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."