José Canseco
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José Canseco Capas, Jr. (born July 2, 1964 in Havana, Cuba) is a former outfielder and designated hitter in Major League Baseball, and is the twin brother of former major league player Ozzie Canseco.
Biography
Canseco's family left Cuba when he and his brother were infants, and he grew up in Miami, Florida, in the United States. Canseco did not attend college, having been drafted in the 15th round by the Oakland Athletics in 1982.[Jose Canseco's official website], accessed April 16, 2006 He entered the major leagues in 1986 and was an immediate splash, being named the American League's Rookie of the Year after connecting on 33 home runs that year. In 1987, he was joined on the team by Mark McGwire, who hit 49 home runs that year, and together they became known as the "Bash Brothers." In 1988, Canseco became the first player in major league history to hit at least 40 homers and steal at least 40 bases in the same year. That year, he helped the Athletics to the World Series but they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games. Canseco was unanimously named the American League's Most Valuable Player in 1988.
In 1989, Canseco was injured most of the year, but he still managed to hit 17 homers as the Athletics won their first World Series since 1974, beating the San Francisco Giants in four games. The 1989 Series was interrupted before Game 3 by a major earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Canseco came back in full strength in 1990, hitting 37 homers and taking the A's to the World Series once again. But this time it was his team that got swept, losing to the Cincinnati Reds in four games. Canseco continued to be productive, but after 1991 when he hit 44 home runs his career hit a plateau, never accomplishing what many expected he was capable of in the face of frequent injuries and controversy. In 1992 he was traded to the Texas Rangers, the first of many junkets around the league.
In 1993, Canseco received unwanted attention when, during a game against the Cleveland Indians, Carlos Martínez hit a fly ball that Canseco lost in the lights. The ball hit him in the head and bounced over the wall for a home run. After the incident, the Harrisburg Heat offered him a soccer contract[New York Times article].That same season, Canseco suffered further indignity and ridicule when he asked to pitch during a runaway loss; he injured his arm, underwent Tommy John surgery, and was lost for the remainder of the season.
Canseco's personal life has also had its troubles. In 1989, his first wife, Esther Haddad, whom he married in November 1988, accused him of domestic violence after he allegedly ran his car into hers. That was the beginning of a series of accusations and run-ins with the law while Canseco was in the public spotlight. He divorced in 1991 and remarried in August 1996, to Jessica Sekely; he was arrested in November 1997 for allegedly hitting her. In January 1998 he was sentenced to probation and required to have counseling. The couple divorced in 1999. In October 2001, he and his brother got into a fight with two California tourists at a Miami Beach nightclub that left one man with a broken nose and another needing 20 stitches in his lip; Canseco was charged with two counts of aggravated battery. In 2005, his ex-wife, using the name of Jessica Canseco, was featured in the September issue of Playboy magazine.
Canseco did have a productive season again in 1998, in which he hit 46 home runs and stole 29 bases, the most he had stolen since the 40 he stole in 1988. He was a Blue Jay that year, but his comeback was missed by most fans because of the home run race in the National League between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Canseco then went to Tampa Bay, where he was having a tremendous home run season (34 in 114 games; and was voted an All-Star) when he injured his back and was lost for the season. He was traded to the New York Yankees down the stretch in 2000, but was not a factor at all in the postseason.
Jose played sparingly with the Chicago White Sox in 2001, after being cut by the Anaheim Angels in spring training and spending half of the season with the Newark Bears of the independent Atlantic League. In 2002, Canseco was signed by the Montreal Expos but was released prior to the regular season. Canseco retired in May of that year after a string of injury-filled seasons. Canseco made a brief comeback attempt in 2004, but was not offered a spot with the Los Angeles Dodgers after a spring tryout. His 462 career home runs rank him 26th on the all-time list. Canseco was at one time the all-time leader in home runs among Latino players; he was later surpassed by Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa.
On June 29, 2006, the independent Golden Baseball League announced Canseco had agreed to a one-year contract to play with the San Diego Surf Dawgs. The six-time All-Star will be playing for the league maximum of $2,500 per month where he has said he plans to be the team's designated hitter and pitcher. The GBL, essentially professional baseball's lowest rung, said Canseco has agreed to be subjected to its drug-testing policy "that immediately expels any players found using steroids or illegal drugs."
On July 5, 2006, Canseco was traded from the Surf Dawgs to the Long Beach Armada after only one game. [link] Canseco requested the trade due to family obligations.
Steroids
In 2005, Canseco admitted to using anabolic steroids in a tell-all book, . Canseco also claimed that up to 85% of major league players took steroids, a figure disputed by many in the game. In the book, Canseco specifically identified former teammates Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi, Rafael Palmeiro, Iván Rodríguez, and Juan González as fellow steroid users, and that he injected them. Most of the players named in the book have denied steroid use. Giambi has admitted to steroid use in testimony before a grand jury investigating the BALCO case.
At a Congressional hearing on the subject of steroids in sports, Palmeiro categorically denied using performance-enhancing drugs, while McGwire repeatedly and somewhat conspicuously refused to answer questions on his own suspected use. Canseco's book became a New York Times bestseller. On August 1, 2005, Palmeiro was suspended for 10 days by Major League Baseball after testing positive for steroids.
Trivia
- First player (and one of only three) to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a single season.
- José Canseco joined Ruppert Jones, Ricky Lee Nelson, Dave Kingman, Alvaro Espinoza and Kevin Millar as the only players in MLB history to hit a fair ball that got stuck in a stadium obstruction [link].
- José featured in an episode of The Simpsons when he joined the nuclear power plant's staff as a ringer to play on the corporate softball team. He was unable to play because he was rescuing infant children, cats and furniture from a burning house at the time of the game.
- In his book he admits that he met Madonna and that she asked him to marry her, but he claims that he was never interested in her, and was just fascinated with her as a person, he also denies that they ever had sexual intercourse.
- He was a cast member on the 5th season of the VH1 series The Surreal Life.
- In the feature film, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", Canseco was mentioned by Raphael in a fight with Casey Jones. As Casey attacks Raphael in Central Park with a baseball bat and other various sport equipment, Raphael says "A José Canseco bat? Tell me. You didn't pay money for this."
- First player to hit 30 home runs for four different franchises. Fred McGriff duplicated the feat later the same season and then passed Canseco two years later by hitting 30 for his fifth franchise.
See also
- MLB players who have hit 30 or more home runs before the All-Star break
- List of players from Cuba in Major League Baseball
- List of Cubans
External links
- [Baseball-Reference.com] - career statistics and analysis
- [Canseconet Jose Canseco fan site]
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