My 2011 Interview with Jose Canseco

(Photo by Tim Froehlig)

 

 

 

ZION – Jose Canseco walks off the field with his head down, holding several bats over his right shoulder as he makes his way to a trailer that is a makeshift locker room in the left field corner at Fielders Stadium.

 

Canseco, a 47-year-old player/manager for the Yuma (Ariz.) Scorpions of the unaffiliated North American League, has struck out in a 10-pitch at-bat that ended his last-place team's game against the Lake County Fielders with a 6-2 loss. He finishes the day 1 for 5 with an RBI single.

He still looks like the hulk of a man he did when he played in his prime.

 

 

Initially, Canseco declines to talk with the two reporters waiting for him outside the trailer, and disappears inside. Less than 30 seconds later, however, Canseco emerges wearing sunglasses and folds his arms together.

 

"Bring it," Canseco says.

For almost 20 minutes, Canseco answers every question asked, no matter the topic. The questions begin innocently enough when he's asked about the difference between the majors – where he last played in 2001 for the White Sox – and where he plays now.

"I think it's everything," Canseco says. "I think it'd be a combination of the travel, the way you travel, the money obviously. Places you play, the hotel rooms."

 

In 2005, Canseco's tell-all book – in which he admitted using steroids during his 17-year career along with stars including Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro – fueled the steroid controversy that engulfed MLB, and helped put the legacy of former stars in jeopardy.

On this day, Canseco brings up steroids before reporters, when asked what advice he would give kids trying to make it as a pro.

"The most important thing they ought to realize, steroids are completely overrated guys," Canseco says. "I think everyone puts too much emphasis on steroids and thinking they can make you a superstar player ... they cannot. It's an impossibility.

 

 

(Photo by Tim Froehlig)

 

 

"Hard work, dedication, wanting to learn the game. Getting the right information and the right training from the right people is key, really. If any kid has the ability and then learns it from the right people, and is willing to really put in the time and the hard work, they can make it also."

 

It's a different stance than the one he took around the time of his book's release, when he told CBS' "60 Minutes" that he never would have been a big-league caliber player without taking steroids.

But Fielders manager Tim Johnson, who also managed Canseco with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1998, says some people don't realize how key Canseco's work ethic was to his success. Canseco belted 46 homers and had 107 RBIs that year, and finished his 17-year career with 462 homers, 1,407 RBIs, 200 stolen bases and a pair of World Series rings.

 

"That was the most impressive thing about his game was how hard he worked and how much he prepared," Johnson said. "He studied every pitcher, every team ... sometimes he even knew what pitch was coming.

 

"In his prime, this guy was one of the best three players in baseball, there's no doubt about it," Johnson said.

Canseco still feels he was "blackballed" by MLB after the 2001 season. Perhaps its no surprise he says Pete Rose – who received a lifetime ban for betting on baseball – belongs in the Hall of Fame.

 

"Absolutely, why not?" Canseco said. "I believe everyone deserves a second chance. I think they're using him as an example, really. I mean, his numbers are there, and what he did wasn't really, I don't think, directly related to baseball. In a sense, okay a little gambling here or there, but big whoop guys. Guys have done a whole lot worse and been given four or five chances (by MLB), whether they're cocaine addicts, or amphetamines, or steroids ... or whatever.

"You know, the only mistake Pete made was not really acknowledging that awhile back and saying 'I did it, I'm sorry,' " Canseco added.

As the questions keep coming, Canseco says he feels former star pitcher Roger Clemens is innocent because there is no solid proof linking him to steroid use, then says he would have loved to play for White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.

Canseco also talks about how much time he spends helping out different adult and childrens' charities. But what does he think his legacy will be decades from now?

"I think there's gonna be multiple things said about me," Canseco said. "I just wanna be remembered as a guy who loved baseball. And when asked a question, told the truth, never really gave political answers. Tried to be as informative and as up-front with the media as possible. And mostly as a guy who loved to play the game."

These White Sox Just Might Be For Real

I know, I know. It's only the first week of August.

But I can't help it. Maybe it's because I know what winning baseball looks like. Maybe it's because I just get a vibe about this team, these 2012 Chicago White Sox.

As much as I would love to, I'm not going to make as bold a statement as to say these Pale Hose are headed to the postseason. But if it looks like a postseason team and smells like a postseason team...

Well, you get the picture.

And what's not to like these days on the south side, where at the very least, there is some darn good baseball going on these days? Indeed, it sure beats sitting at home being a Cubs fan right about now.

A few days ago, I happened upon an interesting discussion taking place on Chicago's 670 the Score AM radio station. The host that morning was asking callers who they thought the MVP of this Sox club was.

Paul Konerko? Maybe. Adam Dunn? That's not a huge stretch. Hot-hitting Alex Rios? A definite possibility.

The calls kept flooding into the station, and one by one, a different name seemed to pop up each time.

"Youkilis," said one caller, referring to the slugging third baseman the Sox picked up from Boston recently, the same one who has been on a tear since arriving.

"Chris Sale," announced the next caller, in reference to the Randy Johnson-like all-star lefty clone in the making. Then came the name Jake Peavy, another all-star who may just be in the running for Comeback Player of the Year.

"Well, you need more than one guy (to win), I know that," Sox manager Robin Ventura said about the team concept after Monday night's 4-2 win over Kansas City. "So everybody needs to chip in one way or another."

And they have been.

Let's not forget catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who's gone from a guy who couldn't throw a baserunner out last season, to a veteran who just blew past his all-time best single season home run mark and seems to be gunning down baserunners with regularity.

Up until last night, he'd homered in five consecutive games, tying a White Sox all-time record. That included a dramatic pinch-hit home run on Saturday night against the Angels that made Ventura look genius-like.

Ventura was asked if "that was what he planned," when he called on Pierzynski to pinch-hit prior to the homer.

"Of course," Ventura replied with a laugh.



Bigger crowds are showing up. Even general manager Kenny Williams should be applauded and in the running as a team MVP, based on his trades for Youkilis, reliever Brett Myers and lefty starter Francisco Liriano, who comes with playoff experience and has been outstanding in his two starts with the Sox since coming over from the Twins a few weeks ago.

It's a far cry from a season ago, when former skipper Ozzie Guillen, who took his talents to South Beach (sorry LeBron, it's a cliche now), was at the helm. This club seems Old School in it's work ethic, full of swagger and confidence, and is a far cry from the drama that seemed to take place in these parts on a nightly basis the past three seasons.

The point being, this is the true definition of a team. On any given night, it seems anyone on the Sox roster is capable of rising to the occasion. It's also one of the truest marks of a winner.

I'm not sure if that's a product of Ventura, who played with hard-nosed no-nonsense guys like former Sox players Carlton Fisk, Frank Thomas and others, but whatever he's doing, he's doing it right.

And it's a great feeling, because I never, ever feel like this team is out of a game when I watch them play. And if my experience in Chicago tells me anything, it's when that happens, it's also the first warning sign of a champion. Much like in 2005, when the Sox always seemed to jump ahead of teams early. Or in 2010, when their counterpart on the west side, the Chicago Blackhawks, would lull teams to sleep and them blow them out of the building.

These Sox are in just about every game they play.

But for all the good things going on right now on good-ole' 35th Street, the Sox aren't without problems ... or at least worries. A bullpen loaded with inexperienced rookies, worries about whether or not Sale's arm will hold up in his first full season as a starter. Questions are still abound when it comes to our team's other starters, Quintana, Floyd, Liriano and Phillip Humber, too.

And it's natural to wonder how long the Sox will continue to play spectacular defense, or lead the league in hitting with runners in scoring position, as they've done most of the year.

But just how long before we can start getting our hopes up? Here we are, five months into the season, with the stretch run in sight, a game-and-a-half ahead of the second place Detroit Tigers in the AL Central.

At what point is it okay to say, "Hey, this ins't a fluke?"

No one thought the Sox would be in this position. Heck, Sports Illustrated even predicted this team would lose 95 games before the season began, which I openly ripped them for when they did.

The more I ponder these questions, the more I keep coming back to the same answer.

Why not the White Sox?

To be honest, I can't think of too many reasons. Because win or lose, this 2012 Sox club is a damn good baseball team right now. And I don't see that changing anytime soon. I just don't.

I'll still be keeping my fingers crossed though.

This is Chicago we're talking about, after all.