Jose Canseco's Juiced Up Career

By: Michael Russell
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:26:15
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Jose Canseco is a famous former Major League Baseball player that has gained recent popularity due to the book he released in 2005, which detailed steroid use of some of the biggest names in baseball. Jose Canseco does admit that he himself used steroids for many years while playing in Major League Baseball and injecting the steroids into many of his former teammates as well.

Born Jose Canseco Capas, Jr. on July 2, 1964 in Havana, Cuba, his family left Cuba when he and his brother were just infants. His family moved to Miami, Florida and that is where Jose grew up. Mr. Canseco did not attend college, due to him being drafted in 1982 by the Oakland Athletics team. Jose played in the minors for the next few years but entered the major leagues in 1986. Upon his rookie campaign he smashed 33 home runs and was named the American League's Rookie of the Year at the end of the season. The next season he was teamed up with Mark McGwire, who hit 49 home runs that year. The two home-run hitters for the Athletics were dubbed the "Bash Brothers". During the 1988 season, Jose became the first player to hit at least 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season. The Oakland Athletics made their way to the World Series that year but fell short to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games. Despite his team losing in the World Series he still had things going for him, as he was named the American League's Most Valuable Player.

The 1989 baseball season was a short one for Canseco, being injured for most of the year. Canseco still managed to hit 17 home runs and watch his team win their first World Series since 1974 by defeating the San Francisco Giants in four games. Canseco was fully recovered for the 1990 season and was hitting home runs as usual. He managed to crack 37 home runs that season and help his team get to the World Series for another year, only to be swept in four games by the Cincinnati Reds. 1991 was a good hitting year for Jose, hitting 44 home run shots playing for Oakland but was traded to the Texas Rangers during the 1992 season. The start of the 1993 marked the start of some bad things for Jose Canseco. During a game against the Cleveland Indians, Carlos Martinez hit a long shot towards Jose's direction in the outfield. Jose lost track of the ball by a glare he was getting in his eyes and the ball happened to bounce off of his head and over the wall for a home run. This was obviously an embarrassing moment for Jose, as it would be for anyone. He then asked to pitch in a game a few days later and injured himself, leaving him out for the season. The next for years were a series of ups and downs with injuries but he still managed to hit some home runs. He retired in 2001 after playing for the Chicago White Sox for 76 games.

As of late, Jose Canseco has gained recognition for his 2005 book entitled, "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big". In this book Canseco tells stories of him taking steroids throughout his career and getting steroids for some of his teammates throughout the years. Canseco claimed that up to 85% of Major League Baseball players had taken steroids at one point. Now Jose is playing some baseball in the minor leagues for the Long Beach Armada. Although some may dislike him for the steroid use and his book, others commend him for admitting that he and several others were taking performance-enhancing drugs to play better.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Sports

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