Jose Canseco
From BR Bullpen
Jose Canseco Capas Jr.
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 4", Weight 240 lb.
- High School Miami Carol City High School
- Debut September 2, 1985
- Final Game October 6, 2001
- Born July 2, 1964 in Havana, Cuba
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[edit] Biographical Information
Jose Canseco was a huge star during his best years, an often-injured slugger in the middle of his career, and the prime symbol of the steroid era later on when he admitted using steroids. A six-time All-Star, he won the 1986 American League Rookie of the Year Award and was the 1988 American League MVP. He played for the Oakland Athletics with teammate Mark McGwire and under manager Tony LaRussa for the first half of his career, and then became a journeyman slugger in the second half of his career.
In spite of all the negative publicity about him, six sportswriters voted for him in the 2007 Hall of Fame voting. He was dropped from the ballot in future years.
He became first member of the 40-40 club in 1988. That year, he was the first player since Mike Schmidt in 1981 to bat .300 or better and lead the league in home runs and RBI.
After his playing career, he dabbled in acting and was a cast member of the reality show The Surreal Life. He was also a contestant in an edition of the show Celebrity Apprentice, hosted by billionaire Donald Trump. Prior to that, he had appeared in The Simpsons episode "Homer at the Bat". He also authored the 2005 book Juiced in which he admits using steroids and outs teammates that used them with him. While the book was widely derided as full of unfounded rumors at the time, most of the players he fingered where later found to have indeed been PED users.
Canseco also dabbled in martial arts and other combat sports in his retirement. In 2010, he lost a boxing match staged before a minor league game, then in August of that year announced a return to the game as a player-coach with the Laredo Broncos of the independent United Baseball League. He stated he wanted to pitch as well as be a DH with the team. In 2011, he was named manager of the Yuma Scorpions in the North American League.
His twin brother Ozzie Canseco played briefly in the major leagues. In 2011 it was announced that the brothers would both be player coaches for the North American League Yuma Scorpions. Even in that relatively low-key occupation, he managed to make national news for his role in a brawl on August 9th. When his third baseman, his former major league teammate Tony Phillips, got into a fight with Chico Outlaws manager Mike Marshall, he rushed from the dugout to intervene as the fight degenerated into a bench-clearing brawl. After order was restored, he pulled his team from the field, forfeiting the game, claiming he feared for his players' safety given the high level of tensions. Phillips and Marshall were handed three-game suspensions, while Canseco faced a fine for causing the forfeit.
Jose signed with the Quintana Roo Tigers in the Mexican League in February 2012, hoping to make it back to the Majors once again. He went 2 for 5 in his first pre-season game with the Tigers, then, in a move typical of his personality, he refused to submit to a doping test and was suspended by the Liga. He then explained that he had been undergoing testosterone treatment for the past five or six years, to counteract a natural deficiency, and that he decided to abstain from the test because he had no guarantees that his medical condition would be taken into account. He then added, undeterred, that he still planned to play for a team that season, and that he still had the power to hit "30 to 40 homers" at the major league level if given a chance. However, he had to settle with signing a contract with the Worcester Tornadoes of the Can-Am Association instead.
"I've never seen anybody quite like him. He leaves you in awe." - Walt Weiss
[edit] Notable Achievements
- 1985 The Sporting News & Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year, Huntsville Stars, Southern League & Tacoma Tigers, Pacific Coast League
- 1985 MVP Southern League, Huntsville Stars
- 1986 AL Rookie of the Year Award
- 1986 Topps All-Star Rookie Team
- 6-time AL All-Star (1986, 1988-1990, 1992 & 1999)
- AL MVP (1988)
- 4-time AL Silver Slugger Award Winner (1988/OF, 1990/OF, 1991/OF & 1998/DH)
- 1994 AL Comeback Player of the Year Award
- AL Slugging Percentage Leader (1988)
- 2-time AL Home Runs Leader (1988 & 1991)
- AL RBI Leader (1988)
- 20-Home Run Seasons: 12 (1986-1988, 1990-1992 & 1994-1999)
- 30-Home Run Seasons: 8 (1986-1988, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1998 & 1999)
- 40-Home Run Seasons: 3 (1988, 1991 & 1998)
- 100 RBI Seasons: 6 (1986-1988, 1990, 1991 & 1998)
- 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 2 (1988 & 1991)
- Won two World Series with the Oakland Athletics (1989) and the New York Yankees (2000)
| AL MVP | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 1988 | 1989 |
| George Bell | Jose Canseco | Robin Yount |
| AL Rookie of the Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 1986 | 1987 |
| Ozzie Guillen | Jose Canseco | Mark McGwire |
[edit] Year-By-Year Minor League Managerial Record
| Year | Team | League | Record | Finish | Organization | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Yuma Scorpions | North American League | 35-53 | 8th | Independent Leagues |
[edit] Further Reading
- Jose Canseco: Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Big, William Morrow, Harper Collins Publishers, New York, NY, 2005.
- Dake Tafoya: Bash Brothers: A Legacy Subpoenaed, Potomac Books, Inc., Dulles, VA, 2008.
