Jose Can-snako is speaking again. Apparently he’s marketing a new book and seeking to boost sales by pointing a finger at New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. In a recent interview Jose claimed to have “stuff” on A-rod, called him a “hypocrite” (of all things) and added that Alex “was not all he appeared to be”. This is certainly not the first time that Rodriguez has been accused of being a huge phony but what exactly does Jose mean? For obvious rea$on$ Can$eco wa$ not willing to di$clo$e any other information.
I personally think that Jose would have included any steroid related information involving Rodriguez when he published “Juiced” in 2005 if he truly had any. In some ways a sequel tarnishes the credibility of his first book, which many people have considered to be gospel. Sure Jose was looking to make money by bringing down others with him but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t telling the truth. Maybe he simply wanted to clear his guilty conscience. Yeah right…and perhaps Lindsey Lohan really isn’t a drunk, insecure, baggage-filled hoochie. A second book by Canseco puts serious doubts in my mind regarding anything he says. If he wanted to “drop dimes” on former players he should’ve gotten it all out in the open the first time. Oh…and by the way…just who is he to call anyone a hypocrite?
Truthfully though… I DON’T CARE anymore and neither should you. I don’t care that Bonds is only 1 home run away from tying Hank Aaron. I don’t care about Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite, Gary Sheffield, Luis Gonzalez, Brady Anderson or any other player that people want to speculate on. I don’t care whether or not Jose Canseco is telling the truth about A-Rod. I REALLY don’t care about Can-snako himself. I’m sick and tired of the whole sordid steroid scandal along with the angry mob’s cries for “justice”. Especially since too few can even reach a consensus on what the word justice means in the first place.
Should all players who so much as even tried steroids once have their entire careers go up in smoke? How about if they did “roids” for two months? Three months? One season? Two seasons? Can I get four? How about five? SOLD to the overzealous fan in the third row currently foaming at the mouth! Ban all those cheatin’ bums from the game and strike everything they’ve ever done from the logs of professional baseball! It’s the only way to ensure justice and the integrity of the game! Uhhh...not exactly. This is your friendly neighborhood sarcasm alert.
Please don’t make me ill with further blind, puritanical, judgmental, close-minded rhetoric. It’s more likely the only way to sentence the game of baseball to certain death. We might as well use a bat sawed in half by a Mariano Rivera cutter as a wooden stake and plunge it into the hearts of baseball’s bloodsuckers.
There are those who believe that life here began out there. Oops…that was from the 1970s version of Battlestar Galactica. What I meant to say is there are those who believe that knowing the truth is not always a good thing. Whenever a person claims that they “would want to know the truth no matter what” I always wonder why. Sometimes the revelation of truth provides absolutely no benefit.
Let’s say that a meteor was going to annihilate life on Earth in the year 2011 and people at NASA knew about it. Should they tell us just because you’d like them to? Never mind that chaos and anarchy would ensue along with murder and plunder because hey… we “deserved” to know. Wouldn’t those be grand times during the end of days?
How about some of us married people? We hopefully have spouses who are good parents, our best friend and vital to our happiness. Heck, let’s include anybody in a serious relationship. What if during much younger days, before we met our “special someone”, they were very sexually “adventurous” for lack of a better term? Is that something you’d need to know? Would it change how you looked at them? It probably shouldn’t since they’re still the same faithful companion who chose you above all others.
Maybe I’m in the minority but baseball is very much like these scenarios to me. Right now everything is a hypothetical and I’d like it to stay that way. I don’t need or want to know. The answers people are looking for would only serve to satisfy their curiously selfish desiresand would do far more harm than good.
I’ll tell you what we do know. Baseball players…and LOTS of them... have tried steroids. Some of the players used them a handful of times…some of the players flat-out abused them…some of the players fell somewhere in the middle… and yes some of them never touched the stuff. Good luck sorting it all out cause they ain’t talking. Who’s clean? Who’s a big cheater? Who’s telling white lies? THAT WE WILL NEVER KNOW. I got $20 on David Eckstein. He’s one strong runt (sarcasm alert #2).
Baseball may choose to disgrace a few sacrificial lambs by making public examples of them. Maybe one will even be undercover agent 007-55 and counting himself. Bring us the one they call Bonds. That would satiate the hunger for justice of some of the more weak-minded. This has always proven to be an effective strategy throughout time. Throw the masses a bone to shut them up that is. However, it’s not justice. Not how I define it anyway. I’d say it sounded more like scapegoatism if such a word existed. I simply feel that if the vast majority of offenders get to “walk” then they all get to walk. Who chooses which names get “blacked-out” on official court documents anyway? Can I call them if I ever get arrested for something?
This will go down in history as the dirtiest era of baseball since the notorious “Black Sox” scandal of 1919. At the very least there will be permanent asterisks floating around in the minds of people everywhere. This in and of itself should be enough. It is for me. The “Steroid Age” will be forever tainted no matter what more we learn. Move forward from here and make sure this never happens again. Just stop attempting to initiate what amounts to selective purges… purges that will finish the job of unconditionally ruining the game forever.
Chill out America. We really don’t need to know everything. We already have a pretty good idea.
rev---I wish I had more of an understanding on legal issues. My expertise only goes as far as avoiding jail myself. If I was A-Rod or one of the others I'd crack him with my Louisville Slugger and thus fail at keeping myself out of the joint.
I agree that all of this hand wringing over stuff that already happened, that baseball allowed to happen and did not even have the foresight to make against the rules seems a little counterproductive to me.
At the time, I thought Mark McGwire's "let's not dwell on the past" take in front of Congress was a weak effort. However, in thinking about it now, maybe he had it right. Maybe, the most productive thing to be done now is looking at how to address the problem NOW. Are the current penalties for a positive test strong enough? My understanding is that you can test for HGH but need to do it with a blood sample, and the MLBPA won't submit to blood tests.
No, instead, baseball would rather find out about what happened a decade ago than trying to get some handle on what may happen a decade from now. History can be a wonderful teacher, but one has to be willing to listen to the lessons for any of it to take hold.
detroitsports---That my friend is a very good question. I'd say two reasons. One he needs cash and two he is bitter. Misery loves company. He wants to bring down everybody with him.
Maybe the guy in your avatar can aim his rear end in Jose's face. Burn off his lips so he can't open his mouth anymore.
Rivjo, excellent post that encapsulates all that I feel about this situation. I have been labeled a Bonds apologist on here, but I really am not. I just feel if one walks they all should walk. The whole era was mishandled by Bud Selig and if anyone should be the sacrificial lamb, he is the goat I would put on the stake.
As for Canseco, half of what he says is true, but that is enough to damage the reputations of many. A_Rod certainly is just as su####ious of steroid abuse as is Clemens, Bonds, and Pujols. I would rather just watch all of them play the game and enjoy it. Great post.
Thanks Nooch. You always seem to have the best way of summarizing my exact thoughts in a very concise nutshell and I am always appreciative of that. It's great to be understood!
I agree with you so much on the McGwire statement from a few years back. What possible good will it do to take down as many players as possible, many of them huge stars? The point of the matter is we don't know how many total players tried steroids, even if just temporarily. It would not surprise me if close to half tried them at least once or twice. According to most "insiders" it was rampant.
Also as you said, the leaders in baseball looked the other way. I mean it didn't take a rocket scientist to notice. Take Len Dykstra for instance. It seems as though he lost his neck in one winter and came back jacked. He wasn't alone.
It's an ugly part of history. Digging up dirt "ex post facto" is not going to change the past but it just might screw up the future beyond repair. Baseball would be best served taking measures to ensure this never happens again and the public would be best served by recognizing that there will NEVER answers to all their questions.
Socal---I have seen you take a similar stance very often and I understand where you are coming from. I am NO fan of Bonds myself. However I do not claim to know what he did, when he did it, or whom he did it with. I also do not hold him to a higher standard than others because he is about to break the home run record. Many other potential cheaters exist and deserve whatever Bonds gets. Conversely if others get "off the hook" then Barry deserves the same.
As for Selig, he is prime example that the best way to fix a problem was by preventing it in the first place. This could have been nipped in the "bud" long ago. Instead he allowed this to happen. I have a hard time faulting athletes for trying to get an edge. Especially if there were never any consequences in place to deter them from the start.
Canseco is slime. I detest people who want to bring others down with them. He should keep his mouth shut.
I'm with you. Let's all move forward and enjoy the game.
are you saying you dont believe Jose Wales...err, Can't Say No to reporters who shove a mic in his face?
c'mon, he's obviously still loved by all major league players, and routinely gets invited to clubhouse parties and private steroid injecting sessions.
geez, you act like the guy is an outcast for some reason or another.
seriously, the guy is trying to sell books to make money, because he has ZERO talent for anything else, and he was found not to be a great ball player when fly balls kept bouncing off his head.
basically, i think he's just trying to ensure that nobody in the game today is thought of as being clean and stand-up. the problem is, every time he opens his pie hole he just makes himself look worse.
If it weren't for the fact that he couldn't be mistaken for an itinerant gardener or construction worker because of his physical presence. I think Jose is unto a good thing. If he's hoping to sell as many books as Paris Hilton did with her allegedly self penned ode then he's well on his way. But his latest comments might just have some Yankees' fans in an uproar. I've said as much in my op-ed piece titled When Is A Race Not A Race ? Human Race Or Otherwise ! He just wants to make a fast buck if nothing else. Even though his last book did shed light on what the players , MLB and owners knew what was going on altogether and did nothing about it.
tophat---It certainly won't hurt book sales although I for one will not be buying. I figure enough people will talk about it so that I know what he put in the book anyway. He's not getting a single dollar of what little green I have.
I blame the owners and MLB hierarchy for this more than the players. Sure the players make their own choices but they never should have had that option in the first place to cheat and get over so easily. If there is one thing in all the history books throughout time is that MOST people cheat for personal gain when given the opportunity.
I'll be sure to check out your post later this evening.
riv- great job here but unfortunatley its not over. if you think baseball is clean now i have to think you are mistaken. players are just ahead of the testers. it is no coincidence that only young latino players without the means to get hold of the good stuff are the only cats being caught.
and not for nothing, did you notice cal call brady anderson his best friend in his acceptance speech? very interesting. who's to say he wasnt using. gwynn for that matter.
In 1988, at the age of 28, Gwynn hit .313. The next year, his average went up to .336. Ok, we know. But after that, he hit .309, .317 and .317. Ya, big deal? Well, check it check it out. Out of nowhere, at the ripe old age of 33, Tony becomes a tiger. He’s grrrrrreat! Miraculously boosts his average to .358. At 34, he hit .394. At 35, 36 and 37 he hit .368, .353 and .372. Hmmm. Curiously strong. A 37-year-old Tony Gwynn hits 59 points better than a 28-year-old Tony Gwynn? Interesting. Very interesting.
The year Brady Anderson hit 50 bombs, Cal racked up more total bases and posted a higher slugging percentage than he had in the five previous seasons. Things that make you go hmmm. To play all those games in a row sure does take some cheerleader like recovery. Heroes style. Don’t you think? I’m just saying. Who the hell knows? That’s just it. We don’t. We assume. We conjecture. We hypothesize. We surmise. We speculate, contemplate, guesstimate, ruminate and excogitate. The one thing we don’t do, is know. And until we do, we need to be very, very careful.
Im with you...i just don't care anymore. i have been beaten over the head with the drugs, steroids and other #### stories, by these professionals. I'm done with them. Nice post here!
What bothers me about Canseco is that we know he was broke, we know his motives. Like I said on SoCals blog there was a band I played in the old days that ran around europe for a while and they gave us a lot of drug. i can talk to that about the flameout, the damage to the system but you have a right, if you've done it, to try and teach others not to. You have no right to be throwing stones at others just because YOU didn't get caught.
way i figure it, if you never give the guys that the cops didn't catch, a chance to come in from outof the cold cause in my experience a lot of guys just outgrew it because it was there then and now is not then. But they can never be informed role models later on if eveyone is looking overtheir shoulder for the slimiest of all the steroid boys who should have gone to prison if anyone did.
Socal- I'm really sick of people blaming Bud Selig for the steriod era.
There was a rule against steriod use. The players association would not allow drug testing. Was Selig suppose to institute a lock out to get drug testing in the collective bargaining agreement. He did not have the support to force the PA to accept the terms otherwise. What would you want him to do Socal? Baseball couldn't afford 2 strikes in the same decade.
Great Post Riv, Canseco is just looking for more money. It's plain and simple
Good post. I'm also ready for them to stop talking about this whole controversy. If baseball wants to clean things up for the future they can take measures to do so, but trying to figure out all the players who used drugs in the past only creates more problems than solutions.
(raises hand) I would like to remind those who may have missed that meeting, that Jose can you see, says, oh yeah, it was racism that drove him out of baseball. Or was it the driving 200 mph (you're such a wuss pacman) that was the final straw?
rivjo
If MLB can't even clean up this damn mess. How the hell are we suppose to believe that they've got the fans' best interests at heart ? It's not as if they were ever truthful in the first place. Selig has been nothing more than a fool and the owners are no better. And I'd include all of the owners as it's also encumbent upon them to ask questions rather than remaining silent and indifferent to the problems that the sport is now facing.
Not one of the owners have stepped up the plate and challenged Selig to do something proactive. There's been no voice in the wilderness speaking out on the subject. It's as if all of 'em have had their tongues removed for good measure to stop them from addressing the matter.
Josh Q---Nah...unfortunately I do not think baseball is totally clean now by any stretch of the imagination. I do think that it is far less dirty than it has been in the recent past. You would think that some fear of public embarrassment would keep a lot more of the guys honest. I sure hope so but some people do love to try and get over and will risk anything.
Your points on Gwynn were very interesting. I suspect everyone and he was no different but truthfully I didn't analyze him as closely. I hoped that with a physique like his he was just a fat guy who could hit.
Your points on Cal were things I have thought dozens of times myself. I long theorized he was a cheater who was using some type of "peppy" pills to get out there and play everyday. Let's hope we're wrong but I doubt he was clean his WHOLE career.
We will NEVER know either. That's why I think we should recognize reality and move forward.
lisa---Amen. At least you don't really like baseball. Then again that might make it even worse for you. I mean I love baseball and I can't take it anymore sometimes.
I guess it's a universal dislike for #### of any kind.
Dusty---Good points in that it takes someone who has been to "rock bottom" and back to be the best voice of experience. Like you said though, Canseco is not trying to help. He has no altruistic motives here. It's all financially based and unfortunately for him it tremendously damages his credibility even if he is telling the truth.
Players who have cheated are too scared to fess up. I don't blame them. Baseball should grant "amnesty" of some sort to the players. That's the only way to get the real truth.
Then again like I said in this blog I do NOT even want the truth. I don't think it would solve things or make anything better. It would probably make things worse. Kinda like throwing salt in the wounds.
As for Jose leaving baseball...I think it was the steroids ironically enough. That's a common trade off. Abuse your body by cheating nature and enjoy a few great seasons. Pay for it later with a career shortened by ligaments and tendons that can't hold up.
NDSal07---Canseco is a tool for sure. That we can all agree on.
As for your Selig comment to Socal, I have to come in somewhere in the middle on that one. I understand your point that baseball was in a dire position at that point in time. The players' association has been very inflexible and it is my opinion that they are the most responsible for the big market/small market situation in baseball.
However, allowing this to go on was very short sighted. Commissioners are paid to make difficult decisions. Selig, as he has often done, skirted the issue. In hindsight this problem should have been addressed from the beginning instead of hoping they could keep it concealed forever.
BAD logic. It is very hard to conceal bulging biceps that appeared seemingly overnight as well as never before seen home run totals. Just my opinion though.
ian2813---I'll drink to that. We are in total agreement.
debashi---Nope...you had it right the first time. He needs a life. What he's doing constitutes little more than breathing and even people in a coma can do that.
tophatal---Bud Selig and all owners are indeed biting their tongues and for good reason. I believe that an all out investigation into identifying as many cheaters as possible would be a death sentence to the game. I theorize that steroid abuse was so rampant that more tried them than did not. They are caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place.
That's why I feel this needs to stop. We need to let it go. It's just a game. We are not trying to find murderers. These are men who cheated playing a game. As Socal said, let's just get back to enjoying baseball.
If given a choice between exposing a "select" few players such as Barry Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, etc... and letting others walk OR letting them all walk...I choose letting them all walk.
I can't stomach hypocrisy of any sort. That's what a cover-up amounts to. Don't ruin a few players to shut people up and prop-up some illusion. Either come clean 100% or everybody gets off scott-free. That's not justice and in so many ways it's worse than anything these players ever did.
rivjo - fantastic. Jose in a nutshell. The following are two lines from the movie Stripes, albeit altered a bit by my aging memory. "The guy's in my car club call me ...... 'cause I like fast cars and fast women." John Candy reponds, "They should have called him the "Dork." (it might have been gun club and his name might have been Shooter) Jose Canseco is a #### of the highest order. People have been crucifying Bonds for a lot of reasons, one of which is Canseco's book, Juiced, which you mention. I agree with you. Every time this buffoon opens his mouth people should snicker, point at him, giggle and say, "Hey, Jose, nice freakin' catch. Way to use your head...you ####." The pot calling the kettle black comes to mind here (no racial intentions). How long was he married, how many domestic issues and how many times did he get arrested or cited becuse he couldn't keep his car under 100 mph? I didn't listen to this bozo the first time and I certainly ain't buying his act, or his book, this time around. Great post which also puts this whole mess into perspective from my point of view as well as yours. You did it better.
It's about the publicity and nothing else that Canseco is seeking. If he can get the public to be aware of his unequivocal rants then he's off and running. As the public will be curious to read what's in store as to the next round of alleations. Suffice to say that once again MLB will be front and center. And how many times can Selig keep on taking these shots without ever coming up with a comprehensive and incisive response to the allegations and controversy surrounding the sport ?
Guys I know that you're not all soocer fans. But I've got something special in store for you on the latest post written under this guise(rampantfanatic). It's titled Shake Your Moneymaker Like What God Gave Ya' Not By Luda. But for those of you who love the female form I promise it'll be time well spent looking at the pics if not reading the article. And for good measure do check out my latest piece written under the tophatal guise. A little more spirited one might say but hopefully it'll interest you. It's titled Passionate About Sports But What Inspires You To Write ? Chimin' out but I'll look forward to reading your comments as and when you're ready.
rivjo
Hypocrisy or not they made their beds they've got to lie in in it. It's not as if the sport has ever been above board anyway. It's been filled with miscreants, bigots, racists, cheats and many other characters that've been less than savory.
But what the hell other sports have the same problem. The only thing it's not been heightened or highlighted as much. I've a new post up under this guise titled Passionate About Sports But What Inspires You To Write ?
tophatal
Last edited by tophatal on August 6th at 12:46 PM.
coach---Thanks for the props. Some people get "it" and some never do. Put Jose into the dumb group. He has got to be one of the most self-absorbed people I have ever heard of to act the way he does.
As for his credibilty. He has none...even in truth. Nobody cares about what he has to say. Well most people anyway.
rampantfan/tophat---Even if I wanted to read Jose's book I wouldn't have to. As soon as it hits the bookstores some flunkie at ESPN will find it on his assigned reading list. All the juiciest details will be broadcast on the 6PM sportscenter that day. I hope people realize this and that the only people that buy the book are members of Jose's family.
As for Selig I think he handles things worse and worse as time goes on. Much was made of how Selig didn't even want to stand up and politely applaud for Bonds when he tied Aaron. I believe the owner of the Texas Rangers had to signal to him that he should stand up.This was ridiculous. Either make a stand for or against. Don't just look on like a mindless dullard. Oh well..that's Bud for you.
rivjo
Of the four major sports at present. Can we really say that they're all being ran to the best of their respective commissioner's responsibilities ? They've all get their very own problems and it's hard to say how they'll deal with it to everyone's satisfaction. The players' union in baseball has so much power that Selig just caves in to their demands. And as for the NFL and Upshaw. He's always been 'bout how he can hang on to power without ever really doing something useful. The NBA and Stern is lamentable because of Stern's intransigence and neglect of the real issues. He's seen the quality of his product decline over the years. And yet is only concerned about the money rolling into their coffers.
The NHL is at a loss and will never be the same again.
Another great read, sorry I had missed this one when it came out.
By the way, was talking to Frank about the new foxsports bloggers show, well the same ol' show, but had been mentioning maybe getting together an AL East trio to talk a lot of baseball before football starts... was thinking you (Yanks), Josh Q (Sox), and me (O's), and then we can talk other stuff in baseball, and other topics too... wanted to drop it by you... you can let Frank and I know if you are up for it. Later man
tophat---When it comes to baseball I have long blamed the players' union more than the owners. I agree with you 100% that the owners cave in. Probably because they are ALL making money hand over fist anyway.
As for the NHL, I do not profess great knowledge on their situation but whatever it is they are doing they must not be doing a very good job.
As for Stern, he has historically done a good job. Right now in the present i give him a grade of "incomplete". Let's see how these new develipments go with officials cheating, players thugging and ratings in decline. If he bounces back well then he'll restore the luster to his image.
As for football...I just love the game. Who cares how it is run?
ksp---Thanks for the visit. As for Frank's show I would love to go on with you and Josh Q. for an AL East smackdown extravaganza. It's getting down to the nitty-gritty. Those Os of yours have been playing some inspired ball under their new skipper. Keep on rolling other than when you play us.
I'm a special ed teacher by trade. Funny, I spend my day wanting to say shut-up to people and then do the same here. Just can't seem to. That would be rude and most uncivilized.
I like to write and never met a thought I couldn't continue. My blogs, like this bio, tend to be far too long. I can admit it. If you make it to the end of one of my "essays" there's usually a message that could have been written in half the time by a better writer than me.
Did I mention I was a finalist in NGS II? No really I was, further proving that theyll let anyone in this place. I came in 10th, which is better than 16th I guess. Other than winning the 4th grade graduation writing award it was the biggest literary accomplishmen t of my life. I still haven't gotten used to being famous.
what exactly does Jose mean? For obvious rea$on$ Can$eco wa$ not willing to di$clo$e any other information. 
McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite, Gary Sheffield, Luis Gonzalez, Brady Anderson or any other player that people want to speculate on. I don’t care whether or not Jose Canseco is telling the truth about A-Rod. I REALLY don’t care about Can-snako himself. I’m sick and tired of the whole sordid steroid scandal along with the angry mob’s cries for “justice”. Especially since too few can even reach a consensus on what the word justice means in the first place. 
because hey… we “deserved” to know. Wouldn’t those be grand times during the end of days? 
Who’s clean? Who’s a big cheater? Who’s telling white lies? THAT WE WILL NEVER KNOW. I got $20 on David Eckstein. He’s one strong runt (sarcasm alert #2). 
in the minds of people everywhere. This in and of itself should be enough. It is for me. The “Steroid Age” will be forever tainted no matter what more we learn. Move forward from here and make sure this never happens again. Just stop attempting to initiate what amounts to selective purges… purges that will finish the job of unconditionally ruining the game forever. 
