of charges stemming from a nightclub fight.)

He moved from South Florida after that and lives in L.A. fulltime, taking
acting lessons, working out and doing martial arts. I know he'd like to
have a chance to get his 38 home runs (Canseco has 462 career homers). I
know he could help a team.

If he doesn't get the chance, it won't be because of ability.

FOX Sports baseball analyst Kevin Kennedy is a regular contributor to FOX
Sports.com

==========
  From the AP:
Canseco book due for release in September

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- Jose Canseco better hope the book he claims to be
writing is more successful than his performance in an open tryout with the
Los Angeles Dodgers.

Canseco probably wrote his final chapter in baseball at Monday's tryout,
looking anything like the slugger who intimidated opposing pitchers in the
late 1980s and '90s.

"I think he swung the bat good, he hit a couple balls good," former Dodgers
manager Tom Lasorda said afterward.

Now a senior vice president with the Dodgers, Lasorda seemed to realize he
was being overly kind.

"He thought that coming out here and hitting off these guys wouldn't be too
much to do," he said.

Matt Slater, the Dodgers' director of professional scouting, said he
expected one or two of the 108 players who attended the workout would be
signed, with a decision announced Tuesday.

Slater said Canseco was told several days ago there was a 99 percent chance
the Dodgers wouldn't sign him.

"This is probably going to be my last attempt -- see you in the movies,"
Canseco told reporters afterward as he signed autographs.

Now living in the Los Angeles suburb of Encino, Canseco claims to have
Hollywood connections.

"It could have gone better -- technique's a little off," he said. "I wish I
had a little more time to get ready. I'm not going to hold my breath on it.
It's basically out of my hands -- just being realistic."

The players took batting and fielding practice in the morning, with the
group cut down for an intrasquad game in the afternoon.

A six-time All-Star who has 462 career homers, Canseco hit one ball over
the fence in 18 batting practice swings and wasn't particularly impressive
otherwise against pitcher Juan Bustabad, the hitting coach for the Dodgers'
Vero Beach farm team.

Canseco had two singles in six official at-bats with a walk and two
strikeouts in the intrasquad game.

Again, he didn't appear to be anywhere close to top form despite the fact
that his representative, Doug Ames, said his client had been working out at
UCLA for several weeks.

Canseco said he was serious about trying to get back into baseball and
thought he could be successful.

"I think in three or four weeks I could be back to 100 percent," he said.
"I'm excited to be here -- maybe they need some right-handed power hitting,
a first baseman."

The Dodgers scored a big league-low 574 runs and have been in the market
for a right-handed power hitter.

But it would be a shock if they signed Canseco, who played first base in
the intrasquad game -- a position he's never played in the big leagues.

Now 39, Canseco last played in the majors in 2001, when he hit .258 with 16
homers for the Chicago White Sox.

Canseco and Mark McGwire teamed in Oakland as the "Bash Brothers," leading
the Athletics to three straight World Series appearances from 1988-90,
including the 1989 title.

Canseco won the 1988 AL MVP award and ranks 26th on baseball's career home
run list.

He spent more than two months in jail last summer for testing positive for
steroids while on probation -- a charge he denied. Prosecutors later
dropped the charge, prompting his release from custody. He had been on
probation since the previous November when he pleaded guilty to aggravated
battery for a 2001 nightclub fight with two tourists.

Canseco smiled and said hello to Lasorda while registering for the tryout.
He was handed No. 521, which Ames taped on the back of his T-shirt.

"I feel like I'm back in jail -- I've got a number on my back," Canseco said.

"It's a shock to me, to see him here for a tryout," Lasorda said.

Canseco said he believes he has been blackballed from the majors. When
asked why, he replied: "Issues; the book I'm writing."

He said the book would be entitled: "Dare to Truth," and answered most of
the questions posed by reporters by saying, "Read the book."

Ames said a book deal has been finalized, with a September release date.

Canseco said he stood behind his allegation of a couple years ago that 80
percent of major leaguers had taken steroids, but added: "I think the
numbers may have changed. Who knows? Maybe the numbers have diminished."

He also said there was a big difference in using and abusing steroids.

"Steroids don't give you hand-eye coordination," he said. "I think there's
too much emphasis put on it -- too much negativity."

Canseco was one of six former big leaguers who took part in the tryout. The
others were pitchers Bryan Rekar, Jeff Sparks and Rusty Meacham, infielder
Alex Arias and first baseman-outfielder Doug Jennings.

==========
  From MLB.com:
Jose Canseco tries out for Dodgers
By Ken Gurnick

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- The circus came to Dodgertown on Monday.

In what doubled for the first stop on a promotional tour for a book that
isn't yet written, Jose Canseco joined a handful of former Major Leaguers,
released minor leaguers and beer-league weekend warriors in an open tryout
for the Dodgers.

With a couple dozen reporters, including ESPN's Peter Gammons, watching,
the former Bash Brother sought a return to the Major Leagues for the first
time since 2001 and said he could be the answer to the club's lack of offense.

"Maybe they need a right-handed power hitter, maybe a first baseman," said
Canseco, who had No. 521 pinned to the back of his shirt.

He appeared fit for age 39, but time has eroded the MVP's baseball skills.
The bat wasn't as quick. He was timed in 6.9 for the 60-yard dash, but
appeared to have jumped the gun. He threw sidearm from the outfield during
drills and played first base during a game in which he had two singles in
six at-bats with two strikeouts. Canseco never played first base in a
17-year Major League career.

General manager Paul DePodesta did not watch the tryout, but vice president
Tom Lasorda and minor league field coordinator Terry Collins did. Matt
Slater, the club's professional scouting director, said it was possible one
or two players would be signed out of the tryout. But there was no
indication Canseco would be one of them.

The Dodgers made it clear they were not interested in signing Canseco when
his agent approached them last month, but he flew out from his new home in
California anyway. The agent, Doug Ames, said Canseco will publish his
much-discussed tell-all book in September, co-written by Chris Myers of Fox
Sports. Meanwhile, according to Ames, Canseco has three movie deals on the
table, including one with action star Steven Segal.

Canseco said he came to the tryout because it was "the only route" back to
the Major Leagues, that he would give it "one last shot to see what
happens," and that he had no desire to accept a minor-league assignment and
work his way back.

He also fielded questions about steroids in baseball, but deflected
follow-up questions by telling reporters to "read the book." He said his
tryout will be included as a chapter.

He said he has a contract with publisher Judith Regan. The book, to be
released in September, is titled "Dare to Truth," a play on the album/movie
titled "Truth or Dare" released by Madonna, once a Canseco acquaintance.

Although allowed to try out, Canseco said he had been "blackballed" by
baseball and was "curious" how the Dodgers would respond to his tryout. He
said there are many players "well into their 40s," and that he was "not
exactly in baseball condition" because he only began baseball workouts five
weeks ago.

"My bat speed, my legs, they're not where I want them to be," he said. "In
three or four weeks I'll be back to 100 percent."

Canseco, 39, last played in the Major Leagues in 2001, when he hit 16 home
runs in 256 at-bats for the Chicago White Sox. The AL 1988 MVP, 1986 AL
Rookie of the Year and six-time All-Star has 462 home runs, 1,407 RBIs and
earned nearly $50 million.

But he was known nearly as much for his off-the-field run-ins with the law
as his on-the-field run producing. He also generated controversy by saying
80 percent of Major League ballplayers use steroids.

Other former Major Leaguers who attended the tryout were pitchers Bryan
Rekar, Rusty Meacham and Jeff Sparks; outfielder Doug Jennings and
infielder Alex Arias.

Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This article was not subject to
approval by Major League Baseball or its clubs.

==========
  From the AP:
Dodgers tell Canseco 'no thanks'
By JOHN NADEL

VERO BEACH, Florida (AP) - The Los Angeles Dodgers informed former slugger
Jose Canseco on Tuesday that they weren't interested in his services.

Canseco, 39, participated in an open tryout with the team on Monday. He
said he wouldn't play in the minors, which probably ended any chance he had
of being signed by the Dodgers.

Matt Slater, the team's director of professional scouting, said a couple of
players who participated in the workout will be offered contracts - but
Canseco wouldn't be one of them.

Canseco, who hasn't played in the majors since 2001, was told beforehand
there was a 99 percent chance the Dodgers wouldn't sign him, but he
participated anyway. He certainly didn't look prepared.

"This is probably going to be my last attempt - see you in the movies,"
Canseco told reporters as he signed autographs.

A six-time All-Star who hit 462 career homers in the major leagues, Canseco
claims to be working on a book that will be released in September.

He spent more than two months in jail last summer for testing positive for
steroids while on probation - a charge he denied.

Prosecutors later dropped the charge, prompting his release from custody.
He had been on probation since the previous November when he pleaded guilty
to aggravated battery for a 2001 nightclub fight.

==========
  From the Globe and Mail:
Canseco keeps steroids in spotlight
By JEFF BLAIR
Tuesday, March 2, 2004

VERO BEACH, FLA. -- The final chapter of Jose Canseco's baseball career was
likely written yesterday on a two back fields in the middle of pine trees
and a tiny orange grove, far removed from the Los Angeles Dodgers'
major-league and minor-league clubhouses.

Baseball's worst nightmare was given a piece of paper with the number 521
on it and told to join the 106 other players of all shapes, sizes,
histories and mismatched uniforms at a Dodgers open tryout.

Canseco in any uniform is the last thing the game needs when the White
House wants to hold a sports summit to deal with steroid use, when
superstar Barry Bonds has been accused of using steroids by his peers and
he and Jason Giambi and other players have appeared before a grand jury
investigating a Bay Area steroids laboratory.

Canseco's contention that 80 per cent of major-league players use steroids
helped create the climate that led to drug testing in baseball. Canseco has
never come clean about his steroid use, but he spent time in jail last year
for a positive steroid test (he claims his urine sample was switched),
violating terms of his parole stemming from his part in a nightclub brawl
in 2001.

He says now that he could pass a steroid test, then volunteered that: "No
one knows if in the past I would have been able to pass, because no one
ever tested me.

"I've always stood by my numbers," said Canseco, who is 26th on the career
home run list with 462 and hasn't been in a major-league uniform since
failing to make the Montreal Expos out of spring training in 2002. "But I
think the numbers may have changed. That was a while back. Who knows? Maybe
they have diminished.

"[Talking about steroids] is not as taboo as it used to be, and the players
who aren't taking now are voicing opinions. Especially pitchers."

Looking smaller in the lower body but with a chiselled, V-shaped upper
body, Canseco said this would be his only tryout because he wants to be
near his seven-year-old daughter, Josie, who lives in Los Angeles with a
former wife with whom he is trying to reconcile. He is not interested in a
minor-league contract.

"I'm surprised anyone is even looking at me now, considering all the
issues," Canseco said. "The book I'm writing . . . when you're blackballed
from baseball . . . let's just say my curiosity level is very high. Why
now? Why the Dodgers?"

Canseco said his book will be titled Dare To Truth ("You know, like
Madonna") and said it will be "amazing . . . completely truthful as far as
it concerns anybody involved with my life or my career."

Although Dodgers vice-president Tommy Lasorda was not ashamed to ask
Canseco to autograph a baseball, the team kept Canseco's appearance low-key.

"We told [Canseco] there was a 99-per-cent chance that we would not offer
him a contract," said Matt Slater, the Dodgers' director of pro scouting.
"But it's an open tryout and anyone can attend. We'll give them a call
[today]."

Canseco survived the morning cut and was 2-for-6, with a walk and two
strikeouts, in an afternoon game. The Dodgers made him bat every inning.
Former major-leaguer Bryan Rekar had one of the strikeouts, and the next
batter after Canseco, former New York Yankees farmhand Adam Shorts, drilled
a home run against Rekar.

Canseco was fashionably late and fashionably attired, wearing a designer
sweatsuit and a grey cap with the words Black Belt emblazoned on the front.
He spent the morning stretching and schmoozing, skipping infield drills,
and making weak throws from the outfield.

"It went pretty decent, I just wish I had more time to get ready," said
Canseco, whose agent, Doug Ames, claimed Canseco has three action-movie
proposals. "If it doesn't work out . . . see you guys in the movies."

==========
  From the NY Daily News:
Jose's last bash
Dodgers' open tryout figures to close book

Jose Canseco, No. 521 on your scorecard, tries to muscle in at Dodgers'
annual audition... ...but finds his chances as slim as his new physique.

VERO BEACH - The presumed last official day of Jose Canseco's professional
baseball career - and first official day of his forthcoming book promotion
tour - began with the poster boy for baseball's raging steroids debate
arriving a fashionable seven minutes late for sign-in at the Los Angeles
Dodgers' annual March 1 open tryout.

He was bedecked in a navy blue designer sweat suit and a gray baseball cap
bearing the logo "Black Belt," which he naturally was wearing backwards.
Although this has always been one of those "Come one, come all, bring us
your tired, your poor and your eternal dreamers" events, Canseco, through
his publicist, had made certain to put out the word he was attending the
tryout with utmost intentions of restarting his major league career after
three years away from it, 67 days of which were spent behind bars in a
Miami slammer.

By the same token, Dodger officials took pains say that in no way should
the 39-year-old Canseco be perceived as the righthanded power hitter they
have been vowing to acquire all winter.

"He's here," said one of them, "because he asked to come here and this is
an open tryout. We couldn't very well say no."

Canseco, however, didn't quite see it that way. As far as he's concerned,
he's been blackballed from baseball because of his link to steroids and his
intentions to write a tell-all book, due out in September, in which he
promises to name names and blow the lid off baseball's underside of drugs
and sex.

And for starters yesterday, he didn't back off his charges that the vast
majority of baseball players are on steroids.

"'Eighty percent,' is what I said," Canseco asserted. "It may be diminished
a little since then, who knows? If you ask me, there's been too much
emphasis on (steroids) in a negative way. There's a great difference
between using steroids and abusing steroids."

As for himself, Canseco again refused to say whether he had used steroids,
although his incarceration in the Miami jail last summer was due to
prosecution charges that he'd violated his probation (stemming from a
nightclub brawl in which he and his twin brother Ozzie pleaded guilty to
aggravated battery) by taking steroids. He was released because the state
could not determine when he had taken the muscle-enhancing drug.

"Read the book," he kept repeating. "Nobody knows because I was never tested."

He looked noticeably thinner yesterday - but then doesn't just about
everyone this spring? - and after signing in, he was assigned the No. 521
that his agent, Doug Ames, pinned on his back. (It was for sure the highest
baseball number he'd ever had but probably not nearly as high as the one
he'd worn on his back in Miami last summer.)

  From there, it was out to the practice field where the Dodger instructors
had Canseco and the 106 other walk-ons (including fellow ex-major leaguers
Doug Jennings and Alex Arias) begin by running 60-yard dashes. According to
Bill Pleis, the ex-Twins pitcher who is now a Dodger area scout, Canseco
was timed at 6.9 seconds. In retrospect, that may have
been the highlight of his day.

He looked rusty and rag-armed in the outfield drills and in 20 batting
practice swings against Dodgers minor league batting coach Juan Bustabad,
he hit one fair ball over the fence and four other flies to the warning
track. And while Ames reported Canseco had been working out at third base
and first in workouts with the UCLA baseball team in recent weeks, the
onetime American League MVP eschewed the infield drills.

As Canseco stood on the sideline casually observing the drills, one of the
walk-on infielders who stood out (for all the wrong reasons) was a short,
fat 30-something fellow with a pronounced limp, and a glove that still had
the price tag on it. His name, he said, was Richard Vergara, and he was a
retired Army mechanic from Jacksonville who hadn't played ball since high
school.

"I'm just going to keep trying," he said as he headed out the gate with all
of the first cuts. "I got nothing else better to do."

Was he aware, he was asked, that he'd been working out with Jose Canseco?

"No," Vergara replied. "I never heard of him."

On the surface, it must have seemed a very humbling experience for Canseco,
this erstwhile baseball superstar with 462 career homers, to be reduced to
having to display what remaining skills he had left against a bunch of
sandlot players who could only dream of the ability he threw away.

At least he was asked to stay around for the game, in which he played first
base and went 2-for-6 with two singles and a walk, afterward acknowledging
he was probably "3-4 weeks away" from being in real playing shape. With
Canseco, however, it's always been a big con and this didn't seem to be
anything different.

What you saw was all he really had left. For anything else, one supposed,
you've got to read the book.

Jose Canseco: Highlights
-1986 Rookie of the Year.
-Won 1988 AL MVP and became majors' first 40-40 player.
-Hit 462 home runs, 26th all-time.
-Won 1989 World Series with Oakland.
-Hit numerous tape-measure HRs, including one off of restuarant roof at
SkyDome.

Jose Canseco: Lowlights
-Missed 30 games or more 10 times after MVP season.
-Fly ball by Cleveland's Carlos Martinez in 1993 bounced off of head for
home run.
-Suffered season-ending elbow injury in 1993 after making lone career
pitching appearance.
-Sentenced to two years' house arrest for his part in a 2001 nightclub brawl.
-Claimed that 80% of players used steroids.

==========
  From the San Francisco Chronicle:
Canseco goes deep, but not that deep
By Tom FitzGerald
Tuesday, March 2, 2004

FoxSports.com promoted "an extensive one-on-one interview'' from a
45-minute conversation that baseball analyst Kevin Kennedy had with Jose
Canseco, who played for Kennedy with the Rangers and Red Sox from 1993
through '96. Extensive interviews, it seems, aren't quite as wide ranging
as they used to be.

Canseco, 39, who was trying out for the Dodgers on Monday, might have
chattered at length about Iraq, Haiti and the high price of jet fuel, for
all we know. But all we come to learn is that 1) he hasn't gotten baseball
out of his blood, 2) if he makes any club, he'll donate his salary to
charity, 3) "It's not like I haven't made mistakes. But the perception
about me (that he's a bad guy) is wrong,'' and 4) that somebody wanted to
make sure he didn't get back into baseball and rigged a urine test that he
took while under house arrest in 2002 so that he would test positive for
steroids.

The rest will have to wait for Canseco's long-awaited book, which Kennedy
says is "coming out in September.'' Oddly, nobody seems to want Jose, but
somebody's always out to get him. Who is it? He has said he would name
names in the book. So does the phone book.

==========
  From the AP:
Canseco: 'See you in the movies.'

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- Jose Canseco can now focus on being an actor or an
author rather than a baseball player.

As expected, the Los Angeles Dodgers informed the former slugger Tuesday
that they weren't interested in his services.

Canseco, 39, participated in an open tryout with the team Monday. He said
he wouldn't play in the minors, which probably ended any chance he had of
being signed by the Dodgers.

Matt Slater, the team's director of professional scouting, said a couple of
players who participated in the workout will be offered contracts -- but
Canseco wouldn't be one of them.

"We called him to give him the news," Slater said.

Canseco was told beforehand there was a 99 percent chance the Dodgers
wouldn't sign him, but he participated anyway.

He certainly didn't look prepared.

"This is probably going to be my last attempt -- see you in the movies,"
Canseco told reporters as he signed autographs.

Now living in the Los Angeles suburb of Encino, Canseco claims to have
Hollywood connections.

A six-time All-Star who hit 462 career homers in the major leagues, Canseco
also claims to be working on a book that will be released in September. He
last played in the majors in 2001.

He spent more than two months in jail last summer for testing positive for
steroids while on probation -- a charge he denied.

Prosecutors later dropped the charge, prompting his release from custody.
He had been on probation since the previous November when he pleaded guilty
to aggravated battery for a 2001 nightclub fight.

Hey everyone...

Don't get your hopes up..... BUT, Jose is in the news, and for the first
time in a long time, it has to do with baseball.  Apparently, he contacted
the Dodgers and they told him to feel free to attend an open tryout.  He
won't get any special treatment, and it would definitely be a longshot for
him to be signed, but then again, you never know.  Maybe he'll wow them.

For those of you who would like to meet Jose someday, you might have a
chance soon.  He signed at a sports collectibles's show last weekend in San
Francisco (sorry I didn't get the info out in time), and he will be signing
at at least a couple more shows in the near future.

Chicago, March 20th:
http://www.sportsnewsproductions.net/pages/509219/index.htm

Phoenix, March 12-14th:
http://www.tristarproductions.com/shows/upcomshindex.htm

Baseball just isn't the same any more, is it?

-Mark


=====
  From the AP:
Canseco to attend Dodgers' open workout
February 24, 2004

VERO BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Jose Canseco plans to try out for the Los Angeles
Dodgers, 2 1/2 years after his last appearance in the major leagues.

The six-time All-Star will attend the Los Angeles Dodgers' open tryout on
March 1.

``Canseco's people called us,'' Matt Slater, the Dodgers' director of
professional scouting, said Tuesday. ``He's welcome to come.''

Canseco last played in the majors in 2001, when he hit .258 with 16 homers
for the Chicago White Sox.

He and Mark McGwire teamed in Oakland as the ``Bash Brothers,'' leading the
team to three straight World Series appearances from 1988-90, including the
1989 title. Canseco won the 1988 AL MVP award and has 462 homers, 26th on
the career list.

Canseco admitted in 2002 that he used steroids during his career. He served
jail time for violating terms of his probation for a 2001 fight at a Miami
Beach, Fla., nightclub. His rap sheet includes domestic violence and
aggravated battery charges.


==========
  From www.billy-ball.com:
February 23, 2004

Bottom of the 8th
NEWS ITEM: STEROIDS ADDLES CANSECO'S MIND

Jose Canseco has offered his services to the Los Angeles Dodgers not
surprisingly, the Dodgers declined and expressed no interest in signing
Canseco. Canseco was told he could attend the Dodgers open tryout on March
1 and will get a look from Dodger scouts, but no special treatment. The
last known player to be signed from one of these tryouts was catcher Rick
Wilkins in 1999.

Hey Canseco fans...

I know it's been a long while since you've heard from me, but Jose simply
hasn't been in the news - well, that, or I haven't seen it if he has been.

Sorry the below articles are a little bit dated, but better late than
never.  Some of you will really enjoy the first one, which alludes to
Canseco trying to make another comeback.  Don't get your hopes up
(personally, I doubt any team will give him a chance), but then again, you
never know.  That article also reveals that once again, Jose's tell-all
book has been pushed back indefinitely.

As for the second and older article, yes, Ozzie Canseco was sentenced to a
year in jail for violating his probation.  Ouch.

As always, if I hear anything else, I'll send it out.  Canseco news is
really scarce these days though, so if you happen to find an obscure
article or hear something you think other Canseco fans would like to know
about, please pass it to me.

Thanks,
Mark


==========
  From thestate.com (South Carolina):
Canseco hasn't given up on dream
By BOB SPEAR
Dec. 06, 2003

LESS THAN A MONTH after Major League Baseball announced that players will
be tested for steroids use next season, Jose Canseco passed on the
opportunity to issue an I-told-you-so proclamation.

A day after six-time National League MVP Barry Bonds testified before a
federal grand jury in a case involving possible drug violations by a
laboratory, Canseco rejected the chance to fan the flames on a subject that
baseball officials wish would disappear.

His reticence almost surely can be traced to one fact: He wants to play in
the majors again.

Canseco, a former American League MVP and one of a handful of players to
hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season, did not back away
from his claim that 80 percent of major-league players used steroids. But
he took the high road in sharing his thoughts Friday after arriving in town
for a series of weekend appearances.

He left listeners searching for the slugger who became a poster child for
controversy in his playing days. Where is the bombast? Where are the
inflammatory comments? Where are the claims that officials blackballed him
from the game?

"That's the media" picture of Canseco, he said. "(Reporters) never took the
time to get to know me."

Translation: His desire to reach 500 career home runs overrides all else.

The dream’s still alive. Canseco quit the game almost two years ago,
leaving behind a legacy of 462 homers, 1,407 runs batted in, a .266 batting
average and a colorful reputation in his 17 seasons. Last summer, Doug
Ames, a Columbia-area resident who represents Canseco, began selling the
player's baseball memorabilia.

"He just decided the baseball part of his life is over," Ames said then.

Friday, Canseco, 39, said he believes he can still hit 40-50 home runs a
season "if I get the chance. I'm in great shape; I still weigh the same
thing (245-250 pounds) as two years ago."

Ames said he has talked to several teams about his client's availability
and has meetings scheduled next weekend with the Yankees and Devil Rays.

Ames also said a contract had been signed for a tell-all book on Canseco's
baseball career, then added, "There will be no book until Jose retires for
good." When that book is published, "Everything will be explained," Canseco
said.

"Everything" includes a larger-than-life persona usually associated with a
rock star instead of a baseball player. But, he said, "A lot of things have
been exaggerated."

A new chapter. In their days in Oakland, Tony LaRussa once called Canseco
"the most complete player I ever managed." More recently,
writer-broadcaster Peter Gammons linked him with Dwight Gooden and Darryl
Strawberry as the three greatest wastes of baseball talent between 1980 and
2000.

The truth probably belongs somewhere between those extremes, but Canseco's
legacy always will include steroids.

He denied numerous reports linking him with using the substances during his
playing days.

"I never said that," he insisted Friday, "and nobody who represented me
did, either."

But he stands by his charge that 80 percent of the players used steroids
and challenged the 5-to-7 percent figure released by major-league officials
and the players' union.

"I have heard a lot about how the testing went," he said. "Some players
took the test four or five or 10 times (to bring the percentage down). I
don't think (5-to-7 percent) is accurate."

Ken Caminiti once claimed that at least 50 percent of the players used
steroids, and Curt Schilling supported that statement, saying, "Half the
players have used steroids and the other half have thought about it."

Whether pro-Canseco or anti-Canseco, no one can deny his appeal to fans.
Ames said he has been approached about making movies, and he also has an
offer to put on hitting exhibitions in Japan for a seven-figure guarantee.

First things first, he said, and that means his focus centers on returning
to the major leagues with a goal of reaching one of the game's magic
numbers — 500 home runs.

If he succeeds, that would be a final chapter for his tell-all book

AUTOGRAPH SESSION

Former American League MVP Jose Canseco will sign autographs today from
noon-3 p.m. at Communications Specialists Inc., 829 Gervais Street in the
Vista. Also, some of Canseco’s memorabilia will be on display. Canseco will
make another area appearance Sunday in North Myrtle Beach (Overtime Sports
Cafe, 2-4 p.m.).

==========
  From the AP:
Jose's brother jailed on probation violation
October 17, 2003

MIAMI -- Former major leaguer Ozzie Canseco was sentenced to a year in jail
Friday for violating probation stemming from a 2001 barroom brawl.

The twin brother of former slugger Jose Canseco was credited for 158 days
served while awaiting sentencing. With other accrued time off, he could be
released in about four months. Once released, Ozzie Canseco will serve five
years' probation.

Ozzie Canseco, 39, pleaded guilty to felony and misdemeanor battery charges
after the Miami Beach brawl. The sentence Friday was for 364 days.

A routine traffic stop for darkly tinted windows in May led to his arrest
on charges of possessing an illegal anabolic steroid, driving with a
revoked license and possession of drug paraphernalia. Those charges, plus
leaving the county without consent, violated his probation.

Ozzie Canseco played briefly with Oakland and St. Louis in the early 1990s.
He had a long minor league career and played in Japan.

Jose Canseco was released from jail in August after being held 73 days on
charges he violated probation by taking steroids. Those charges were
dropped. He also spent 30 days in jail this year on other probation
violation charges.

Hey everyone...

Jose was finally released from jail yesterday, when prosecutors dropped the
charges alleging that he violated his probation by taking steroids.  He
will remain under house arrest until his probation ends in March of 2004 (I
actually thought it was longer than that, but that's what the papers are
saying).

The latest news is below.

-Mark


==========
  From Court TV.com:
Canseco stays jailed while lawyers cram for steroid science
By Harriet Ryan
Tuesday, July 22, 2003

(Court TV) -- Former All-Star slugger Jose Canseco will remain behind bars
while his lawyers take more time to prepare a defense to the charge that he
used steroids while serving house arrest for a  nightclub assault, a Miami
judge ruled Monday.

While the beefy outfielder, handcuffed and wearing an orange prison
jumpsuit and goatee, looked on quietly from the defense table, his lawyers
told Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Leonard Glick they needed more time to
acquaint themselves with the science behind drug tests that detected the
steroid Stanozol last month.

"We have no idea what we're talking about on this side of the table," said
lawyer Jose Quinon, who described his recent crash course in drug
metabolisms as "a nightmare experience."

After allowing brief testimony from a lab pathologist, Glick postponed
further testimony until August 26.

If the judge finds the former league MVP violated the terms of his house
arrest by using a controlled substance, he could be sentenced to up to 15
years in prison.

Canseco pleaded guilty in November to aggravated battery in a one-sided
fight with two conventioneers at a South Beach hotspot. He was originally
sentenced to three years probation, but after missing a court appearance,
Glick ordered him to serve two years under house arrest.

In June, after a urine screening indicated steroid use, the judge threw
Canseco in jail.

Canseco's lawyers have acknowledged he used the performance-enhancing drugs
in the past, but deny he was using them while under house arrest. In court
Monday, they appeared to suggest the test may have detected drug use before
his home confinement.

Dr. James Shipe, the Virginia forensic pathologist who tested Canseco's
urine, testified, however, that steroids injected in muscle tissue linger a
maximum of eight weeks in the body.

Canseco gained notoriety after his 2001 retirement by asserting that 85
percent of pro baseball players relied on performance-enhancing drugs.

Glick denied several requests by Quinon and co-counsel Jayne Weintraub to
have Canseco freed on bail. The judge released Canseco for five days
earlier this month to spend time with his 6-year-old daughter, Josie.

Canseco's ex-wife, Jessica, was on hand Monday in hopes the judge would
allow a similar furlough. Glick refused to do so, prompting Jessica Canseco
to burst into tears.

Canseco's twin brother, Ozzie, who was involved in the nightclub fight and
entered a similar plea, also appeared in court Monday. He is likewise
accused of violating the terms of his plea by using steroids. His hearing
was postponed after his new lawyer asked Judge Glick to recuse himself from
the case because of a past conflict.

==========
  From the AP:
Canseco leaves jail after probation violation charge is dropped
August 25, 2003

MIAMI (AP) -- Jose Canseco was released from jail Monday after prosecutors
dropped charges alleging the former baseball star violated his probation by
taking steroids.

Assistant State Attorney Kathleen Hoague said the state could not determine
when Canseco took the muscle-enhancing drug because of conflicting expert
testimony on how long it would stay in his system.

Canseco had been behind bars since June 20, when probation officials said
he tested positive for steroids. He has denied any drug use while on
probation.

``It was a very painful, stressful situation for my daughter, my family and
myself,'' Canseco said Monday. ``It feels good to be out.''

Canseco, 39, could have faced up to 15 years in state prison.

The 1988 American League MVP has been on probation since November, when he
pleaded guilty to aggravated battery for a 2001 nightclub fight with two
tourists. His probation is scheduled to end in March 2004.

Canseco spent 30 days in jail and was sentenced to house arrest earlier
this year because he took a trip to California without court permission and
didn't meet other probation terms. He says he made the trip because he
wanted to reconcile with his ex-wife and 6-year-old daughter.

Canseco helped lead the Oakland Athletics to three straight World Series
appearances from 1988-90. Oakland won the 1989 series.

He hit 462 home runs in his major league career, the 26th-best in history.
He retired in May 2002 after 1,887 games with seven teams, finishing his
career with a .266 batting average, 1,407 RBIs and 200 stolen bases.

The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Canseco has admitted using steroids during his
baseball career.

Canseco's twin brother, Ozzie, who briefly played in the majors, was also
sentenced to probation stemming from the nightclub scuffle in Miami Beach.

==========
  From the AP:
Canseco leaves jail

MIAMI (AP) - Jose Canseco left jail Monday after prosecutors dropped
charges that the former baseball star violated his probation by taking
steroids.

Assistant State Attorney Kathleen Hoague said the state could not determine
if Canseco took steroids while on probation because of conflicting expert
testimony on when he allegedly took the muscle-enhancing drug.

Canseco, who had denied any drug use while on probation, shook the hand of
his lawyer, Jayne Weintraub, after the state announced its decision.

"It was a very painful, stressful situation for my daughter, my family and
myself," Canseco said. "It feels good to be out."

Canseco, 39, could have faced up to 15 years in state prison. He and his
father, Jose Canseco Sr., criticized prosecutors for keeping him in jail
for more than two months on charges which eventually were dropped.

"That was unfair, unjust. That was uncalled for," Canseco Sr. said.

The 1988 American League MVP has been on probation since November after
pleading guilty to felony aggravated battery for a 2001 Miami Beach
nightclub fight with two tourists. His probation is scheduled to end in
March 2004.

Canseco was arrested June 20 after state officials said he tested positive
for steroids while on house arrest for an earlier probation violation. He
will continue serving the terms of the house arrest and probation.

Canseco spent 30 days in jail and sentenced to house arrest early this year
because he took a trip to California without court permission and failed to
meet other probation terms. He says he made the trip because he wants to
reconcile with his ex-wife and 6-year-old daughter.

"All he wants to do is see his daughter," Weintraub said.

Canseco's attorneys had argued that it was unclear whether he took the
steroids during his probation. Experts presented conflicting testimony on
how long the steroids could stay in Canseco's system.

Canseco helped lead the Oakland Athletics to three straight World Series
appearances from 1988-90. Oakland won the 1989 series.

He hit 462 home runs in his major league career, the 26th-best in history.
He retired in May 2002 after 1,887 games with seven teams, finishing his
career with a .266 batting average, 1,407 RBI and 200 stolen bases.

The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Canseco has admitted using steroids during his
baseball career and claimed that 85% of all other major leaguers have taken
the muscle-enhancing drugs. He announced plans to reveal baseball's steroid
secrets in a still-unpublished book.

While confined to his house, Canseco charged people $2,500 each through his
personal Web site to "Spend the Day with Jose." Autographed balls and
posters also were for sale.

Canseco's twin brother Ozzie, who briefly played in the majors, was also
sentenced to probation stemming from the nightclub fight. He faces his own
probation violation charge after he was arrested in May when a Charlotte
County sheriff's deputy allegedly found illegal anabolic steroids in his
vehicle during a traffic stop.

Hey everyone...

I don't know if you have been watching Greta Van Susteren's Canseco
interview on Fox News each night this week, but it's been very
interesting.  Part II was on last night (it was preempted by Saddam's sons
on Tuesday) and it was good to hear Jose tell his side of the story
regarding those "domestic abuse" charges that have been so blown out of
proportion over the years.  They even interviewed Jessica, Jose's second
ex-wife and mother of his daughter, Josie.  She's fully supportive of him
through all of this.  Apparently, before all the latest problems started,
Jose and Jessica had been considering reconciling their marriage...

I believe there are 5 parts to the interview in total, so be sure to tune
in again tonight and tomorrow night.  Fox News, 10:00 ET, "On the Record."

Take it easy...
-Mark


==========
  From esportsmediagroup.com:
MLB : A legend of the wrong kind
By Jim Margalus
Sunday, July 06, 2003

Nobody wanted to see it come to this.

There sat Jose Canseco in a Miami courthouse, in a red jumpsuit with wrist
and ankle shackles. He tested positive for steroids, which violated his
probation he received after getting involved in a nightclub brawl with his
twin brother, Ozzie.

During his playing days, Canseco invited fans to either love him or hate
him; with his brash personality, he offered no in-betweens. His fans
enjoyed the excitement that swirled throughout the ballpark with every
plate appearance. His detractors would wait for another Canseco mishap, on
or off the field, to use as ammunition against him.

To the detractors' delight, there were plenty. Whether it was the homer off
his head, or the pitching experiment that blew out his arm, or his affair
with Madonna, or his carrying of a loaded gun while speeding in his Jaguar,
Canseco was making enough news to provide punch lines for the rest of his
life.

In comparison to Canseco, Sammy Sosa's use of a corked bat looks like an
unpaid parking ticket.

Currently, Canseco is serving a 30-day prison sentence. If he violates
probation once more, he could face up to 15 years.

Even the most die-hard Canseco-haters must be finding it hard to laugh now.

He has slipped from the comical realm to become the classical tragic figure.

In Greek mythology, Icarus used wings his father made out of feathers and
wax to escape imprisonment. But, against his father's warning, he became
arrogant and tried to fly as high as possible. The higher he flew, the more
the wax melted.

He finally reached a point where his wings melted completely, and he
plummeted to his death into the sea below.

Or you can look at the tale of King Midas. Midas wished that everything he
touched turned to gold, and so it did. Nature, family, food -- everything
he touched became gold to the point where he had nothing of use. Unlike
Icarus, Midas saw the error of his ways in time, and the god Dionysus
reversed his wish.

Jose Canseco lies somewhere in between these two figures.

He won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1986, and the MVP in 1988. That
season turned out to be Canseco's finest -- a .307 batting average, he led
the league in homers and RBIs, and became the first player in MLB history
to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in the same season.

Even though he may have used steroids at this point in his career, it
certainly did not affect him. He was larger, more muscular, but in
proportion -- he still might have been filling out.

Canseco contained the perfect mixture of power and speed, and many were
already getting the Hall of Fame ballot prepared.

Back injuries shortened the following season, but he nearly returned to
form in 1990 and 1991, hitting 37 and 44 homers, and stealing 19 and 26
bases, respectively.

After Oakland dealt him to the Texas Rangers, he was never quite the same
player. Arlington hosted his most famous on-field mishaps. His days in the
outfield became numbered after the infamous "homer off his domer," in which
a ball bounced off the top of his head over the wall.

He became completely one-dimensional after an ill-fated appearance on the
mound for mop-up work. The results for the knuckeballing Canseco were as
follows -- one inning pitched, a 27.00 ERA, and a permanently-damaged elbow.

The elbow problems didn't come out of nowhere, though. Right before his
Texas days, Canseco became bulkier -- muscular to the point of impractical.
It limited his throwing motions, speed and flexibility, making him more
prone to injury. His elbow probably wasn't able to handle the strain that
the unnatural bulk put on it.

It's a phenomenon that has also happened with Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa.
Once above-average outfielders, they have become mediocre on defense,
sacrificing range and arm for power at the plate. Luckily for Bonds and
Sosa, they have managed to avoid injury for the most part.

Canseco was not so fortunate. Injuries plagued him for the rest of his
career. Only one time did he play more than 120 games since his trade to
Texas -- 1998, for Toronto. He had a career-high of 46 homers that year,
and 29 stolen bases. However, he only hit .237, and was caught stealing 17
times.

At this point in his career, he became a caricature of his former self. His
back-wrenching swing still remained, but it looked much more awkward with
the stiff, massive Canseco. His head grew larger and rectangular, and he
developed a nasty twitch.

Even off the field, his acts became more extreme. He always enjoyed his
fame a little too much, but it had never harmed others until 1992, he
rammed his first wife's car with his own. He hit his second wife in 1997
during an argument for his first charge of aggravated battery.

Canseco's career ended in 2002, where he toiled in the minors for a month
before calling it quits. He claimed that he was "blackballed" out of
baseball by teams conspiring against him.

He also admitted steroid use and made a claim that over half of baseball
players use such substances, and has threatened to "name names" in a book
that has not been written, or even backed by a publisher.

Like Icarus, Canseco got carried away with an artificial enhancer, and it
led to his demise. Like Midas, he got more than he wished for by using
steroids. Unlike Midas, unfortunately, he couldn't have the effects reversed.

He is still using steroids, and he has no use for them. He has become a
monster that nobody can control, and he may spend the rest of his life in
jail for it. People that pick on Canseco today are vultures. The joke is
over. Now it's just plain sad.

Mike Tyson is the only sports figure currently that can relate to Canseco,
but even that is a different case. Tyson relishes in the ridiculous, and it
appears that he knows more than he lets on about what he's doing, no matter
what is coming out of his mouth.

Canseco genuinely believes that he has done no wrong. He believes he is
facing harsher punishment than other people because of his celebrity. He
tried to earn some money with his house arrest, offering people to spend
the day with him for a cost of $2,500.

He didn't comprehend the gravity of his steroid addiction, he didn't
understand the gravity of his lifestyle, and he still doesn't realize the
gravity of his actions.

Jose Canseco went from being a sure-fire Hall of Famer to one of the
biggest "wastes of talent" in baseball history, according to Peter Gammons.

It looks like the downward slide only gets steeper from here.

Tragic, indeed.

Hi everyone...

Last night, Greta Van Susteren interviewed Jose from jail on Fox New's "On
the Record."  Sorry I didn't get a message out in time, but fear not, Part
2 of the interview (recorded last week) airs tonight at 10:00 PM ET....
Last night, they got to Jose's segment around 10:45 or so.

It was weird seeing him in his new uniform.... a red jumpsuit.  While I do
think Jose has made some mistakes, I have to tell you, I felt really badly
for him.  You should have seen the look on his face when he was asked if he
"could do 15 years in prison."  Man....... can you even imagine?  He also
talked briefly about the incident that started all of this, saying he was
innocent, and can't believe that the guy who assaulted his date is walking
the streets while he's in jail, in the company of rapists and murderers, no
less.

If you can, tune in for Part 2 of the interview tonight.  It should be
interesting.

The latest news about what's going on with Jose (plus some Canseco vs. the
Hulk thing from a few weeks ago) is below.

Take it easy,
Mark


==========
  From the Tacoma News:
VERSUS: THE HULK VS. JOSE CANSECO
July 7, 2003:

On one side, you've got The Hulk, a comic book character/TV star/movie
star. On the other you've got Jose Canseco, a former baseball star/convict
who is a cartoon character of his former self. Let's get it on:

HOW HE BECAME WHAT HE IS

The Hulk: Nuclear physicist Bruce Banner was exposed to high-intensity
gamma radiation that causes him to turn into a monster that is the dark
personification of his long repressed rage and fury.

Canseco: A former baseball player with speed and power was exposed to
intense amounts of fame, fortune and illegal substances that have caused
him to turn into an ego-centric jerk.

Edge: The Hulk. Bruce Banner's condition was not self-inflicted like Canseco's.

APPEARANCE

The Hulk: A powerful giant weighing over 1,000 pounds. He has green skin.

Canseco: Once a 245-pound outfielder with bulging biceps, Canseco wears a
prison-issued orange jumpsuit.

Edge: Canseco. Orange is a good color for him.


PERSONALITY ISSUES

The Hulk: Extreme rage.

Canseco: 'Roid rage.

Edge: Tie. I don't think I would want to be around either one when they are
angry.


ATTEMPTS AT REFORM

The Hulk: Certain treatments, including psychotherapy, work for a while but
ultimately fail. Banner tries to control his temper as best as he can
through yoga and meditation.

Canseco: Community service, probation and house arrest had no effect.
Failed to attend court-ordered anger management courses and is now in jail
after failing a steroid test. He's awaiting his next hearing in July.

Edge: The Hulk. Yoga - maybe that will work with Canseco.


AND THE FINAL TALLY ...

The Hulk, 2-1-1: This guy can take out an entire city, and not just tipsy
patrons in bars or his wife's car like Canseco has done in the past.

==========
  From Court TV:
Steroid violation may land Canseco in prison
By Harriet Ryan
July 22, 2003:

Retired baseball slugger Jose Canseco will appear in a Miami court Monday
to plead with a judge not to send him to prison for allegedly violating his
probation with steroid use.

The former Rookie of the Year and onetime American League MVP tested
positive for the performance-enhancing drugs last month while serving a
two-year house-arrest sentence for assaulting a pair of tourists at a
nightclub in 2001.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Leonard Glick, who had already cited Canseco for a
probation violation in March after he missed a court appearance,
immediately ordered the former outfielder into jail and scheduled Monday's
hearing to determine whether a drug violation should nullify the
no-prison-time deal Canseco cut with prosecutors in the assault case.

If Glick determines Canseco violated his probation, he could sentence the
39-year-old ex-major leaguer to up to 15 years in prison.

Lawyers for Canseco are expected to dispute his steroid use and present
witnesses to testify to his good character.

Canseco's most recent legal problems — he was arrested on domestic violence
and battery charges in the past — began at the South Beach nightclub
Halloween night 2001. Canseco, wearing a "biker" costume, and his date,
dressed as an "Indian" in a feathered skirt and bikini, were toasting the
holiday with Canseco's twin brother, Ozzie, also a former pro baseball
player, and his fiancee.

At some point that evening, the foursome encountered two male
conventioneers, Christian Pressly and Alan Cheeks. According to court
records, Pressly lifted the feathered skirt of Canseco's date as she walked by.

Witnesses told police that Canseco became enraged and attacked Pressly and
Cheeks, assisted at times by his twin. Pressly broke his nose in the fight
while Cheeks suffered a gash in his mouth that required 20 stitches.

Canseco initially defended his actions, saying he needed to defend his
date, but a year after the fight, he pleaded guilty to one count of felony
aggravated battery with great bodily harm and received three years'
probation and was ordered to take anger management classes.

But in March, after he missed a court appearance while in California
working out a dispute over custody of his 6-year-old daughter, the judge
revoked his probation and sentenced him to two years under house arrest
followed by three years' probation.

Canseco stayed in the spotlight while on house arrest, charging fans $625
to hang out with him in a venture he called "Spend a Day with Jose."

After his 2001 retirement, Canseco frequently spoke out about the use of
performance-enhancing drugs by professional baseball players. The bulky
6-foot-4, 250-pound Canseco has acknowledged using steroids in the past and
estimated at one point that 85 percent of major-leaguers were using the drugs.

Last month, a routine drug test administered as part of his sentence
detected the presence of steroids. In court papers, his lawyers have
admitted Canseco had a steroid problem in the past, but denied he was using
the drugs in June.

==========
  From the AP:
Prosecutor Granoff says it was a 'clear ambush'

MIAMI -- A steroid expert for the prosecution testified Monday that he
didn't know about a long-lasting form of the illegal steroid former
baseball star Jose Canseco is accused of using in violation of probation.

The defense offered evidence of "Winstrol Depot,'' and claimed that no
valid studies exist on its longevity in the human body.

Prosecutor Jonathan Granoff complained to the judge that he was ambushed by
Canseco's attorneys.

"We've just destroyed their only expert witness,'' Canseco attorney Jayne
Weintraub said outside court.

Canseco, the 1988 American League MVP, has been on probation since November
after pleading guilty to felony aggravated battery in connection with a
scuffle with two tourists at a Miami Beach nightclub in 2001. He has been
in jail since June 3, when probation officials said he tested positive for
the muscle-building drug.

The defense concedes past steroid abuse by Canseco, but insists there is no
reliable way to know when Canseco used the steroids that showed up in his
urine.

"The problem is, you don't know,'' Weintraub said. "It's a science that's
not exact.''

Testimony on the admissibility of scientific evidence against Canseco will
resume Aug. 26. If the judge accepts the prosecution evidence, testimony
would follow on the alleged probation violation.

Canseco denies taking any drugs while on probation. He could face up to 15
years in state prison if the judge rules against him.

Dr. James Shipe, a University of Virginia forensic toxicologist called by
prosecutors, testified that the steroid Stanazolol, sold under the name
Winstrol, would last eight weeks at most in the human body.

"Some steroids do last months in 'depot' form, not Stanazolol
specifically,'' Shipe testified for the prosecution.

On cross-examination, he said his opinion would change if Stanazolol came
in depot form. Weintraub then offered a blowup illustration of Winstrol Depot.

"Quite frankly, judge, this is a clear ambush,'' Granoff said. "It's just
an ambush, clear ambush.''

The judge ordered the two sides to exchange scientific information and
delayed the hearing until a defense witness is available.

Canseco's twin brother Ozzie, also a former major leaguer, faced a
probation violation hearing before Judge Leonard Glick as well for a
steroid possession arrest in May.

Ozzie Canseco wants to bring on a defense attorney who cannot practice
before Glick due to a past conflict, and a different judge was assigned to
decide whether the new attorney can join his case.

Jose Canseco helped lead the Oakland Athletics to three straight World
Series appearances from 1988-90. Oakland won the 1989 series.

He hit 462 home runs in his 17-year major league career, the 26th-best in
history. He retired in May 2002 after 1,887 games with seven teams,
finishing with a .266 batting average, 1,407 RBI and 200 stolen bases.

Canseco, who pleaded guilty to felony aggravated battery in the 2001 case,
spent 30 days in jail for violating probation early this year by traveling
to California without court permission.

Hey everyone...

Jose turned 39 years old yesterday.  I'm sure the best birthday present he
got was being released from jail for 5 days, so he can visit with his
daughter Josie, who is in town from California, where she lives with her
mother.  The details of that story are below, and so is a story about the
$2500 "Day with Jose" packages you've heard about.  Not only that, but our
own Joey Santer (the member of this list who was the first to visit Jose)
wrote in to share his story with all of us.

Some of it is a bit hard for me to believe (Jose being offered $10 million
movie deals, a reality tv show, etc), but who knows?  Hopefully it's all
true.  That would be cool.

Anyway, enjoy the story, email Joey if you want, and if any one else out
there has been down to visit Jose, please send me an email and tell us all
about your experience.

Take it easy,
Mark


==========
  From CNNSI:
Big Man in the Big House

Posted: Wednesday June 25, 2003 9:51 AM


When Jose Canseco welcomed me into his South Florida home one day in
mid-June, the only 'roids he had to fear were hemorrhoids. He was rooted to
his sofa, under house arrest, in a kind of extravagant prison: Sing Sing
with bling-bling.

Not long ago the first question Canseco might have asked, when sentenced to
house arrest, was, "Which house?" He had five of them, including a
22,000-square-foot estate in Weston, Fla., patrolled by $25,000 turtles.
"It had four acres, a 5,500-square-foot gym, a waterfall, lagoon, pool,
caves, Jacuzzi, koi ponds all over the place," said Canseco. "And I was
alone there. The most miserable time I've ever had -- the most depressed
I've ever been -- was in that house."

So Canseco sold the place, and the one in Miami Lakes, and the one in
Brentwood, Calif. He pared his fleet of Benzes to three, Navigators to two
and Rollses to one. The ex-Athletic turned ascetic. And it's a good thing,
for last Friday police came to take what remained of Canseco's freedom,
removing him from his current house after a drug test -- mandated by the
court as part of his sentence -- turned up positive for steroids.

"I was a nerd, a little dweeb, when I was a kid," Canseco said four days
before the arrest. "In high school I was skinny and little. I am the
perfect example of Before and After."

Today, at 38, Canseco is a Carrara marble sculpture. "I run into people all
the time who knew me in high school, and a lot of them don't recognize me
as the same guy," he said. "They're always like, 'You have changed so much.
You've turned into a different human being.'"

He is a bigger, wealthier, vastly more renowned human being. Just not a
happier one. "How many millionaires commit suicide?" he asked me. And when
I replied that surely he has never been that despondent, the former MVP of
the American League smiled weakly and said, "Not lately."

How much of his depression may owe to steroid use Canseco would not say,
though the tentative title of his tell-all memoir, which he still plans to
self-publish in October, may provide a hint: The Ball Was Never Juiced.
What was juiced, then? "I think we're all aware of that," he said when I
asked him if steroid use was rampant in baseball. "I can't believe
society's that ignorant.

"I brought something to the game that restructured and changed the game,"
he said. "How that can be explained so that anyone can understand it will
be in my book."

Canseco was in the third month of a two-year house arrest for violating the
probation he was given following a felony aggravated-battery conviction
resulting from a brawl at a Miami club on Halloween night in 2001. On the
date he was required to be in Florida, he was in Los Angeles, visiting his
six-year-old daughter, Josie (who lives with Canseco's second wife,
Jessica), and offering his services to movie studios. "One thing Hollywood
has never had," Canseco said, "is a Latin action hero."

And so he was placed under house arrest. For this latest violation he was
facing up to 15 years in real prison, though his current house, to hear him
tell it, is already more San Quentin than San Simeon. For instance, he
cannot bear to look at his baseball memorabilia. "Those are hurtful
memories," he said. "It's like you were married for 15 years, and suddenly
you break up. You're not gonna keep pictures of your ex-wife all over the
house."

On his website, josecanseco.com, he is auctioning off all his baseball
souvenirs, most of which were scattered across his dining-room table last
week: his MVP plaque, two World Series rings, a photograph with Queen
Elizabeth. Said his agent, Doug Ames, "He told me, 'If it's from baseball,
get it outta here.'"

And yet, in the next room, on a TV screen just smaller than a queen-sized
mattress, a 25-year-old Canseco was circling the bases at Memorial Stadium
in Baltimore. Watching the highlight video were Joe Santer, 22, and his
21-year-old girlfriend, Genie Ficks. Santer, responding to a solicitation
on Canseco's website, had paid $2,500 to Spend a Day with Jose. "My
friends," Santer said, "think I'm crazy."

Santer works the third shift at a window factory in Selins Grove, Pa. A
"33" medallion (Canseco's old number) dangled from his neck. How long had
he labored to spend a single afternoon with his hero? "Every night," he
said, "for the past month and a half."

Before Friday's arrest Canseco had sold 30 future visits to his home, some
of them on the installment plan. "We have an Oakland cop who made two
payments," said Ames.

When I left, Santer and Ficks were in the pool with Canseco, chatting about
baseball. Not all of his memories are bad. "I remember once up in Boston,
during the playoffs, the fans were chanting "STAIR-oids! STAIR-oids!" said
Canseco. "So I flexed my arm at them like that." He flexed like the guy on
the Arm & Hammer box.

"And they went crazy," he continued. "It was funny because I won the crowd
over by acknowledging them. A lot of times the fans just want to be
acknowledged. So if you say, 'Hi,' or just have fun with them, they say,
'Hey, he's just like us. He's a nice guy.'"

==========
  From Joey Santer:
santer36@...

         Okay where do I start....first of all the entire day was great.  I
wasn't picked up by a limo at the airport because I made a vacation out of
the trip and went down on the Friday before.  So I met up with a friend of
Jose's at a gas station about 3 min from his house.  My girlfriend and I
were taken there in one of his navigators.  When I got there we just walked
right in and there were reporters everywhere.  Jose's good friend Doug
talked to me for a few min and told me to just walk around the house and
look at the memorabilia and things like that.  It felt weird being in his
house and walking around without even actually meeting him yet.  I saw him
because he was sitting on his couch giving an interview to Tampa bay news 9
at the time.  After about ten minuets Jose came over and greeted us.  We
talked for a few min and put on a little show of me knocking on his door
and him answering it for the news station.   (But it was all set up)

         Then he offered us a drink and brought me into his living room
where he had about 12 tapes setting out on the coffee table of all of his
homeruns.  His father had collaborated every one of his homers on to
separate tapes listed by year and team.  We sat there and watched about
40-50 of them but the time went quick.  All of the reporters wanted me to
put on his championship rings and pose for them.  NO PROBLEM!!!  Only about
6 million dollars on my fingers!!!!!  Then we went out in the yard to play
with his two dogs.  (Weimrieners) Zeus and Zena.  The TV. Reporters and
newspapers were still there at this point asking us questions and taking a
lot of pics.  After awhile we went and got our bathing suits on and got
into his pool.  We played with Zeus in there for awhile while sports
illustrated took some more pictures.  And then for about 2 hours we stat
there in the 95 degree weather and talked.  It was very interesting.  After
that we got out and Genie (my girlfriend) and I had a few beers while Doug
cooked us some chicken and hamburgers.  We had fresh fruit and corn
also.  just a simple little bar-b-que.  We still sat there and talked for
awhile and then the phone rang.  It was my mother and my friend who also
came along on the trip with us.  Just not to his house.  Jose said to let
them through the gate and they got to meet him too.  My mom wouldn't just
let me go on this special trip alone.  She had to meet Jose and thank him
and tell him how big of a fan I was.  Things like that.  It's cool though
my mom is a great person.
The 5 of us took some pics together and we exchanged email addresses, phone
numbers and said our goodbyes.

         The day seemed really short but that's just because I gave you a
quick rundown of what all we did.  I was actually there for about 6 1/2 hours.

         Some interesting things I learned.....first the house we were in is
just an investment house of Jose's.  He had two days to furnish it when he
was released from jail.  And since California doesn't have a house arrest
"program" he was forced to stay in Florida.  He sold all of his other homes
in Florida and only had this one and three in California.  So really he
doesn't have anything there with him.  I don't mean to rip on the whole
idea of spending the day with his because for me it was wonderful.  But for
some other people who are expecting to throw baseball with him like I
was.  Or take batting practice, lift weights, learn martial arts and all
the other things the site says you can do with him they might be
disappointed.  Jose didn't even have a baseball glove there with him!  That
was the only thing I was let down by.  I just wanted to be able to say I
threw baseball with him ya know? On and this just came to mind.  If you
have seen his 40/40 ring. Jose actually designed it has 47 diamonds and is
the only one in the world.
When the company made the ring they sent him the mold and Jose broke it so
it would never be a replica.  That one alone is 2 million!
         At his old house in Fl. he used to have 4, 25,000 dollar tortoises,
a 7 ft. iguana, dogs, and lots of fish.  Jose loves animals.  And if you
don't like dogs he won't like you.

        I know I am really going to jump around here so bare with me.  Let's
see.  The money I spent to see him went to the boys club and also paid for
some of the cost to have me there.  I don't know I guess the chicken,
hamburgers, and beer.  Jose is or was anyway allowed to leave him house for
an hour a week to get groceries and get his hair cut.  He was also allowed
to go to the gym 3 times a week and he spent alot of time at the boys club.
That's where he does most of his community service.

       Other fun facts.  Madonna actually asked Jose to marry her.  There
was also a story he told about when she lived across the lake from him she
had called him and asked him to come over and take her out to dinner so he
jumped in his boat and sped 105 mph over to her house with a helicopter
hovering over him with cameras so they could get the low down on the whole
madonna/jose story.  He had to call her and tell her about the helicopter
and that he wouldn't be over.  I don't know if you guys know this or not
but Jose never threw any punches in the bar fight 2 years ago.  He
explained the whole story to me.  He even mapped out the entire bar so I
could picture everything taking place.  I guess Ozzie threw three punches
and broke the two guy's faces with an open palm.  The reason for the whole
thing was Jose and Ozzie both had dates with them and ozzies date brought a
girlfriend of hers along.  The girls needed to use the bathroom so the
three of them walked towards it and Jose and ozzie stood and watched.  They
saw some guy lift up Jose's girlfriends skirt and grab her ass.  Jose
explained to me he and ozzie looked at each other and said "I know I didn't
just see that, there's no way he just did that in front of us" then the
whole thing started.  The other interesting thing about the ordeal is the
courts had Jose take a lie detector test.  Jose passed clearly but they
don't use a polygraph test for the good of someone, BUT if he would have
failed it would have been used against him!!!  Also the guys that were
involved and the bouncers at the club refused to take the damn test!!!!  So
Jose throws no punches, passes the test and the other money hungry assholes
(sorry) refuse.  But Jose is sentenced to 30 days in jail and then two
years of house arrest.  Whatever!

          We talked about the book which will be released during the
playoffs and World Series this year.  We also talked about the reality show
he has in the works.  Actually when I was there his manager took the call
that it was approved.  I can't say which station it will be on.  But then
again he's in jail so who knows what will happen with that.  Genie and I
were invited to be on the show; Jose even said he would fly us down to be
on it!  Basically all its going to be is like the Anna Nicole show where
you see what a day is like in her life.  Only you will see a day in Jose's
life.  And trust me you won't want to miss it!  Lots of women, let me tell ya!

          Jose told us stories of his cars, his fights with his ex wife's,
getting pulled over doing 180 mph and getting off cause the officer just
wanted to see inside his car.  Jose told him he can drive the damn thing
for all he cared!!

         And as a big surprise to me his fav. Team to play for was Tampa.
I'm sure you guys all know that now but before he never came out about it.
I would have thought it was Oakland.  That reminds me.  Jose isn't to happy
with big mac, Jose talked to mark McGuire's agent a few weeks ago and asked
why mark retired and Jose was told because mark was sick of baseball and
getting bored with it.  That's just not something you're supposed to say.
His fav. Teammate of all time was Walt Weis.

         Of course we talked about steroids.  He admits it as you all know.
He explained that there's a right way and a wrong way to take them.  He
basically does them for stamina to make it through a whole year.  He also
told me that once this book is released he will be writing a book on "how
to take steroids".  And if you guys don't know he had 4 movies to star in
each paying him 10 million.  Obviously he wasn't going to do all 4 but he
did like two of the scripts.  One of the scripts was on his counter.  And
I'm sorry but I forget what the damn name of it was.  Something about a
wife in the title though, I know that.

        You guys have to know I didn't do this to go get "the scoop" on Jose
I did this just to hang out with him and have some memories.  I have loved
him since I was 7 years old and never cared what people thought or said
about him.  I'm not very gullible and I do believe everything he told
me.  I know some of you are going to think I'm nuts for saying that but I
really do think he and I hit it off well.  I know not everyone that goes to
meet him is going to be invited back down or given his phone
number.  Everyone will have a great time and I do recommend doing it but
not everyone is going to have the same experiences I did.  esp. being the
first one.  All the media attention it got was nuts!!!!!!!! When I got home
from Fla.  I had 11 msges on my answering machine from radio stations
wanting interviews with me.
Espn, fox sports, sporting news radio, Wsv in South Carolina, sports talk
15 in Baltimore md.  Those are just to name a few.  Hell there was an
article in the newspaper in my home town before I even got home and no one
from my town had talked to me about it yet.  then when I did get home I had
more pics taken and more articles written.  I was in the Miami herald, the
Tampa tribune, and the daily item in pa.  Tampa bay news 9 had two part
news broadcast on Tuesday and wed. The 17th and 18th.  Tuesday night was
all about Jose and wed. Night was all about me.  It's just my 15 min of
fame.  I guess I am in the sports illustrated this week actually if you
subscribe you should have it if not it comes out in stores on Friday the 27th.

        That's about all guys.  If you have any questions I don't mind at
all emails asking me.  Just be patient for the reply.  If I'm not busy when
I read it I'll reply right away.  one more thing......There is a guy out
there who bid 10,000 to spend the day with him and have a candle lite
dinner and watch a movie.  if you belong to this list PLEASE email me I
want to talk to you!!!!!  thanks guys I hope you enjoyed the story.

==========
  From the AP:
Judge releases Canseco for five days to be with daughter

July 2, 2003
MIAMI (AP) -- A judge ordered former baseball player Jose Canseco to be
released from jail Wednesday for a five-day visit with his 6-year-old
daughter.

Canseco, the American League MVP in 1988, has been in jail since last month
after allegedly violating probation a second time for a nightclub scuffle.
Canseco was ordered held until a court hearing July 21 on whether he
violated his probation by testing positive for steroids.

Canseco's daughter is visiting from California, where his ex-wife lives.

Canseco, who retired from baseball last year, was charged with his twin
brother, Ozzie, for the 2001 brawl in Miami Beach. He was sentenced to
probation after pleading guilty last year.

Jose Canseco already violated his probation by leaving Florida for several
weeks and failing to start community service and anger management classes.
He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and two years of house arrest. He was
warned that further violations could result in a 15-year prison sentence.

I forgot to mention in Part I that Jose's official web site is
www.josecanseco.com - tell them I sent you.

As for the latest news, Jose in back in jail until at least July 21st, when
he will be having another hearing, and faces up to *gasp* 15 years in
prison for violating his probation.  Yikes.

What's my opinion on the matter?  Well, I guess I have mixed feelings.  I
mean, I feel really badly for Jose.  Another month in jail, at least - and
possible a lot more time after that - it's like it's a nightmare.  All
stemming from some stupid bar fight over a year and a half ago.  I hate to
say it, but if Jose wasn't Jose and was just some guy off the street, you
have to wonder if all of this (or any of this) would be happening.

But on the other hand, COME ON JOSE!  I mean, when you are being watched
like he is - when you are on probation - you have to start making the right
decisions.  You have to play by the rules and be squeaky clean.  And, from
what they are saying, Jose has not been.  I thought the first month in jail
would be a wake up call for him, and it sounded like it was, but now this.

I guess I'm disappointed in him, but more than that, I just feel sorry for him.

I've gotten some interesting emails lately.  Some very negative ones
ripping Jose apart, and others supporting him and telling me to send him
their best wishes (even one from a former teammate).  Unfortunately, I
don't know Jose personally, believe it or not, so I can't do that.

As for me, I'm going to remember Jose for the talented slugger he was on
the baseball field - my childhood hero - and not for all of this.  I barely
even follow the sport any more.  It's just not the same without him.  But
all these garbage from the past couple of years............ ugh.

-Mark


==========
  From the St. Louis Sports Dispatch:
Jeff Gordon's June 5 Edition
By Jeff Gordon Post-Dispatch Online Sports Columnist

Our daily look at who's in and who's out in the world of sports:

NO WAY, JOSE

Former big-league slugger and career knucklehead Jose Canseco claims the
media is giving Sammy Sosa a rough ride because he is from the Dominican
Republic.

"The way they are portraying him because he's a Latin, black athlete is
completely wrong," Canseco told ESPN's "Outside the Lines Nightly" show. "I
guarantee you if this were Mark McGwire or Cal Ripken Jr., a so-called
'protected athlete,' an "all-American' name, this would have never happened
because I've seen things some players have done, and they were white
players and they're completely covered up . . . if he were a white
superstar player, this would never, never happen."

Right. If a white slugger's bat explodes during a game, spraying cork
everywhere, he's busted. There is no cover-up.

As for the notion that McGwire was protected by the media, Tipsheet wonders
how Jose could forget the whole andro debate triggered by reporters
snooping around Big Mac.

But then again, Canseco is a knucklehead.

==========
  From Knight Ridder Newspapers:
Meeting Canseco isn't priceless

By Greg Cote

MIAMI - You can rent Jose Canseco for $625 an hour. He graciously will open
his South Florida home to you and be at your disposal for a barbecue,  for
a batting lesson, for relaxing quality time in the pool and for no added
charge you will enjoy the company of Jose's exceptionally friendly German
Weimaraner hunting dogs, Zeus and Zena.

It will be just you, your controversial, ex-communicated baseball hero, his
sniffing, bobblehead dogs and the unobtrusive friend/witness who will
quietly be in the house at all times to make sure you don't punch yourself
in the face, get all bloody, hysterically claim Jose did it, and then
speed-dial your attorney.

``I'm the poster child for lawsuits,'' explains the prudent host.

And so the bizarre latest chapter of the Jose Canseco story-in-progress
unfolded Monday inside the gated community of Long Lake Estates in Davie.

If you are expected there, like history-making fan Joe Santer was
Monday,  you glide past the uniformed guard, hang a fast right and soon
find yourself anxiously walking up a circular driveway and past a
decorative fountain toward God-knows-what.

Santer, 22, of Selins Grove, Pa., works in a factory assembling windows for
Philips Industries and might be mistaken for a perfectly normal young
fellow had he not been first in line to spend $2,500 for four hours almost
alone with Canseco. Joe brought along (at additional cost) his girlfriend,
Genie Ficks, 21, a dietitian's aide at a hospital.

Canseco always has been the athlete Santer most admired. ``I've been a huge
fan for 13 years,'' he said. ``Jose spoke his mind.''

But what would Canseco be like in person?

Santer, more than most, knew the stories that made up the dubious Canseco
legend, all the off-field tumult counterbalancing the 462 career home runs.
The tickets for speeding 140 mph. The ugly divorce. The liaison with
Madonna. The steroid assumptions. The claims he was blackballed from
baseball. The supposed tell-all book in the works.

Did we mention the fact Canseco is presently under house arrest - in jail
in his own 1-acre compound - and will be for the next two years? Yes, the
arrest connected with a Miami nightclub brawl, then a probation violation .
. . all of these things pinballed through Santer's mind as he walked past
the For Sale sign and pressed the doorbell.

``I had no clue what to expect. I was nervous and shaking,'' he said. ``I
was afraid he'd be a hothead, or not really caring I was there.''

At www.josecanseco.com you can bid on just about any type of Jose
memorabilia, including the man himself. Supposedly about 30 other folks
have so far bid $2,500 to luxuriate in Canseco's company, to (as the
Website says) ``Spend a Day with Jose.'' A fan from Orange County is on
deck today, followed by a businessman from Boston, then an Oakland policemen.

The lucrative fan visits will be incorporated into a pending (and sadly
inevitable) network ``reality TV'' show, according to Canseco, declining to
provide details.

Will it be better than the Anna Nicole Smith Show?

``God, I hope so!'' crowed Canseco, affable and muscularly ripped. ``Who
wants to watch a fat lady all day!''

The ex-player's friend and Monday witness, Doug Ames, said the
days-with-Jose are not about money (although he mentions credit cards are
now being accepted), but rather about rectifying Canseco's reputation, one
fan at a time.

``He's been so misunderstood,'' said Ames. `` `Steroids.' `Arrogant.' We're
doing this for the fans to get to see who Jose really is.''

One imagines a burgeoning cottage-industry for faded former stars who are
either retired against their will or striving to hang onto their retreating
celebrity.

What are we bid for brunch with Hal Greer?

How about grocery shopping with Jim Kiick?

You know what, though?

While we make fun, the fans forking out the big dough think they got a
bargain. It is the power of hero worship.

And it is this, too: We have come to expect our sports stars to be such
jerks in their dealing with fans, we are amazed when they are not. Even
when we pay $2,500 for Jose Canseco to be nice to us, somehow we are still
impressed when he is.

``A pleasure to be around,'' Genie Ficks, the girlfriend, described
Canseco. ``A joy. I didn't know if he would even talk to us!''

The Jose-days are part of a fairly orchestrated, arguably desperate effort
to maintain a lucrative enterprise of being Jose Canseco, the Miami-raised
slugger who will fall short of both 500 career home runs and the Hall of
Fame due largely to his own self-generated controversies.

Canseco and his friends/business associates speak grandiosely, but with few
details. They claim the reality TV show. The $10 million for movie rights.
That tell-all book. The idea that his former team, the Tampa Bay Devil
Rays, might soon re-sign the soon-to-be 39-year-old slugger.

Meantime, Joe Santer goes home a happy man, a thrilled fan.

And Canseco keeps his hero's crown a little while longer, even under house
arrest.

As for that reality TV show?

Well, don't say we didn't warn you.

==========
  From the AP:
6/21/03
Canseco arrested on probation violation


DAVIE, Fla. (AP) … Jose Canseco was arrested at his home Friday after
testing positive for steroids, a violation of his probation stemming from a
nightclub brawl.

The former American League MVP, who had been under house arrest for earlier
violating probation, was being held at Broward County Jail without bond
pending a court appearance. He'll probably face a hearing Monday or
Tuesday, officials said.

Canseco, who retired from baseball last year, was charged with his twin
brother, Ozzie, for the 2001 brawl in Miami Beach. He was sentenced to
probation after pleading guilty last year.

Canseco already violated his probation by leaving Florida for several weeks
and failing to start community service and anger management classes. He was
sentenced to 30 days in jail and two years of house arrest, and he was
warned him that further violations could result in a 15-year prison sentence.

Manny Hillman, a lawyer for Canseco, declined to comment. Another lawyer,
Gustavo Lage did not return a message seeking comment.

Jose Canseco hit 462 home runs in his major league career. He retired in
May 2002 after 1,887 games with seven teams, finishing his career with a
.266 batting average, 1,407 RBIs and 200 stolen bases.

The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Canseco has admitted using steroids during his
baseball career.

==========
  From the AP:
Former AL MVP in lockup until July 21 hearing

MIAMI -- Jose Canseco was ordered to jail Monday to await a hearing on
whether he violated probation by testing positive for steroids.

The former American League MVP was being held without bond until a July 21
hearing. He had been under house arrest for earlier violating his probation
stemming from a nightclub brawl and was arrested Friday on the results of a
June 3 drug test.

State prison spokesman Sterling Ivey has said Canseco recently tested
positive for steroids. Canseco, who retired from baseball last year, was
charged with his twin brother, Ozzie, for the 2001 brawl in Miami Beach. He
was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty last year.

Canseco appeared before the judge in jail-issue red jumpsuit and wrist and
ankle shackles and did not speak during the hearing.

"Jose's only statement to me was, 'But I do take this seriously. I can't
believe how this is spinning,'" Canseco attorney Jayne Weintraub said. She
argued to the judge that the only reason he faced jail was because of his
celebrity status.

Weintraub described Canseco as being "very disappointed and sad" and denied
the violation saying there is "always misunderstandings."

Jose Canseco already violated his probation by leaving Florida for several
weeks and failing to start community service and anger-management classes.
He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and two years of house arrest. He was
warned that further violations could result in a 15-year prison sentence.

While confined to his house, Canseco has charged people $2,500 each through
his personal Web site to "Spend the Day with Jose."

Autographed balls and posters also are for sale.

Canseco hit 462 home runs in his major-league career in which he has
admitted using steroids. He played for seven teams, hitting .266 with 1,407
RBIs and 200 stolen bases.


==========
  From the AP:
Around the Horn: Canseco jailed until July hearing

Jose Canseco was ordered to jail Monday to await a hearing on whether he
violated probation by testing positive for steroids.

The former American League MVP was being held without bond until a July 21
hearing. He had been under house arrest for earlier violating his probation
stemming from a nightclub brawl and was arrested Friday on the results of a
June 3 drug test.

State prison spokesman Sterling Ivey has said Canseco recently tested
positive for steroids.

Canseco, who retired from baseball last year, was charged with his twin
brother, Ozzie, for the 2001 brawl in Miami Beach. He was sentenced to
probation after pleading guilty last year.

==========
  From the Miami Bureau:
Canseco sent back to jail for a month
By Diana Marrero
Posted June 24 2003

Miami · Former baseball star Jose Canseco will spend the next month in jail
while he awaits another court hearing on charges that he violated his
probation by using steroids, a judge ruled Monday.

Saying Canseco has not heeded several wake-up calls, Miami-Dade Circuit
Judge Leonard E. Glick denied the famed slugger bond.

This wasn't the first time Glick has thrown Canseco in jail for violating
his probation. Canseco spent 30 days in jail earlier this year after Glick
found he left the state without permission and failed to begin
court-ordered anger management classes.

"Here we go again," Glick said. "He's in a red jumpsuit."

Canseco, 38, and his twin brother, Ozzie, were arrested after a 2001 fight
at a Miami Beach nightclub with a man they said assaulted Jose Canseco's
female companion. The brothers pleaded guilty to various battery charges
and were placed on probation.

The slugger has been under house arrest since March when Glick amended
Canseco's sentence to two years of house arrest followed by three years'
probation. Glick warned Canseco he would face up to 15 years in prison if
he violated the terms.

At the time, the former American League MVP pleaded for mercy and said he
understood he had to start being more responsible.

Since then, Canseco has completed his anger management course, performed
120 hours of community service at the Boys Club of Miami and is currently
paying $50 a month for supervision, his attorney, Jayne Weintraub, told the
judge Monday.

Glick was unfazed, saying Canseco needs to realize his probation is not a
joke. He said he was using his discretion to keep Canseco in jail until his
next hearing July 21.

Until last month, Ozzie Canseco seemed to be sticking to the terms of his
probation. Then, the less famous twin was arrested in Punta Gorda and
charged with possessing an illegal anabolic steroid, driving with a revoked
license and possession of drug paraphernalia.

He is being jailed without bond on probation violation charges and will
appear before Glick July 21 along with his brother.

"We told him this was serious business," Glick said. "Now his brother is
here again. He's here again."

Canseco's latest troubles stem from a drug test, which showed that he had
steroids in his system, according to his arrest report.

The 6-foot-4 , 245-pound slugger, who hit 462 home runs before retiring
last year, was arrested Friday at his Davie home.

Canseco, who caused a stir last year when he claimed most major league
players use steroids, has said he plans to publish a book exposing many of
baseball's dirty secrets.

Weintraub told the judge Monday that she planned to prove Canseco no longer
uses the muscle-enhancing drug. She entered a plea of not guilty for her
client, saying his arrest was the result of a misunderstanding she plans to
clear up next month.

She told the judge Canseco has been going through a custody battle that had
been taking his mind off his legal situation, but that he is on track again.

Weintraub said Canseco's young daughter was supposed to come from
California to visit him. She asked the judge to consider allowing him to
post bond so that the girl would not have to visit her father in jail.

Diana Marrero can be reached at dmarrero@... or 305-810-5005.

[-----
Note: I typed this up about a month ago, but apparently didn't send it.  I
moved a few weeks ago, and things have been crazy.  I guess this got lost
in the shuffle.  Anyway, this is somewhat old news now, but I'm going to
send it anyway.  If you haven't heard, Jose has been in the news
recently.... he's back in jail.  Long story short - he failed a steroid
test, which is a violation of his probation.  Ugh.  I'll send out a full
update in the next couple of days.  In the mean time, here's the older
stuff..... -Mark
-----]

Hi everyone...

Sorry it's been so long since you've heard from me.  I've really been
slacking, I know.  Things have been crazy around here.....

The last you heard from me, Jose had been released from prison and given
two years house arrest.  He hasn't been in the news much since, but a quick
update is that Jose now an official web site, and he's been auctioning off
all of his personal baseball memorabilia.  He's really bitter towards the
game right now, so he's getting rid of everything that reminds him of the
game.  Or so he says.

He's even selling "A Day With Jose" packages.  For $2500, a car will meet
you at the local airport and take you to Jose's house, where you can spend
an afternoon with Jose.  The price includes a second guest age 17 and under.

Originally, the Day With Jose was being auctioned off, but now it looks
like anyone can pay for one.  Anyway, Jose Santer - a member of this list -
won the first auction.  He's going to be Jose's first guest, and he'd like
your input for questions to ask Jose.  After his trip, he'll report back to
me and I'll forward on his story to the whole list.  So, if you have any
ideas for Joey, you can email him at santer36@....  He's going to
visit during the second week in June, so there's plenty of time for you to
think of some good questions.

In other Canseco news, Jose's twin bother Ozzie is now in jail for
violating the terms of his probation.  The story is below.

I guess that's it from me.  For the rest of the news, check out the
articles below...

Take care,
Mark

==========
Here is a link to a Jose interview from a few months ago (before the jail
stuff).  Jose talks about the book, which it sounds like he is still
planning on writing, amongst other things.  You can really hear his disgust
for Major League Baseball in his voice:
http://216.220.44.41/cftr/assets/general/JOSE.mp3

==========
  From ESPN.com:
Canseco holds auction for a day with Jose
April 15, 2003

A former major league star needs money. You might be looking for a way to
spend your tax refund and burn a vacation day -- or at least half a day --
all in the same 24-hour period.

Jose Canseco would like to hear from you. So let the bidding continue.

His auction house believes a day with Jose should cost no less than $2,500.

JoseCanseco.com has put up for auction the chance to spend the afternoon
with Canseco himself at his home in south Florida.

Among ideas for activities listed on the site: private power hitting
instruction, private martial arts instruction, a workout with Canseco, and
cookout by the pool.

The minimum bid is $2,500 and includes one guest 17 or younger at no extra
cost. Round-trip limousine service from the local airport is included but
not transportation to and from south Florida or accomodations is not included.

The bidding opened April 9 and ends Saturday. The site did not list any
posted bids.

Canseco, 38, was released from prison March 17 and resentenced to two years
of house arrest for his part in a 2001 nightclub brawl. He also received
three years' probation. If Canseco completes his first year of house arrest
without problems, he could be freed with the second year converted into an
additional year of probation.

Prior to his release, Canseco had spent the last 30 days in jail for
violating his probation when he pleaded guilty to battery charges stemming
from the Oct. 31, 2001, fight. He was released on the probation violation
charge, but Judge Leonard Glick warned him that any future violation would
result in a 15-year prison sentence.

The judge ruled that Canseco will be allowed to leave his home for certain
events but may ask the court for permission to travel under special
circumstances. Further conditions of his house arrest will be determined
following interviews with the officers who will monitor his sentence.

Canseco was a six-time All-Star who hit 462 home runs, 26th on the all-time
list. He retired last May after 1,887 games with seven teams, finishing his
career with a .266 average, 1,407 RBI and 200 stolen bases.

The 1988 American League MVP, Canseco and helped lead the Oakland Athletics
to three straight World Series appearances from 1988-90. Oakland won the
championship in 1989.

==========
  From the AP:
Ozzie Canseco charged with possession of drug paraphernalia
5/2/03

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (AP) -- Jose Canseco's twin brother, Ozzie, was charged
with possession of drug paraphernalia after police found an illegal anabolic
steroid in his car during a traffic stop.

Ozzie Canseco was also charged with driving with a revoked license after he
was stopped Thursday because the windows of his car were illegally tinted,
Charlotte County sheriff's spokesman Bob Carpenter said.

Canseco consented to a search during which the steroid Nandrolone and a
syringe were found, Carpenter said.

Jose Canseco, under house arrest for his part in the nightclub brawl in
2001, admitted last year that he used steroids during his baseball career.

Ozzie Canseco, released from jail after posting a $25,000 bond Friday, is
on probation for his role in the 2001 nightclub brawl.

The Miami-Dade prosecutor's office did not immediately return a call Friday
to detail how Thursday's arrest would affect Ozzie Canseco's probation.

Ozzie Canseco played briefly for the Oakland A's and St. Louis Cardinals in
the early 1990s, hitting .200 with no homers in 24 games over three
seasons. He had a lengthy minor league career and played in Japan.

==========
  From the AP:
A-Rod denies making remark to Canseco
May 7, 2003

ARLINGTON, Texas --Former AL MVP Jose Canseco claims he was told three
years ago by several players, including Alex Rodriguez, that he was being
"blackballed" by baseball.

In an interview with Fox Sports Net that was broadcast Wednesday night,
Canseco said he was never given a chance to go back into baseball after
playing for the Chicago White Sox in 2001 even though he had 462 career
homers and still wanted to play.

"Three years ago, I had a few players come up to me and say that I was
being blackballed," Canseco said. "One of the players to tell me that I was
being blackballed, to me, is the greatest player in the world, Alex
Rodriguez. All the athletes know why I am out of the game, it's an internal
thing, it's kept in the family."

Rodriguez, the All-Star shortstop now with the Texas Rangers, was the only
player specifically identified by Canseco.

After reading a partial transcript of the interview Wednesday, Rodriguez
said he didn't recall such a conversation with Canseco.

"I don't remember that. I really don't. I don't recall that. I just wish
him the best," Rodriguez said before the Rangers' game against Toronto.

When asked if Canseco was blackballed by baseball, Rodriguez responded, "I
have no idea. I haven't really thought about it."

Canseco is serving a two-year house arrest following a 30-day jail sentence
for violating terms of his probation for a 2001 fight in a Miami Beach
nightclub.

Rodriguez said he couldn't explain why Canseco hasn't played since 2001.

"Look, when you have someone with great talent, you often wonder why
someone's not playing if he has the desire to play. But that's something
that I can't explain," Rodriguez said.

The 38-year-old Canseco was a six-time All-Star who played 17 seasons for
seven teams.

During the interview with Fox, Canseco also talked about his experience in
prison, steroids, Mark McGwire and his tell-all book that he hopes will
"come out around the playoffs or World Series."

Canseco wasn't specific in the interview about what major league players
used steroids, or if he used steroids.

"The whole world will have everything there is to know about it," Canseco
said. "That's for the book to tell. Who used them, what was involved and how."

On his use of steroids, he said, "You know, I've never said I have and I've
never said I haven't."

When asked about him selling much of his baseball memorabilia on his Web
site, Canseco said it was not because of the need of money.

"The reason I'm doing that is because what baseball in general has done to
me in the last two or three years has left a real bad taste in my mouth and
I really don't want any memories of it," he said.

==========
Fro the Miami Herald:
Ex-ballplayer Ozzie Canseco jailed for violating his probation
May 19, 2003

Former Major League ballplayer Ozzie Canseco was led off to jail Tuesday
after a Miami-Dade County judge agreed he had violated the condition of his
probation during a traffic stop.

Canseco, the twin brother of former slugger Jose Canseco, choked back tears
after the judge ordered him held until a June 30 hearing. He could then be
released or sent back to jail. The judge denied a request for bond. He was
led away from the courtroom in handcuffs.

Ozzie Canseco was arrested May 2 in Punta Gorda, FL, and charged with
possessing an illegal anabolic steroid, driving with a revoked license and
possession of drug paraphernalia.

Those charges, plus leaving Broward County, where he lives, without
permission, violated his probation.

Ozzie Canseco is on probation stemming from a 2001 nightclub fight on Miami
Beach that also resulted in charges against his brother. Ozzie Canseco
pleaded guilty to felony and misdemeanor battery.

Hi Canseco fans...

You, you read right... after spending a month in jail (ouch), Jose was
sentenced to two years of house arrest.  It sounds like he will be able to
leave the house for "certain events" (whatever that means) and will be
allowed to travel if he gets permission ahead of time.  Should he violate
his house arrest, he will be sentenced to 15 years in jail.  Ouch.

Personally, I think this really sucks for Jose.  At least he's out of jail,
but he's still going to have to give up a lot of his freedom... something
we probably all take for granted until it's taken from us.  Hopefully he
will be able to handle it for the first year, at which time they might
convert the second year back to regular probation.

Remember as a kid when you played stickball and could call a
"do-over?"  I'll bet Jose wishes he could have one of those right now.  Let
this be a lesson to all of us...

All the latest news is below, including an editorial by Jim DeFede that
will probably annoy most of you.  But you know me, I sent everything out -
the good and the bad.  It's just a shame most of it's been bad for the past
couple of years...

-Mark

==========
  From the AP:
Canseco leaves jail, will serve 2 years' house arrest

MIAMI -- Jose Canseco was released from jail Monday and resentenced to two
years of house arrest for his part in a 2001 nightclub brawl.

The former major league star, wearing a jail-issue red jumpsuit, apologized
to the court for failing to complete all his probation terms. His twin
brother, Ozzie, was in the courtroom, as was his father and a priest.

"This has been embarrassing to my family and to my friends. ... I now
understand the seriousness of probation and I'm truly sorry,'' Canseco told
the judge.

Canseco -- who was the 1988 American League MVP and helped lead the Oakland
Athletics to three straight World Series appearances from 1988-90 -- also
received three years' probation. If he completes his first year of house
arrest without problems, Canseco could be freed with the second year
converted into an additional year of probation.

Prosecutors said they believed Canseco was genuinely contrite, saying he
was teary during a private conference.

"I saw it in his face,'' prosecutor Jonathan Granoff said. "Jail was a
wake-up call and it served its purpose.''

Canseco had spent the last 30 days in jail for violating his probation when
he pleaded guilty to battery charges stemming from the Oct. 31, 2001, fight.

The 38-year-old Canseco was released on the probation violation charge, but
Judge Leonard Glick warned him that any future violation would result in a
15-year prison sentence.

Canseco originally was sentenced to probation in November after pleading
guilty to felony aggravated battery and two counts of misdemeanor battery
related to the Halloween night fight inside a Miami Beach nightclub.

Glick ordered that the house arrest be served in Florida. He denied a
motion by defense attorney Gustavo Lage that Canseco be allowed to serve
the house arrest in California where he could continue pursuing custody of
his 6-year-old daughter.

Glick had issued a warrant for Canseco's arrest on Feb. 14, after a
probation officer reported that the six-time All-Star had violated several
terms of his probation. Canseco had failed to attend anger management
classes, had not worked his community service, had been outside of Florida
for longer than 30 days and still owed a small fine -- all probation
violations.

Canseco appeared before Glick on Feb. 18 and said he had been in Los
Angeles because of a custody battle for his young daughter. The judge
denied Canseco bond and ordered him held until Monday's sentencing hearing.

Canseco said last month that he unsuccessfully tried to arrange the anger
management classes, misunderstood the timeframe during which his community
service was supposed to begin, and spent several weeks in Los Angeles.

Canseco and his twin fought with two men at the nightclub. Ozzie Canseco
also pleaded guilty to battery charges and received probation. He has
complied with his sentence.

One of the men allegedly involved in that fight, Christian Presley, filed a
lawsuit in January seeking at least $1 million in damages.

Canseco hit 462 home runs, the 26th-best total in baseball history. He
retired in May after 1,887 games with seven teams, finishing his career
with a .266 average, 1,407 RBI and 200 stolen bases.

==========
  From the Miami Herald:
Judge sentences apologetic Canseco to 2 years on house arrest
BY LISA ARTHUR
larthur@...

After spending a month in jail, a contrite Jose Canseco apologized to a
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge and prosecutors on Monday for treating the justice
system with a cavalier attitude and violating probation on assault charges.

Despite his remorse, Canseco, a former Major League Baseball most valuable
player, will spend two years on house arrest and three years on probation
after that. He also has to take an anger management class and perform 250
hours of community service.

Any missteps would bring even more serious consequences, Miami-Dade Circuit
Judge Leonard Glick warned.

''I would not hesitate for one minute to send you to state prison,'' Glick
told Canseco, as the former slugger stood with his head bowed and hands
cuffed in front of him. He wore a bright orange jail jumpsuit. He has been
in a county jail since Feb. 19.

Canseco, 38, who grew up in Miami and attended Miami Coral Park High, had
angered the judge several times during the case, which stemmed from a brawl
at a Miami Beach night club in 2001. Once, he failed to show up for a
hearing, sending a note from his doctor instead saying he was recovering
from elective surgery.

Canseco and his twin brother, Osvaldo ''Ozzie'' Canseco, pleaded guilty to
felony assault charges last year. Jose Canseco could have faced up to 15
years in prison if convicted.

In exchange for the guilty pleas, both brothers were placed on probation.
Ozzie Canseco has been meeting the requirements, according to court officials.

Jose Canseco failed to meet any of the requirements. He told Glick Monday
that he had learned his lesson and called spending a month in jail ``my
worst nightmare come true.''

''I'm sincerely sorry,'' Canseco said. ``I never meant to hurt anyone or
disrespect anyone. I embarrassed my family and friends...Now I know the
seriousness of probation.''

Glick told Canseco he owed prosecutors an apology.

''All these folks were asking you to do was the basics,'' Glick said. ``It
was the deal of the century.''

Glick and prosecutors Jon Granoff and Joshua Gradinger said they believed
Canseco's time in jail had served as a wake-up call, and they believed his
remorse was sincere.

Glick refused to transfer Canseco's house arrest to California, where his
daughter lives. Canseco, the American League MVP in 1988, will have to
request permission from court officials to travel. He won't be required to
wear an electronic monitoring bracelet, but will have to report weekly to
probation officers, according to his attorney Gustavo Lage.

''And they can go to his house to check on him at any time, with no
notice,'' said Lage.

The Canseco twins, 38, grudgingly pleaded guilty in November to aggravated
battery for breaking the nose of an Opium Garden patron and splitting the
lip of another during a 2001 brawl.

The brothers maintained they were protecting Jose's date, who they said was
harassed by two men from California in town for a business convention.

Lage said the brothers were accepting the plea deals to get the case over
with and protect their families, not because they were guilty.

In exchange for the plea, Glick placed Jose Canseco on probation for three
years and ordered him to perform 250 hours of community service and take an
anger management course. He also ordered Canseco to pay court costs.

==========
  From Miami Herald:
Reality no show for Canseco
Jim DeFede/Commentary

Forget about MTV's Real World and The Osbournes.

Say goodbye to Anna Nicole Smith and The Bachelor.

I have the next big idea for a celebrity-driven reality TV show: This Old
Ballplayer, starring Jose Canseco.

On Monday, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Leonard Glick ordered Canseco to spend
the next two years confined to his house. The former all-star, who pleaded
guilty to battery charges last year for a fight at a Miami Beach nightclub,
violated the terms of his probation by failing to attend anger management
classes or participate in community service.

Canseco apologized Monday, saying he had no idea that people on probation
actually had to do what they had been ordered to do. He just saw them as
suggestions.

Canseco has been in jail for the past month, but will now do his time at
home, which, in my mind, offers the perfect recipe for a hit TV show.

We set up about 200 cameras in every room of Canseco's house, turn him
loose inside, and then sit back and watch his every move.

Just picture him: He gets up for breakfast, tosses a couple of Pop Tarts
into the toaster -- which the producers will rig to burn the slugger's
breakfast pastries -- and WHAMMO! The next thing you know, Canseco will be
cursing, ''This damn toaster!'' and beating it into submission with a
baseball bat that later could be auctioned off on eBay.

Or maybe one night, Canseco is watching a little baseball on his satellite
TV. It's the bottom of the ninth, the bases are loaded, there are two outs,
the game is on the line and just as the pitcher goes into his windup, the
producers flip a switch and kill the transmission. The next thing you know,
Canseco has put his foot right through the TV screen and is spewing a
string of profanities so obscene that by the time network censors bleep it
all out it will sound like the Emergency Broadcast Signal.

I'm telling you this has real potential. Especially as we are about to go
to war. The country needs a little mindless fun. And if anyone epitomizes
mindless fun, it's Jose Canseco.

You could even cross-pollinate with other shows. For instance, as one of
the stunts on NBC's Fear Factor, you have to run into Canseco's house,
throw a bucket of cold water on him while he's sleeping and try to make it
out of the house before he kills you.

Every week, Judge Glick could drop by for a surprise visit. There could be
other regular guests, such as Lorenzo Lamas, from ABC's Are You Hot?, who
could bring his red laser pen and point out telltale signs of possible
steroid abuse on Canseco's body.

The gang from CBS' CSI: Miami could come over for barbecues and then later
process the house for fingerprints, fibers and suspicious-looking stains.

Miami natives Trista from The Bachelorette and Colleen from Survivor could
spend an afternoon lounging around the pool in Canseco's backyard while he
watches excitedly from the window and debates whether he should break the
terms of his house arrest for a chance to join the bikini-clad beauties.
Meanwhile, John Walsh from America's Most Wanted would be waiting just out
of view, ready to pounce if he goes outside.

Maybe we get Canseco a few roommates like they do on MTV's Real World or
that awful WB show, The Surreal Life. What is Todd Bridges doing these
days? Is James Brown still alive? Better yet, how about Robert Blake? He's
out on bail. He could bring the cockatoo from his old show.

My God! Let's not forget O.J.

The Juice, Baretta and Canseco all in one house -- tell me that wouldn't
kill in the ratings. It would be the celebrity version of Oz, only without
all the prison rape scenes. Then again, if we can sell it on cable and
package it tastefully, who knows?

If we are lucky, the show could run for years.

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to send you guys the latest news on Jose, including his first
interview from jail.  I'll keep you posted as the news unfolds.

Hang in there, Jose...

-Mark

==========
  From the Miami Herald:
Canseco is jailed for violating probation
Slugger's plea for mercy dismissed
BY LISA ARTHUR
larthur@...

Jose Canseco Jr., a former Major League Baseball most valuable player,
could spend the next month in a Miami-Dade County jail after admitting to a
judge Tuesday that he's guilty of violating probation on assault charges.

When he finally gets back to court for a sentencing hearing on March 17, he
could face up to 15 years in prison.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Leonard Glick dismissed Canseco's pleas for mercy
and freedom on bond while awaiting sentencing.

''No bond,'' Glick said. He then instructed corrections officers to take
Canseco into custody.

Jailing probation violators is standard procedure. Because of his celebrity
status, Canseco will be held in an isolation cell for his own protection,
jail spokeswoman Janelle Hall said.

The former slugger, wearing a double-breasted dark suit, looked stunned as
he sat in the jury box with his hands cuffed in front of him.

His father, Jose Sr., and twin brother, Osvaldo ''Ozzie'' Canseco, looked
on in disbelief from the gallery.

''This is where faith comes in,'' said Ozzie Canseco, as one of his
brother's attorneys removed a chunky silver chain from around Jose's neck.

His father said Jose had been treated unfairly.

''The United States should be proud to have such a man as Jose Canseco in
this country,'' Jose Canseco Sr. said. ``This is very, very unfair.''

Lead attorney Gustavo Lage said after the hearing that an appeal or motion
to ask Glick for bond wasn't likely.

''I think the judge has already ruled on that,'' he said. ``Under the
circumstances I don't think that's an option.''

The Canseco twins, 38, grudgingly pleaded guilty in November to aggravated
battery and battery for allegedly breaking the nose of an Opium Garden
patron and splitting the lip of another during a 2001 brawl. Jose was also
charged with battery on a bouncer at the Miami Beach nightclub.

The brothers maintained they were protecting Jose's date, who they said was
harassed by two men from California, Christian Presley and Alan Cheeks, who
were in town for a business convention.

Lage said the brothers were accepting the plea deals to get the case over
with and protect their families, not because they were guilty.

Glick placed Jose Canseco on probation for three years and ordered him to
perform 250 hours of community service and take an anger management course.

He also ordered Canseco to pay court costs.

According to an arrest warrant issued Friday, Jose Canseco failed to make
monthly reports to his probation officer, failed to begin the community
service hours and failed to take the anger management course.

Another term of the probation prohibited him from leaving South Florida for
longer than 30 days at a time. He violated that, too, according to the
warrant. He's also behind on court costs and supervision costs. He owes
$247.91.

Lage said Canseco tried to contact his probation officer by phone and had
been in California involved in a child-custody battle.

He told Glick that his client was accepting responsibility by admitting his
guilt, but hoped to explain his actions to the judge.

Glick cut him off.

''Today was an opportunity for him to surrender to the court and he's going
to be taken into custody,'' Glick said. ``We'll set a hearing.''

Ozzie Canseco was sentenced to 18 months of probation, 200 hours of
community service and the anger management course. He has complied with his
probation.

Jose Canseco was the American League MVP in 1988

==========
  From the Toronto Sun:
Canseco doesn't get it
By STEVE BUFFERY

The FAN's Bob McCown did us a big favour last week when he interviewed
baseball slugger-turned-lunk head Jose Canseco on Prime Time Sports.

Canseco has one of those tell-all books coming out, probably next fall if
he can get out of jail in time to finish it, exposing Major League Baseball
for the dastardly organization it is.

In a telephone interview with the FAN, big bad Jose whined about the strife
and hardship MLB put him through during his long career, and how the
experience left him a bitter man.

DISGUSTED

"Because I am so disgusted with Major League Baseball, with what they've
done to me and others, I am getting rid of every single thing that I've had
involved with baseball," Canseco said.


"Everything will be auctioned off. Everything is gone. I don't want to see it."

The weird part is, Canseco never once mentioned the untold millions he made
from the game or any of the bonehead moves he made to embarrass the league
and the game itself.

He never mentioned the time he was busted for carrying a gun in his car, or
when he drove his wife's car off the road or his being charged with spousal
abuse of another wife or his role in the nightclub brawl that landed him in
jail this week.

Professional sport, unfortunately, has turned a lot of guys into spoiled
brats who believe because they are stars, society should cater to their
every whim and desire.

In a perfect world, we would boycott Canseco's book.

==========
  From the AP:
Canseco did it for his daughter

MIAMI -- Jose Canseco, in his first interview since being jailed earlier
this week, said the pending custody battle for his six-year-old daughter is
more important than a possible return to baseball.

Speaking to ESPN Radio yesterday from Miami-Dade County Jail, the six-time
all-star outfielder said his first few days in jail have been uneventful
but embarrassing following his probation violation and sentencing Tuesday.

"I've only been here two-to-three days," Canseco said. "Everything's been
all right so far. I've never been in prison or in jail before, so I don't
know what to expect."

Canseco has been jailed, albeit briefly, in Miami at least twice
previously, first in 1992 on a battery charge and again in 1997 after a
domestic violence charge.

Canseco said he will meet with his lawyers in the next few days to see
where he stands legally. The former Toronto Blue Jay could remain in jail
until a March 17 sentencing hearing for violating terms of his probation
for a 2001 fight at a Miami Beach nightclub.

The arrest stemmed from a probation officer's report that he was not taking
his sentence seriously and had failed to begin anger control classes and
community service, and that he had left Florida for longer than 30 days,
all violations of the terms of his sentence.

Canseco said he was aware of the terms of his probation, but his custody
battle over his daughter had taken up his time and had led to the violations.

"I was aware, but I got caught up with a lot of things in L.A. with the
child-custody issue with my daughter and that just consumed me completely,"
Canseco said. "It's just ironic where I'm trying to spend time with my
daughter ... and I end up in jail for 30 days which keeps me away from my
daughter for 30 days. It's extremely difficult to handle.

"I had to come in every month and check in with my probation officer," he
added. "I meant no disrespect to anyone. ... I just was thinking about my
daughter, getting that solved and spending time with her, and look what
happened."

Jose's really outdone himself this time.

Don't get me wrong, you know I love the guy, but what was he
thinking?  Apparently, he's broken several of the conditions of his
probation.  As you remember, Jose plead guilty to his part of a Halloween
(2001) bar fight just before his trial was set to start last November.  He
was given three years probation, which included being required to complete
250 hours of community service, completing anger management classes, and
not leaving south Florida for more than 30 days.  It seems he hasn't
started his community service, hasn't enrolled in the anger management
classes, and to top it off, he's been living in L.A. for the past two months.

*sigh*

Hopefully this will be a wake up call for Jose.  I'm sure he has valid
reasons for violating his parole - he says he's been busy with a custody
battle in California - but he needs to get his priorities straight.  I
mean, with him in jail now (likely for the next month, at least), what are
the chances he's going to get custody of his daughter?  I hope he's
released soon, but even more than that, I hope he starts playing by the
rules when he gets out.  Jose is a good guy, and he's too smart to act like
this.

Anyway, that's my two cents.  I'll send more news as the story progresses.

-Mark

P.S. Wanna see a pic of Jose in cuffs?  Cruise over to Canseconet.com...


==========
  From the AP:
Canseco violates probation from nightclub brawl

MIAMI -- An arrest warrant was issued for former baseball star Jose Canseco
on Friday for violating his probation stemming from a nightclub brawl.

Circuit Judge Leonard E. Glick issued the warrant after being told Canseco
has failed to begin community service, take anger control classes and not
leave Florida for longer than 30 days. Those were among the conditions of
his probation, as well as the payment of court costs and sending monthly
reports.

"The subject does not appear to take probation seriously,'' probation
officer Ileana Ortiz told Glick in a report. Ortiz said Canseco has been in
Los Angeles since Dec. 20.

Canseco's attorney, Angel Ruiz, said his client will appear before Glick at
an arraignment Tuesday. He declined further comment.

Canseco, 38, and his twin brother, Ozzie, fought two California men at the
Opium Gardens nightclub in Miami Beach on Oct. 31, 2001.

Canseco agreed to the probation terms when he pleaded guilty Nov. 5 to
felony aggravated battery and two counts of misdemeanor battery. His
brother, who played briefly in the majors, pleaded guilty to felony battery
and misdemeanor battery and also agreed to probation.

One of the men involved in the fight, Christian Presley, sued last month
for at least $1 million in a civil lawsuit.

A six-time All-Star, Jose Canseco ranks 26th on the all-time career home
run list with 446. He retired in May, finishing as a .266 hitter with 1,407
RBIs and 200 stolen bases in 1,887 games with Oakland, Texas, Boston,
Toronto, Tampa Bay, the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox.

In 1988, he was AL MVP with Oakland, teaming with Mark McGwire to become
the "Bash Brothers.''

==========
  From the AP:
Canseco could be jailed until March 17 hearing

MIAMI -- Jose Canseco was sent to jail Tuesday after violating his
probation for a 2001 nightclub brawl.

Jose Canseco is escorted out of a Miami courtroom after being ordered to jail.

The former major league slugger could be held until a scheduled March 17
hearing, Judge Leonard E. Glick ruled.

"I understand that I have to take responsibility,'' Canseco said. "I ask
for the mercy and understanding of the court.''

Shortly after, Glick ordered Canseco into custody.

"No bond,'' Glick said.

Wearing a dark double-breasted suit, the 38-year-old Canseco handed his
wallet and a thick silver necklace to his lawyer before being led out of
the courtroom, his hands cuffed behind his back.

Glick issued a warrant for Canseco's arrest Friday after being told the
six-time All-Star had failed to begin anger control classes and community
service, and that he had left Florida for longer than 30 days.

Those were among the conditions of his three-year probation, as well as the
payment of court costs and sending monthly reports.

Canseco ranks 26th in baseball history with 446 career homers. He retired
in May, finishing with .266 batting average, 1,407 RBIs and 200 stolen
bases in 1,887 games with seven clubs, including the Oakland Athletics,
Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.

He and Mark McGwire teamed in Oakland as the "Bash Brothers,'' leading the
team to three straight World Series appearances from 1988-90 and the 1989
title. Canseco won the 1988 AL MVP award.

"The subject does not appear to take probation seriously,'' probation
officer Ileana Ortiz told Glick in a report filed last week and prompting
the arrest warrant. Ortiz said Canseco had been in Los Angeles since Dec. 20.

Canseco's attorney, Gustavo Lage, said his client was involved in a custody
battle in California and wasn't able to arrange the anger control classes.
Lage also said Canseco misunderstood the conditions of his community
service, believing those hours could be served at any time during the
three-year probation period.

"He knew he was running the risk that he would give up early termination of
his probation,'' Lage said.

Canseco and his twin brother, Ozzie, fought with two men at a nightclub in
Miami Beach on Oct. 31, 2001. Jose Canseco pleaded the next month.

Ozzie Canseco, in court with his brother Tuesday, has complied with the
terms of his probation.

Jose Canseco pleaded guilty to felony aggravated battery and two counts of
misdemeanor battery. His brother, who played briefly in the majors, pleaded
guilty to felony battery and misdemeanor battery.

Prosecutor Jonathan Granoff said sending a probation violator to jail was
"standard procedure.'' In a case heard just before Canseco's hearing began
Tuesday, Glick sent a probation violator to jail for 366 days.

Jose Canseco Sr. said his son has been mistreated by the court system.

"He's been treated very badly,'' Canseco Sr. said. "He's a nice guy. He's
done very good things in this country.''

Lage asked Glick to not send Jose Canseco to jail, saying the six-time
baseball All-Star is a highly visible public figure.

"He's not going anywhere,'' Lage argued, to no avail.

Canseco admitted last year that he used steroids during his baseball
career. He claimed that up to 85 percent of all major leaguers took
muscle-enhancing drugs during the years he played, and said he planned to
tell all about the alleged steroid abuse in baseball in a still-unpublished
book.

Canseco was born in Cuba and raised in Miami, the city he still calls home.

==========
Miami Herald:
Judge throws former ballplayer Canseco in jail
BY LISA ARTHUR
larthur@...

Jose Canseco Jr., a former Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player,
could spend the next month in a Miami-Dade County Jail after admitting to a
judge he's guilty of violating probation on assault charges.

When he finally gets back to court, he could face up to 15 years in prison.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Leonard Glick dismissed Canseco's attorney's pleas
for mercy and freedom on bond for his client while awaiting a sentencing
hearing on March 17.

''No,'' Glick said. He then instructed corrections officers to take Canseco
into custody.

The former slugger, wearing a double-breasted dark suit, looked stunned as
he sat in the jury box with his hands cuffed in front of him as his
attorneys and the judge discussed scheduling. His father, Jose Sr., and
twin brother Osvaldo ''Ozzie'' Canseco looked on in disbelief.

The Canseco twins, 38, grudgingly pleaded guilty in November to aggravated
battery and battery for allegedly breaking the nose of one Opium Garden
patron and splitting the lip of another. Jose was also charged with battery
on a bouncer at the Miami Beach nightclub.

The brothers maintained they were protecting Jose's date, Amber Glick, who
they said was harassed by two men, Christian Presley and Alan Cheeks, here
from California for a business convention.

Glick place Jose on probation for three years, and ordered he perform 250
hours of community service and take an anger management course. He also
ordered Jose pay court costs.

According to an arrest warrant issued Friday, Jose Canseco failed to make
monthly reports to his probation officer, failed to begin the community
service hours or the anger management course and stayed out of South
Florida for a longer consecutive period of time than allowed.

He's also behind on court costs and supervision costs. He owes $247.91.

His attorney, Gustavo Lage, said Jose had tried to contact his probation
officer by phone and had been in California involved in a child custody battle.

Ozzie was sentenced to 18 months of probation, 200 hours of community
service and the anger management course. He has been meeting his obligations.

Hey everyone,

Sorry this is a little late.  I've been out of town and haven't had a
chance to get caught up until now.

-Mark

==========
  From ESPN.com:
Oh (Me and My) Brother!
Friday, January 3

Jose, Ozzie being sued for at least $1 million
Associated Press

MIAMI -- Former American League MVP Jose Canseco and his twin brother are
being sued for at least $1 million for beating a California man during a
Miami Beach barroom brawl.

Christian Presley of Laguna Beach, Calif., sued Canseco and his brother
Ozzie for battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and
conspiracy to commit battery. He filed suit Tuesday in Miami's Circuit Court.

Presley is one of two California men who fought the Canseco brothers at the
Opium Gardens nightclub on Oct. 31, 2001. The Cansecos pleaded guilty to
felony charges last year to avoid jail sentences.

Presley "suffered a fractured nose and lacerations to his mouth, disgrace,
humiliation and shame'' when beaten by the brothers, the suit says.

Angel Ruiz, the lawyer who represented Jose Canseco in the criminal case,
said "Mr. Canseco will defend himself and his brother will defend himself
in the lawsuit.''

He said another Miami attorney, Gustavo Lage, will represent the Cansecos
in this case. Lage did not immediately return a call Friday seeking comment.

Canseco pleaded guilty Nov. 5 to felony aggravated battery and two counts
of misdemeanor battery, agreeing to three years probation, 250 hours of
community service and to take anger control classes.

His brother pleaded guilty to felony battery and misdemeanor battery. Ozzie
Canseco must complete 18 months probation, 200 hours of community service
and the anger management classes.

Had they been convicted at trial, Jose Canseco could have gotten 31 years
in prison and his brother 17 years.

A six-time All-Star, Jose Canseco ranks 26th on the career homer list with
446. He retired in May, finishing as a .266 hitter with 1,407 RBI and 200
stolen bases in 1,887 games with Oakland, Texas, Boston, Toronto, Tampa
Bay, the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox.

In 1988, he was voted AL MVP with Oakland, teaming with Mark McGwire to
become the "Bash Brothers.''

Ozzie Canseco had a brief major league career. He also played for two
seasons with the minor league Newark (N.J.) Bears.

==========
  From the AP:
Canseco, twin brother sued over bar brawl
Jan. 4, 2003

California man seeking $1 million `Suffered disgrace, shame' in beating

Former American League MVP Jose Canseco and his twin brother are being sued
for at least $1 million (U.S.) for beating a California man during a
Miami Beach barroom brawl.

Christian Presley of Laguna Beach, Calif., sued Canseco and his brother
Ozzie for battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and
conspiracy to commit battery. He filed suit Tuesday in Miami's Circuit Court.

Presley is one of two California men who fought the Canseco brothers at the
Opium Gardens nightclub on Oct. 31, 2001. The Cansecos pleaded guilty to
felony charges last year to avoid jail.

Presley "suffered a fractured nose and lacerations to his mouth, disgrace,
humiliation and shame" when beaten by the brothers, the suit says.

Hi everyone,

Looks like Jose is making the news again.  See for yourself below.

Happy 2003!
-Mark

==========
  From ESPN.com:
Canseco likes the villain role
By Dan Patrick

Jose Canseco called in to the radio show recently to say "Happy New Year."
And -- oh, by the way -- he still plans to publish his tell-all book.

Canseco said the book should come out sometime during spring training --
even if he signs with a team. But I find it highly unlikely that he would
drop names and remain in the game, playing against some of the players he
may have named.

It sounds as if he is using the book as a hammer over the head of Major
League Baseball. If he isn't allowed back in the game and doesn't get a
chance to hit 500 home runs, he will publish the book and air all the dirty
laundry. No team has contacted him yet, but -- whether he realizes it or
not -- his prospective book may be scaring off teams.

While he hasn't heard back directly from any ballplayers, Canseco said he
learned through the Beverly Hills Sports Council, the firm that used to
represent him, that some players have inquired to find out if they were
included in the book. But Canseco won't tell. He said the reason the book
has taken so long to complete is that he wants to tie up any loose ends and
make sure it is a strong book.

Yes, Canseco is quite the penman.

In the meantime, he is also talking about being an actor. Canseco wouldn't
be the first athlete to cross over from sports into acting. For instance,
Chuck Connors became "The Rifleman" after a 67-game major-league stint with
the Dodgers and the Cubs. Canseco recently got a nose job and wants to play
a villain, a character befitting his bad-guy image.

Baseball already has enough problems, from Pete Rose's potential
reinstatement to Ken Caminiti's steroid revelations to last season's
averted strike. But six weeks away from the pitchers and catchers reporting
to spring training, Canseco is still there -- batting cleanup.

==========
  From ESPN.com:
Ugliest moments of 2002

10. Jose Canseco tells all
His comments during Steroids Week and his threat to write a tell-all showed
the ugly side of this erratic superstar, who was given plenty of second
chances in baseball.

Hi everyone,

A lot of you have sent me email asking about Jose's book and when it's
going to be published.  Well, I finally have an answer for you.  See below.

Happy Holidays!
-Mark

==========
  From a Peter Gammons article on ESPN.com:

...Jose Canseco has hired his former agent and longtime friend Dennis
Gilbert to help him get into movies. Canseco is having cosmetic surgery on
his nose, then wants to get into films as an action hero. Maybe he can
write a book about how some of the action heroes get their
size.  Seriously, Gilbert and friends have convinced Canseco to put his
infamous book on hold...

Hey Canseco fans...

Jose has been in the news for the past couple of days.  Remember that bar
scuffle he and Ozzie were in last Halloween (2001)?  Well, here we are a
little over a year later and it's finally time for the criminal trial.  The
Canseco brothers insist they are innocent, but decided to plead guilty
anyway.  With the guilty plea, they will each receive probation and
community service.  Had they gone to trial and lost, they could have faced
up to 31 (Jose) and 17 (Ozzie) years in prison, so if you ask me, they did
the right thing.  It's just not worth the risk.

Anyway, all the details are below.  If there is a civil trial, and I
suspect there will be, things will get interesting.  I'm sure the guys that
were allegedly beat up by the Cansecos will be out for huge money, and they
will likely get a hefty settlement.  At least that's my guess.

I have no new news on Jose's book.  If I hear anything, I will let you know.

In other news, rumor has it Jose will be signing autographs on November
16th in Secacus, NJ.  Prices are $35 - $60, depending on what you are
having signed.  You can get more information here:
http://www.signingshotline.com/signings/results.asp?Player=Jose%20Canseco&Big10=\
1

Lastly, I want to make sure you guys all know something - I do not know
Jose personally, nor do I have any type of regular contact with him.  So
please, do not send me things (via email or regular mail) to pass on to
Jose.  Thanks for understanding!

-Mark

==========
  From the AP:
Cansecos' trial opens; two rejected plea deal in August
Monday, November 4

MIAMI -- Jose Canseco buried his face in his hands, trying not to laugh as
one of the potential jurors told what she knew about his career.

''Does he play football or baseball?'' she said. ''He's not that big of an
issue for me.''

Canseco's baseball career wasn't an issue for many of the 25 people
interviewed Monday as jury selection began in the former AL MVP's trial on
felony battery charges.

While the majority of them knew snippets about the slugger, including
partial details of his October 2001 arrest, few potential jurors could name
Canseco's most recent team or any of his career numbers.

''He's a baseball player, but I don't even know which team,'' one man said.
''I'm not really a baseball fan to speak of.''

Welcome to Miami, where baseball isn't exactly the national pastime.

''I used to do track and field in high school and all the guys would talk
about him,'' the woman said. ''At that time, he was the thing. He made it
to the majors or the Super Bowl or whatever. That's how I got to know his
name.''

Canseco and his twin brother, Ozzie, are accused of aggravated battery for
fighting with two California men at a Miami Beach nightclub on Oct. 31,
2001. Each of them could spend up to 31 years in prison if convicted and
given the maximum sentence.

Jose Canseco told police that one of the men groped a woman who was a
companion of the brothers. Police said Jose Canseco grabbed one man by the
neck, punched him and broke his nose. Jose Canseco admitted pushing the
first man but denied hitting him. He said his brother pushed the other man.
Police said the man needed 20 stitches in his lip.

The judge urged the brothers and their attorneys not to speak with
reporters until after the trial.

The brothers turned down a plea agreement in August that would have given
them probation and community service -- a risky decision that led to
Monday's trial, which Circuit Judge Leonard E. Glick expects to last into
next week.

''We couldn't do that. It didn't make any sense,'' Ozzie Canseco said.

The brothers have told the judge they passed lie-detector tests proving
their innocence. Now they have to convince a six-person jury.

''I'm not a sports person,'' another potential juror said.

Jose Canseco was a six-time All-Star and ranks 26th on the all-time career
home run list with 446. Cut by Montreal in spring training, he retired in
May as a Triple-A player for the Chicago White Sox.

Canseco finished his career as a .266 hitter with 1,407 RBI and 200 stolen
bases in 1,887 games with Oakland, Texas, Boston, Toronto, Tampa Bay, the
New York Yankees and the White Sox. He also was the 1988 AL MVP with
Oakland, teaming with Mark McGwire to become the ''Bash Brothers.''

He grew up in Miami, was a high school standout there and even has a street
named after him. Ozzie Canseco, meanwhile, had a brief major league career
and played for two seasons with the minor league Newark (N.J.) Bears.

''I know they're famous baseball players,'' one potential juror said. ''One
of them is a future Hall of Famer, but I'm not a big baseball fan.''

Another man said Jose Canseco was one of his favorite baseball players.

''I pretty much have all his baseball cards,'' he said, then was stumped
when asked to name some of Canseco's former teams.

Then there was this from a Yankees fan: ''I liked him more than I liked the
Dodgers. The power he had to swing the bat, the speed he had on the bases.
He was good, then he was not so good.''

Jury selection will continue Tuesday.

==========
  From the AP:

Jose Canseco agrees to three years' probation

MIAMI -- Jose Canseco and his twin brother pleaded guilty Tuesday to
charges they beat up two men in a nightclub fight, agreeing to probation
and community service but avoiding prison time.

The Cansecos made the deal while their trial was in jury selection.

Jose Canseco, 26th on the career home run list, and his brother, former big
leaguer Ozzie, also will have to attend anger management classes.

Before the deal was approved, Circuit Judge Leonard E. Glick questioned
Jose Canseco.

"If you want to go to trial, you'll get a fair trial. But you'll be
gambling with your life and other things," Glick said. "But if you want,
let's get this thing behind us. Do you want to accept the plea?"

Canseco replied: "I do."

Jose Canseco agreed to three years' probation, 250 hours of community
service and the anger control classes. Ozzie Canseco must complete 18
months' probation, 200 hours of community service and the anger classes.

The brothers were involved in a fight in Miami Beach on Halloween 2001.
Jose Canseco had faced up to 31 years in prison, and his brother faced up
to 17 years.

Jose Canseco told police that one of the men groped a woman who was a
companion of the brothers. Police said Jose Canseco grabbed one man by the
neck, punched him and broke his nose. Canseco admitted pushing the first
man but denied hitting him. Police said the man needed 20 stitches in his lip.

Jose Canseco pleaded guilty to one count of felony aggravated battery and
two counts of misdemeanor battery. His brother pleaded to one count of
felony battery and one misdemeanor battery count.

"It was very, very difficult for them to accept making a guilty plea," said
attorney Angel Ruiz, who represented Jose Canseco. "They did it because of
the possible dark consequences to their family and children."

Ruiz said that while no civil suit has been filed by three victims, they
expect litigation.

"This will all be about money," Ruiz said.

The state dropped one felony aggravated battery count for Jose Canseco and
one misdemeanor battery charge for his brother.

Prosecutors said it was a fair result.

"We treated them like any other citizen of Dade County in a similar
situation," state attorney Jonathan Granoff said. "But if it went to trial,
we could have proved our case. We had multiple independent witnesses."

Glick withheld judgment in the case pending completion of the sentence.
They would have no police record from this case if they do so.

The brothers turned down a plea agreement in August that would have given
them longer probation periods.

Jose Canseco hit 446 home runs, was a six-time All-Star and was the 1988 AL
MVP. He retired in May, finishing his career as a .266 hitter with 1,407
RBIs and 200 stolen bases in 1,887 games with Oakland, Texas, Boston,
Toronto, Tampa Bay, the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox.

Hey everyone...

Long time no Canseco updates, huh?  There hasn't been any news out
there.  Many of you have written in asking what the latest is regarding
Jose's book, and I haven't really had anything to tell you.  Below is a
recent article from Dan Patrick, who interviewed Jose last week.  It
focuses on the book, and it sounds like Jose is planning on going forward
with it.

Baseball just hasn't been the same this year without Jose, huh?  Oh
well.... all things come to an end eventually, I guess.

Take it easy,
Mark

==========
  From ESPN.com:
Canseco not going gently
By Dan Patrick
9/20/02

They say time heals all wounds. But four months removed from a bitter,
unwanted retirement, Jose Canseco is still angry. A recent radio guest of
mine, Canseco seems to be more adamant than he was back in May that his
tell-all book be published. Time has not softened his stance. If anything,
Canseco is digging in at the plate and continuing to take swings at those
he feels wronged him.

When we last checked in with Canseco, he had begrudgingly announced his
retirement from baseball just 38 home runs shy of the majestic 500 mark.

At the time, Canseco was toiling in the minor and independent leagues. But
no major-league team was willing to take a chance on the then-37-year-old
slugger, for reasons he claims are clearly unjust.

An agitated Canseco also claimed he was being blackballed by Major League
Baseball. And, like a lover scorned, Canseco lashed back at those he felt
turned on him.

He threatened to write a spicy tell-all book about the game and its
players, citing steroid use, infidelities and various indiscretions he
witnessed during his playing days.

At the time, as a member of the media, I was criticized for publicly
advising Canseco against writing the book. I stand by that advice. Often a
source of amusement for me and radio co-host Rob Dibble, baseball's
unwritten rules and code of ethics would make this book a nuclear can of
worms for its author. I also have definite opinions regarding selling out
your friends -- former or otherwise. It has been my experience that nothing
good comes from tattling.

The road to the bookstore has been a rough one for Canseco, who has come
across various obstacles in reaching his goal (none of which is his
conscience). One major red flag should be that Canseco can't find a
publisher to back his book -- or, rather, his potential lawsuit waiting to
happen. Surprisingly, that hasn't deterred Canseco from his goal. He plans
to absorb the repercussions and legal ramifications on his own.

A risky move, despite the fact that Canseco is protected by the First
Amendment. He's within his rights to make claims as he knows them to be
true. It will be up to the individuals named to prove their innocence. In
essence, they're guilty until proven innocent. It might not seem fair, but
it isn't up to Canseco to prove they did, it's up to them to prove they
didn't.

What's incredibly sad to me is that this book is not about protecting the
innocent or ridding baseball of its impurities. It's a book about one man's
quest to reach baseball immortality. It's about one man, lashing out
because he's 38 home runs shy of 500. True, he was denied that opportunity,
but by writing this book, I'm not sure he's lashing out at the right
people. And was he truly an innocent victim in all of this?

Sources close to me and close to the Expos organization didn't feel Canseco
was blackballed from the game. I'm told he had his chance at a starting job
but he wasn't taking the responsibility seriously enough. It was his job to
lose and he lost it.

Regardless, Canseco wants the world to know his life story. In this book
we'll learn all about the injustices and discriminations he has faced. And
we'll read the "indisputable proof" that he was being blackballed. In doing
so, perhaps we'll gain some insight as to why Canseco feels so hurt and
betrayed, why he can't let this go.

Canseco will also reveal whether he used performance-enhancing drugs during
his major-league career plus various other aspects of his life in the fast
lane. Unfortunately, what will be of real interest is what Canseco plans to
reveal about other players. No one should reap the benefits of that --
financially or otherwise.

At the conclusion of our interview, Canseco sensed our concern and said not
to cry for him. But in writing this book, Canseco has become his own worst
enemy. If this is how he'd like to be remembered, as a player and as a
human being, that's his prerogative. As Dibble pointed out, we're not the
ones who'll have to look over our shoulders for the rest of our lives.

Hey everyone,

I know it's been a long time since you've heard from me, but there really
hasn't been much Canseco news out there.  Here are a few articles from the
past couple of weeks regarding the Canseco brothers court
appearances.  Apparently, the brothers turned down a plea agreement that
would have given them 5 years of probation, and will now stand trial.  In
Jose's words, "I would rather spend 31 years in prison than to lie and
compromise myself."

That's a pretty bold statement.  Personally, I'm thinking after a few days
in the slammer, I'd be willing to lie and compromise myself, but maybe
that's just me.

Anyway, all the details are below.  As always, if and when I hear anything
else, I will let you know...

-Mark

==========
  From the AP:
8/12/02:
Cansecos consider deal to avoid trial

MIAMI -- Former American League MVP Jose Canseco and his twin brother
considered a plea deal Monday to avoid trial over a Halloween scuffle at a
local nightclub.

Ed Griffith, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade County State Attorney's office,
said Monday the deal would require the brothers to plead guilty, but the
charges would not go on their criminal records.

Jose Canseco would receive five years' probation without a chance of early
termination, Griffith said. His brother, Ozzie, would face three years'
probation.

Both would also have to perform community service, stay away from the
victims and reimburse legal and medical bills of about $2,000, Griffith
said. They would also have to take anger control classes and undergo an
alcohol abuse evaluation, he added.

Prosecutors offered the former baseball players a plea on Friday. Defense
attorneys Angel Ruiz Jr. and Gustavo Lage said their clients needed time to
mull the proposed deal.

The brothers were scheduled to enter their plea at a 9 a.m. hearing
Tuesday. If they reject the offer, Griffith said a trial date would be set
within two weeks.

Jose Canseco faces two felony counts and one misdemeanor, and his brother
faces two misdemeanors and one felony.

The charges stem from fight at a Miami Beach nightclub where the brothers
were accompanied by three women on Halloween. Jose Canseco, who lives in
Miami, said another patron groped one of the women.

Police said Jose Canseco grabbed one man by the neck, punched him and broke
his nose. A second man needed 20 stitches in his lip. Both were California
tourists.

Jose Canseco admitted pushing the man but denied hitting him.

He was prosecuted twice for domestic violence in 1992 and 1998 and was
ordered to undergo counseling both times.

The slugger ranks 26th on the career home run list with 446. The 1988 AL
MVP was picked for six All-Star teams. He retired in May.

Ozzie Canseco had a brief major league career and played for two seasons
with the minor league Newark (N.J.) Bears. He is a Miami Beach resident.

==========
  From the AP:
Canseco's lawyer warned by judge
8/13/02

MIAMI -- Former American League MVP Jose Canseco skipped a court hearing
Tuesday where he and his twin brother were supposed to enter pleas on
charges stemming from a nightclub scuffle on Halloween.

Circuit Judge Leonard E. Glick angrily told Canseco's attorney that his
client faces arrest if he does not attend the next hearing, which he set
for Aug. 23.

Attorney Angel Ruiz said doctors told the former slugger he could not
travel from California while he recovers from voluntary surgery he had last
week. Ruiz did not say what type of surgery Canseco had.

Ozzie Canseco arrived about 20 minutes late at Tuesday's hearing, saying
"someone had stolen my car keys.''

Glick was not satisfied with the excuse.

"Sometimes we feel like the Rodney Dangerfields of the judicial system. We
don't get no respect,'' he said. "We told these defendants that they had to
be here on time.''

The charges stem from a fight that the Canseco brothers got into with two
California tourists at a Miami Beach nightclub on Halloween.

Jose Canseco told police that one of the tourists groped a woman the
brothers were with. Police said Jose Canseco grabbed one man by the neck,
punched him and broke his nose. Jose Canseco admitted pushing the first man
but denied hitting him.

Jose Canseco said his twin pushed the other man. Police said the man needed
20 stitches in his lip.

Jose Canseco faces two felony counts of aggravated battery with bodily harm
and one misdemeanor battery count. Ozzie Canseco was charged with one
felony count of aggravated battery and two misdemeanors.

Prosecutors offered the brothers a plea deal last week. Under the offer,
they had to plead guilty to the original charges, but the charges would not
go on their criminal records.

Among the terms of the plea deal, Jose Canseco would receive five years'
probation without a chance of early termination. Ozzie Canseco would face
three years' probation.

Glick said Tuesday that if the brothers did not attend the Aug. 23 hearing,
prosecutors would withdraw the plea offer and arrest warrants would be
issued for both brothers. A trial date would then be set for the following
week, he added.

Ruiz and Ozzie Canseco's attorney, Gustavo Lage, said their clients were
seriously considering the plea offer.

Ozzie Canseco declined comment as he left the hearing.

Jose Canseco was prosecuted twice for domestic violence in 1992 and 1998
and was ordered to undergo counseling both times.

The slugger ranks 26th on the career home run list with 446. The 1988 AL
MVP was picked for six All-Star teams. He retired in May.

Ozzie Canseco had a brief major league career and played for two seasons
with the minor league Newark (N.J.) Bears. He lives in suburban Fort
Lauderdale.

==========
  From the AP:
8/23/02
Canseco brothers turn down probation offer

MIAMI -- Jose Canseco and his twin brother turned down a plea agreement
Friday and will stand trial on felony charges related to a bar fight last year.

The former AL MVP and his brother Ozzie each are accused of aggravated
battery for fighting with two California men at a Miami Beach nightclub on
Oct. 31.

Jose Canseco reacted defiantly when told in court Friday that he could
spend up to 31 years in prison if convicted and given the maximum sentence.

"I would rather spend 31 years in prison than to lie and compromise
myself,'' he told Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Leonard E. Glick. The
judge scheduled the trial for Nov. 4.

Under the plea agreement offered by prosecutors, Canseco would have
received five years' probation, and his brother three years. They told the
judge they had passed lie-detector tests proving their innocence.

"This is the worst nightmare a celebrity athlete can go through,'' Canseco
told reporters outside the courtroom.

Jose Canseco told police at the scene that one of the California men groped
a woman the brothers were with. Police said Jose Canseco grabbed one man by
the neck, punched him and broke his nose. Jose Canseco admitted pushing the
first man but denied hitting him.

Jose Canseco said his brother pushed the other man. Police said the man
needed 20 stitches in his lip.

Jose Canseco was the 1988 AL MVP with Oakland. He was a six-time All-Star
and ranks 26th on the all-time career home run list with 446. He retired in
May.

Canseco was prosecuted twice for domestic violence-related charges, in 1992
and 1998. He was ordered to get counseling both times.

Ozzie Canseco played in 24 major-league games over three years during the
early 1990s, with Oakland and St. Louis. He faces slightly lesser charges
than his brother and could be sentenced to a maximum of 17 years if convicted.

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to let you all know that I will be going away for a few weeks
in a couple of days.  I'm heading down to Florida, where I am going to work
on getting certified as a Divemaster (scuba diving), and am going to take a
family vacation too.  Chances are that you won't hear from me again until
sometime in July.  I just wanted to let you know.

I haven't gotten around to posting your notes for Jose yet, and I probably
won't get a chance to until July.  If you haven't sent something in yet and
would like to, you still can.  Just email "mark@..." and be sure
to use the subject line "Email For Jose"...

Last week, I wrote that I was "disappointed" when I found out Jose admitted
to taking steroids.  I received an interesting response from that
comment... Many of you brushed off the news, saying "lots of guys do it"
and making other excuses for Jose.  Another groups of you was furious with
him, calling him all sorts of names, and cursing me just for being a
fan.  Most of you seemed to feel like I do though -  disappointed, probably
knowing deep down that Jose had been on the stuff, but hoping he really was
just a (natural) freak of nature.

In any case, here's my view on the whole thing... Yes, a lot of players use
steroids and I can see how there would be temptation for other guys to
juice up as well, to try to level the playing field.  But that doesn't make
it right.  Steroid use taints the accomplishments of those using them.  Is
Jose's 40-40 season as impressive, now that you know he was probably taking
steroids at the time?  How about those 500 foot homers?  Are you still as
in awe, knowing they might have been drug enhanced?  I still have many very
fond memories of Jose, and I'm trying not to let this latest news take that
away from me, yet still.... I am disappointed.  There's really no other
word for it that that.

You can only imagine what guys like Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays
or Ted Williams could have accomplished if they had access to all of
today's technology, let alone illegal performance enhancing drugs.  But
personally, I'd rather imagine that Jose
could have still accomplished all he did in his career without using
them.  Now I guess I will always have to wonder.

The same goes for guys like McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds.  Even if they are
clean, you can't help but wonder...

As for Jose's upcoming book (which probably won't be in book stores until
at least the fall), I still think it's a bad idea.  Hopefully, Jose will
write an entertaining book that will clear up the negative perceptions
about him... but unfortunately, I think it's more likely that he will be
perceived as a sore loser who is bitter and just trying to tarnish other
players' good names and the game of baseball.  Then again, maybe some good
will come of it.  Maybe baseball will actually begin random drug testing
and clean itself up.

Ok, I'm done my rant now.  And please, don't get me wrong - I'm still a
Canseco fan, and I always will be.  I'm just a disappointed one.

-Mark

==========
  From the Palm Beach Post:
Bouton: Canseco 'a jerk' with pen
By Karen Crouse
Friday, May 31, 2002

If Jose Canseco is smart -- um, scratch that.

If Jose Canseco has any sense -- nope, that won't work either.

If Jose Canseco doesn't want to waste his time, he won't bother seeking a
bon mot from Jim Bouton for the back cover of the bestseller he says is
waiting to be written about his life and times in baseball.

Bouton has been there, written that. He is the author of the definitive
outside-the-lines book about baseball. Ball Four was a groundbreaking look
at the former knuckleball pitcher's 1969 season with the expansion Seattle
Pilots.

Ball Four did for sports books what MTV would do 32 years later for Ozzy
Osbourne; it revealed the real people behind the public personas.

Bouton's literary debut, which was published in 1970, remains the
largest-selling sports book ever, with millions of dog-eared paperback
copies gracing America's bookshelves.

Canseco has made like Babe Ruth and pointed his finger at the section of
sports classics and promised that his book is going to land right there.

"It's going to be the most interesting book sports has ever seen,'' Canseco
said this month, after announcing his retirement from baseball. "It's going
to be incredible."

Bouton and Canseco, a pair of bookends in the sports reality genre?
Puh-leeze. You might as well compare Howard Stern's commentary to Charles
Osgood's.

Bouton wrote a valentine to baseball. His love of the game and his fondness
for the overgrown boys who play it permeated every page. What Canseco is
working on sounds like a pipe bomb that will injure the reputations of some
very prominent ex-teammates. His bitterness toward the game is palpable
when he speaks of "not getting an opportunity" to reach the 500 home run
milestone because erstwhile friends in the majors turned their backs on him.

Canseco, 37, was in Class AAA when he retired, sitting on 462 home runs.
Hell apparently hath no fury like a slugger scorned.

Canseco, who grew up in Miami, is promising to be more like Matt Drudge
than Roger Angell, recklessly throwing everything he knows into an unsavory
stew not fit for the discriminating palate.

Bouton has a hard time digesting the news that Canseco plans to out
teammates who were steroid users and sing about incidences of racial
disharmony.

"I hate to say this because I don't want to be attacking a fellow author,"
Bouton said when reached at his home in Massachusetts, "but (Canseco) has
always been a jerk. He's just entered a new level of jerkdom and you can
quote me on that.''

Bouton wasn't without his critics. Long as he lives, he'll never forget the
quote from an opposing player, Pete Rose, who screamed during a game that
Bouton was pitching:

"(Expletive) you, Shakespeare!"

Bouton didn't uncover dirt in Ball Four so much as he lifted the milky veil
on the professional ballplayer's life. That was crime enough for many
insiders. A lot of baseball people -- particularly in management -- had a
problem with the sport's apple-pie image being sliced and diced at all.

The readers, on the other hand, loved that Bouton humanized their heroes.
That wasn't Bouton's intention when he set out to keep a diary of the
Pilots' first season. Upon further reflection, he's glad it turned out that
way.

"I think we are all better off looking across at someone, rather than up,''
he wrote in the preface of a 1981 reissue of the book.

Bouton kept paper and pen at the ready in 1969, the better to scribble
things he saw and heard. "If Jose Canseco didn't keep a daily diary, how's
he going to write his book?" Bouton wondered. "What's it going to be, based
on his memory?"

Bouton's copious notes formed a first draft that was 1,500 pages. Bouton
carefully weighed what he put in the final draft.

For every "bombshell" revelation that he included -- about the players' use
of amphetamines, for example, or Mickey Mantle's fondness for the bottle --
there were juicy nuggets that Bouton deliberately left out.

"I don't like being described as the guy who wrote the first shocking
tell-all book about baseball,'' Bouton said. "It wasn't a tell-all book. It
was a tell-some book. I had a line I didn't cross out of respect for my
teammates. I wasn't going to invade their privacy so I left out a lot of
things."

The walls of privacy, once erected around professional athletes by
publicists and journalists, have come tumbling down in the past 30 years.
Today we know more than we want to about their habits and hobbies and home
lives.

The revelations in Ball Four that players cheat on their wives and stay up
late drinking and partying? Those insights seem quaint as a curfew today.

Honestly, what is Canseco going to write that can possibly shock us? That a
teammate stole his bat and tried to sell it on eBay? That a clubhouse
attendant allegedly molested little boys he invited into the team's inner
sanctum? That some of those players allegedly had the little boys buy drugs
for them?

That one teammate was out partying at 4 a.m. and was robbed of $44,000 in
cash and jewelry that he had on his person? That a former league MVP winner
suffered a pre-season wrist injury while popping wheelies on his Harley and
had to sit out seven weeks? That there are gay players in baseball? That
there are recovering alcoholics and steroid users, too?

No way, Jose. Baseball fans already have read it all -- in their morning
newspapers.

"I don't think anything he writes is going to be shocking to anybody,''
Bouton said. "Most people understand professional ballplayers are teenagers
in adult bodies.''

Bouton's book provided us with the first clues of why they are called the
boys of summer. We don't need Canseco to slam home the fact that our
baseball stars are flawed. We get pelted with evidence every day. Unlike
Bouton in his time, Canseco wouldn't be telling us anything we didn't know
or at least strongly suspect.

"I think his book is a bad idea,'' Bouton said. "I don't think anybody's
going to read it.''

==========
  From the Sacramento Bee:
Steroid use claims shake game, bring varied responses
By Nick Peters
Sunday, June 2, 2002

SAN FRANCISCO -- One week ago, the juiciest baseball topic was speculation
that a baseball player would admit his homosexuality. Since, two steroid
users came out of the closet, unleashing a furor that dominated the game.

Jose Canseco and Ken Caminiti merely confirmed what everyone believed all
along, yet their candor ignited a nationwide controversy and elicited a
varied range of responses that touched on all elements of a heretofore
taboo subject.

Sports columnists suddenly had the green light to expound on steroid use,
which is either rampant or miniscule, according to who's talking. Canseco
claimed 85 percent of major-leaguers use muscle-enhancing substances.
Caminiti's estimate was 50 percent.

The reaction came in different stages. There was anger, indignation,
denial, disbelief, confirmation, moralizing about tainted records and,
finally, the key to the issue -- a legitimate concern about health risks
and finding a solution to the problem.

"Everybody hates a snitch," observed Dusty Baker, a modern manager who
embraces the old-school philosophy that what you say, hear and do in the
clubhouse, stays in the clubhouse. That notion, of course, is widespread.

Athletes, in general, regard the locker room as their sanctuary. It helps
develop a them-vs.-us mentality that permeates the sports world and
ostracizes those who break the code, as pitcher Jim Bouton did in his
groundbreaking "Ball Four" many years ago.

Whereas Caminiti's confession in SI created some sympathy because of his
longtime dependency on drugs and alcohol and the fact he's regarded as a
"gamer," Canseco was condemned for his intent to make his memoirs a
tell-all exposé.

"I think this downgrades Caminiti a little," Phillies catcher Mike
Lieberthal said. "Canseco, he's a little shaky anyway. I don't know if
anyone pays attention to what he says anyway. But Caminiti? He's a
respected guy. I'm surprised he would do that."

Marlins outfielder Cliff Floyd: "I can respect Caminiti, but Canseco?
Please! Unless you know 100 percent that someone is doing steroids, you
shouldn't say anything. He should put down everybody's name he thinks is
using it. He might have to move to another country."

Mets first baseman Mo Vaughn: "Don't use the game for 10 to 15 years, make
your loot, then when it's over, bad-mouth the players. That's bull."

Conspiracy theory
When Canseco and Caminiti came clean, it provided fodder for those who
would taint the recent record-shattering achievements of Mark McGwire,
Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds, among others.

There's no question Canseco and Caminiti fueled the conspiracy theorists,
but some prominent players immediately pointed out that the recent home-run
outbursts are more a reflection of skill and dedication than of outside
influences.

"Let me tell you why Barry Bonds hit 73 homers," Vaughn said. "Because he's
a great hitter. Because the Giants moved out of Candlestick Park into a
place where the wind doesn't blow as much."

Added Giambi: "I know this stuff is newsworthy, but hopefully, people don't
buy into it. There's no miracle thing for this game; either you have talent
or you don't. One common thread of all the greats in the game, they've had
longevity."

Mike Piazza: "I think this has created a lot of unfortunate hysteria
because this is still a skill game. If all it took to hit a home run was
being big and strong, then every Mr. Olympia contestant would be in the
major leagues hitting home runs.

"I just find it disturbing that people think the only reason guys are
hitting 50, 60, 70 home runs is steroids. There are a lot more young
pitchers in the game who haven't had time in the minors to develop, and the
ballparks are smaller."

Integrity of the game
The issue of performance enhancers brushed the Cardinals' clubhouse during
McGwire's assault on the single-season home run record in 1998. It was
learned he used androstenedione, a legal substance available over the
counter at health stores.

Tony La Russa, McGwire's manager in Oakland and St. Louis, underscored his
belief that McGwire did nothing improper while developing his body but
conceded that Caminiti's admission raises an issue of credibility.

"I knew Mark his entire career, and I know the amount of work and training
he put into developing himself," La Russa said. "Caminiti is a guy who I
respected for the way he played. But numbers in this game are sacred. What
you're talking about creates a taint."

Added Arizona manager Bob Brenly: "It sucks for the guys who have earned it
naturally. The guys who spend the time in the weightroom, watch what they
eat, take care of themselves. It's a shame to cast a cloud of suspicion
over them because of the actions of a few people."

White Sox DH Frank Thomas, a 6-foot-5, 275-pound former football player,
said his strength comes from pumping iron and that he advocates testing
players to determine steroid use.

"I don't know who's on and who's not on," Thomas said. "There is definitely
more activity in the weight room nowadays. I was hoping that it was just
old guys working hard in the weight room."

Padres reliever Trevor Hoffman, a teammate when Caminiti earned Most
Valuable Player honors while on steroids in 1996, wouldn't concede the
achievement was tainted, but he realizes that others will.

"That's not my call," Hoffman said. "Unfortunately, it's not going to hold
the same credibility that it did before we knew what went on. I look at it
as a situation where Cammy still had to square the ball up, he still had to
hit the ball out of the park.

"And he had to do it in situations that are not easy, with runners in
scoring position and 45,000 or 50,000 people screaming. Just because you're
on steroids, that's not easy. He literally picked us up on his back and
carried us to the title."

How serious is it?
Despite the claims of Canseco and Caminiti, there are indications steroid
use isn't that widespread in baseball. Steve Finley and Luis Gonzalez,
former Caminiti teammates, insist they were unaware of his involvement.
Padres general manager Kevin Towers, who has been outspoken for years about
the need for Major League Baseball to test players for steroids, wasn't
surprised. Nor was former San Diego pitcher Sterling Hitchcock.

"I didn't know for sure," Towers recalled. "Guys don't do it in front of
you. But guys get bulked up during the offseason and come in bigger and
stronger, and you wonder."

Hitchcock, now with the Yankees: "I don't think it's a big surprise to
anybody. You knew he used them. And it would be hard to say (Padres
management) didn't know it was going on."

Most people involved in the game, however, suggest that claims of even 50
percent steroid users are ludicrous.

"I don't question that (steroids) are in the game, but I definitely don't
think it's rampant," Piazza said. "It's ridiculous to speculate how much.
I'm not defending, criticizing or condoning it. I just think this is
another example of society obsessed with finding something negative."

Phillies trainer Jeff Cooper: "The numbers they're throwing around are
outrageous. I would say it's in the low single digits. It's out there, but
it's not exclusive to us or pro sports or college sports. It's in society.
You see it, but it's still in the single digits."

Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon: "I know we don't have anybody in this
locker room on steroids. I'm just dumbfounded how you get that percentage.
I'd be really surprised if anybody on my team is using steroids."

A cry for testing
When the anger subsided, it dawned on some that the recent confessions
finally took a potential problem off the back burner and moved it up the
priority list in the restructuring of baseball.

MLB and the Players Association both have ignored the problem, hoping it
would go away. Arizona pitcher Rick Helling, a member of the union's
negotiating committee, said the union has never fought testing because the
owners have never asked for it. The latest proposal from the owners does
contain such a provision.

"The feeling I'm getting is we've fought against it or turned it down,"
Helling said. "Well, it's never been an issue. Obviously, it's going to be
an issue this time. We'll talk about it and try to figure out what's best
for players, first of all, and the overall game."

The question is why hasn't it been an issue? When the Blue Cross and Blue
Shield Association's Healthy Competition Foundation issued a call to the
game's 60 top sluggers in 2000 to take a drug-free pledge, merely two
signed the pledge.

According to Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty: "I don't think we have enough
facts or information. We've received nothing from baseball to give us any
indication for us to be concerned. I would think that baseball will start
paying attention to it."

Sacramento's Larry Bowa, the crusty Phillies manager often regarded as too
old school, is in favor of testing, as is Philadelphia pitcher Robert Person.

"Maybe they can kill two birds with one stone," Bowa said. "Agree on a
(labor) contract and steroid testing. That would do a lot for baseball and
fans' perception of the game."

Added Person: "I wish they would (test). There's no testing, and you're
supposed to wonder why everyone is a home-run hitter. You see some guys,
and it's obvious. I want testing."

The Blue Shield/Blue Cross group projects that one million youth and 17
million adults are using performance-enhancing substances, steroids among
the most prevalent.

The survey also found that nine in 10 adults and youths disapprove of
athletes taking performance-enhancing drugs. These drugs have adverse
effects on virtually every organ in the body.

"Something's going to have to happen, somebody dies, somebody gets cancer,
and all of a sudden, there will be so much public pressure that something
will have to be done," Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell said.

Twins outfielder Jacque Jones grasps the severity and places it in perspective.

"Your body's going to start breaking down," he said. "It's just bad for
your health. You think of how it's going to help you get more money, but
you've got to think about who's going to play with your kids when you're
done playing."