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Jose Canseco
Born: 1964

Brother of Ozzie Canseco
[Courtesy Arnie Braunstein]

OF-DH 1985-2001 Athletics, Rangers, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Devil Rays, Yankees, White Sox

Rookie of the Year Award in 1986
Most Valuable Player Award in 1988
All-Star in 1986, 88-90, 92, 99

	Games	Average	HR	RBI
Career	`1887`	`.266`	`462`	`1407`
League DS	`3`	`.000`	`0`	`0`
League CS	`13`	`.273`	`4`	`8`
World Series	`14`	`.152`	`3`	`10`

	IP	W-L	ERA
Career	`1`	`0-0`	`27.00`

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ť Left Field Gold Gloves by Paul White

Ask The Experts
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Corrections
ť August 11, 2003 (#331)

Around the Web
ť MLB spokesman says Canseco's diatribe 'complete nonsense' from nwsource.com
ť MLB Notebook: League terms Canseco's statements as nonsense from post-gazette.com
ť Former major-leaguer Jose Canseco returns to game and comes out swinging from post-gazette.com
ť Jose: MLB 'the mafia' from newsday.com
ť Jose Canseco from baseball-reference.com
ť Jose Canseco from thebaseballpage.com
ť Might Doesn't Matter from thediamondangle.com
ť Ex-Ray gets the best of near-White Sock from sptimes.com (08/27/01)
ť Players find life after Rays in post-season action from sptimes.com (10/08/00)

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Sports columnist Peter Gammons once called Canseco one of the three greatest wastes of talent from 1980 to 2000, lumping him with 1986 Met burnouts Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry. As strange as it sounds for a player who averaged around 30 homers a year, Gammons may be right. Canseco was a baseball giant in size, potential, and gossip, and became the first member of the 40-40 club when he was a mere 23 years old, winning the MVP award that year in a landslide. But arrogance and injuries, some inadvertently caused by the bulging muscles that gave him such exceptional power, ended up wreaking havoc with his career.

Canseco's image was gobbled up by tabloids. He initially seemed like the progeny of Babe Ruth for his prodigious power and intense off-field life, but that's where the similarities ended. Canseco was no golden boy of the press, and his questionable attitude and run-ins with the law left him vilified by many fans. But at his peak, few people -- save perhaps his Bash Brother teammate Mark McGwire -- could match his formidable presence and tremendous swing at the plate.

Born in Havana, Cuba, Canseco was selected by the Oakland Athletics out of his Miami high school, and showed extraordinary power in the minor leagues. He was promoted to the majors in 1985, and began his big-league career by striking out in 12 of his first 24 at-bats and 31 times in 96 at-bats. But despite a staggering club-record 175 strikeouts in 1986, his 33 home runs and 117 ribbies earned him the Rookie of the Year award in a close decision over Wally Joyner.

With great bat speed and power to all fields, Canseco became the first Athletic with back-to-back 100-RBI seasons and became the team's second player with three straight 30-homer seasons. Two years of intense weight training improved his power, but he also improved greatly on defense and showed a strong arm, prompting manager Tony LaRussa to move him from left to right field.

Canseco took home the AL MVP Award in 1988, helping power the A's to the World Series with his .307 average, 42 homers, and 124 RBIs. Supporting Canseco offensively was Mark McGwire, who also won the Rookie of the Year Award a year before when he slugged a rookie-record 49 home runs. Canseco and McGwire became known as the Bash Brothers, and though their career and popularity paths would ultimately take different turns, they would forever be linked in Oakland.

Canseco's three homers in the League Championship Series matched George Brett's American League record, and his monstrous dead-center home run in Game Four dented a TV camera over 400 feet from the plate. In Game One of the World Series, he hit his first major-league grand slam, the 16th in Series history and just the second ever by a player in his first game (Dan Gladden had done it in 1987). It would turn out to be his only hit in the Series, as the overachieving Los Angeles Dodgers stunned the favored A's.

On the tails of his MVP season, Canseco began a downward spiral into self-adulation. He missed the first half of 1989 with a broken bone in his hand but stayed in the news with a string of speeding tickets that started before the season, including one for which he was clocked at 125 mph in a Jaguar. The outfielder was also gisven a citation for carrying a loaded handgun in a car, prompting a well-documented feud between him and the California Police Chiefs Association.

Evidence of his initial popularity with fans, Canseco was elected to start in the Midsummer Classic that season despite not playing a single game in the first half. When he came back to the game in July 1989, a publicist hatched a scheme for Jose to open his own hotline -- 1-900-234-JOSE -- which he did to brief success and the ire of his teammates and manager. Despite the side projects, Canseco totaled 17 second-half homers, and helped the A's sweep the San Francisco Giants in the World Series by batting .357 with a home run.

Canseco's bad publicity continued the following year. The outfielder's cockiness was in full effect, no doubt catalyzed on June 27, 1990, when he signed the most lucrative contract in baseball to that date, a five-year, $23.5 million deal. His love for fast cars already well-noted from the many speeding tickets the year before, Canseco began driving a Lamborghini whose plates succinctly said "40-40." Still the slugger continued his pace, bashing 37 homers and driving in 101 runs.

In February 1991, having just bought some new aviation fuel for his Porsche, Canseco was nailed in Miami for going 104 MPH. When the officer informed him of his speed, he sardonically replied, "oh, you're so generous." Three months later, Canseco was photographed leaving the New York Upper West Side house of the infamous Madonna, prompting new fodder for tabloids. Tensions mounted at Yankee Stadium when Canseco and a fan almost came to blows over a fan's heckling of Jose and the Material Girl. By mid-May, the outfielder was carrying around a sign that warned reporters he would only talk to journalists that he knew. Yet even these distractions didn't do in Canseco, who hit 44 home runs and drove in 122 RBIs.

In August 1992 Canseco was in the middle of a subpar (by his standards) year; with just 22 homers, he seemed apathetic on the field and in the clubhouse. During many of his at-bats, deafening boos filled the Oakland Coliseum. In the midst of a playoff run, the A's traded Canseco to the Texas Rangers for slugger Ruben Sierra, pitcher Bobby Witt, closer Jeff Russell, and cash. Though modestly stunned, Canseco didn't lose a whit of bravado when a reporter asked him where he'd been traded: "To Ethiopia," the slugger replied. "For a box of Froot Loops and a camel to be named later."

Canseco suffered his two most embarrassing on-field moments with in Texas. On May 23, 1993, he leapt into the air at the wall to snag a fly ball from Cleveland Indians' Carlos Martinez, but as he did so, the ball ricocheted off his head over the wall for a home run. Three days later, Canseco convinced manager Kevin Kennedy to let him pitch the eighth inning of a blowout to the Red Sox. He did retire the side, despite allowing three earned runs on three walks and a pair of singles, but a month later felt the repercussions. His bulky, muscle-bound body wasn't used to the pitching motions, and Canseco had to undergo ligament surgery in his right elbow, ending his season prematurely.

His once-mighty outfield arm severely weakened by the surgery, Canseco came back the following year as a full-time designated hitter. But though he knocked 31 round trippers and tallied 90 RBIs, the Rangers were iffy on his DH-only status, and traded him in the offseason to the Boston Red Sox for speedy leadoff hitter Otis Nixon and third baseman Luis Ortiz.

Falling victim to recurrent injuries in Boston, Canseco became as much of a risk as he was an offensive threat. He was on the disabled list for more than a month in 1995 with a sore groin, rib cage, and elbow. The following year, an awkward swing twisted his muscle-stacked torso, and he fell to the disabled list with a back injury in the summer. But even while playing in just 96 games, the big slugger hit 28 home runs, more than anybody else on the team except for Mo Vaughn.

In January 1997, Canseco was traded back to Oakland for pitcher John Wasdin and cash, but his reunion with his Bash Brother was short-lived. On July 31, 1997, McGwire was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, and the following day Canseco hit the disabled list with yet another back injury that would keep him sidelined for the rest of the season.

The following season the slugger signed a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays and resurrected his power stroke, if not his batting average. As the DH in Toronto, Canseco played over 150 games for the first time since 1991, and hit 46 homers with 107 RBIs, though he batted just .237 and had a measly on-base percentage of .318.

By now, Canseco had drifted away from the tabloid spotlight. He had settled down in a "normal" marriage with a former Hooters waitress and fitness champ and had a young daughter. But even his new serene life combined with a monster 1998 season couldn't get him signed to a multi-year deal, as teams winced at the possibility of the injury-prone Canseco wasting away on the bench. Finally, Jose signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, a power-hungry team that finished last in the league in home runs the year before. With the D-Rays, the designated hitter totaled 34 homers even while losing a month to the disabled list with another back injury.

Halfway through 2000, after another trip to the DL and just nine longballs under his belt, Canseco was put on waivers, and surprisingly picked up by the New York Yankees, who were en route to their fourth World Series in five years. It didn't take manager Joe Torre's surprised reaction to make it clear that the move was made solely to keep other American League teams from picking up the slugger. Canseco was limited to a platoon DH role, one that he despised, and though he received a warm reception at his former battleground, he was on the Anaheim Angels the following spring.

Canseco's tenure with the Halos didn't last long, as he was dropped just halfway through spring training. Incredulous at the decision and still confident he could play with a major-league team, he went to play with his twin brother Ozzie Canseco (who had previously toiled in the Yankees and A's systems) for the Independent League Newark Bears. In June 2001, Canseco was finally signed by a major league team, the Chicago White Sox. Calling his time in Newark "a nightmare," the DH was back hitting homers, trying to reach the 500-mark that once seemed easily within his reach, but got further away with each stint on the disabled list. (AG/ME)

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FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY

ť June 7, 1982: The Cubs select SS Shawon Dunston, who batted .790 this season for Brooklyn's Thomas Jefferson HS, with the first pick in the annual June free-agent draft. The Blue Jays then pick SS Augie Schmidt. The Twins, picking 4th overall, take lefty Brian Oelkers, who will be the first to reach the majors. Dwight Gooden is the 5th overall, taken by the Mets, one of 12 Mets draft picks who will make the igs. The Red Sox with three first round picks, use their first on Sam Horn and their last 1st round choice on FSU slugger Jeff Ledbetter, who hit an NCAA record 42 home runs: at least Horn will make the majors. The Yankees select high school SS Bo Jackson in the 2nd round, but he opts for Auburn instead. The Angels also go for a 2-sport star, taking U of Vermont's Kirk McCaskill, the first college player taken in last years NHL draft. The A's pick Jose Canseco in the 15th round and sign him for $15,000; the Royals mine gold on the 19th round by taking Bret Saberhagen. The Reds strike out in the first round when they select Illini high schooler Scott Jones, but so better with 9th rounder Tom Browning.

ť July 21, 1986: Jose Canseco cranks a Walt Terrell pitch into the upper deck of the CF bleachers at Tiger Stadium. The A's slugger has now hit a home run in every American League Park.

ť September 1, 1986: A's rookie Jose Canseco goes 4-for-5 and hits his 28th home run to become the first ML player with 100 RBI this season. Oakland defeats New York 98.

ť November 25, 1986: Jose Canseco wins the American League Rookie of the Year Award, becoming the first A's player to do so since Harry Byrd in 1952.

ť April 18, 1987: In Oakland's 75 win over Seattle, Reggie Jackson steals home on the front end of a double steal with Jose Canseco.

ť July 3, 1988: Oakland's P Gene Nelson steals a base while pinch running for Don Baylor in a 98, 16-inning win over Toronto, becoming the first American League pitcher to steal a base since John "Blue Moon" Odom in 1973. Jose Canseco's three home runs are not quite enough, and the game is not decided until Mark McGwire connects in the 16th inning to end it. McGwire will hit another 16th-inning home run tomorrow.

ť July 31, 1988: Jose Canseco belts two home runs in the A's 62 win over Seattle to become the first player to hit 30 or more home runs in each of his first three ML seasons.

ť September 23, 1988: Oakland's Jose Canseco becomes the founder of baseball's 40-HR, 40-SB club by stealing two bases in a 98, 14-inning win over Milwaukee. He also hits his 41st home run.

ť November 2, 1988: Oakland SS Walt Weiss becomes the 3rd consecutive A's player to win the American League Rookie of the Year award, joining sluggers Jose Canseco (1986) and Mark McGwire (1987).

ť November 16, 1988: Jose Canseco becomes the first unanimous American League MVP since Reggie Jackson in 1973.

ť May 9, 1989: A's slugger Jose Canseco has an operation to repair a stress fracture in his left hand and will miss the first half of the season. The injury occurred after just nine at bats in the Cactus League.

ť July 6, 1989: Despite having retired on May 29th, Mike Schmidt is elected to start at 3B for the National League in the All-Star Game. A's OF Jose Canseco, who has not played all season because of a wrist injury, is picked to start for the American League, but neither will play in the game.

ť October 7, 1989: Two Rickey Henderson home runs and a Jose Canseco upper deck home run give Oakland a 65 win.

ť June 11, 1990: Ageless Nolan Ryan pitches his unprecedented 6th career no-hitter, striking out 14 batters in a 50 win over the A's. He is the first to pitch a no-hitter for three different teams, and the first to throw a no-hitter in three different decades. The A's are missing Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, and Carney Lansford in the lineup.

ť May 10, 1991: Oakland OF Jose Canseco is photographed leaving the West Side apartment of singer Madonna. He then goes 0-for-3 in Oakland's 53 loss to the Yankees.

ť July 29, 1991: During a game at Yankee Stadium, Oakland OF Jose Canseco is bombarded with assorted objects by unruly fans. Included among the objects are an inflatable doll, a transistor radio, and a head of cabbage. Oakland escapes with a 108 victory, and Canseco strokes a double in four at bats.

ť February 13, 1992: Oakland outfielder Jose Canseco rams his wife's car, causing $10,000 in damage, following an argument with his wife, Esther.

ť June 23, 1992: Led by Harold Baines, who has a double and a homer, Oakland scores 10 runs in the 3rd inning enroute to a 122 win over Seattle. Jose Canseco also homers to make it an easy win for Joe Slusarski.

ť August 5, 1992: Oakland OF Jose Canseco becomes only the third player in history to walk in seven consecutive at bats after receiving free passes his first two times up against the Rangers in Oaklands 4-3 victory. He walked five times in yesterdays game.

ť August 31, 1992: The As trade OF Jose Canseco to the Rangers in exchange for OF Ruben Sierra and P Jeff Russell and Bobby Witt.

ť May 2, 1993: Texas rolls over the Brewers, 132 collecting 15 hits. Jose Canseco has a single, double and home run before leaving for a pinch runner. Protecting a 122 lead, Jeff Bronkey pitches three innings in relief of Robb Nen, and picks up a save in his ML debut with Texas. Bronkey is the first major leaguer born in Afghanistan.

ť May 26, 1993: Texas OF Jose Canseco has a fly ball off the bat of Cleveland's Carlos Martinez bounce off his head and into the stands for a home run. The Indians defeat the Rangers, 7-6.

ť May 29, 1993: OF Jose Canseco hurls the 8th inning of the Rangers 15-1 loss to the Red Sox. He allows three earned runs on three walks and two singles before retiring the side.

ť June 17, 1993: Texas OF Juan Gonzalez drives home eight runs in the Rangers' 18-2 win over the Angels. Gonzalez has a double and home run in his four hits. Doug Strange has four hits and Jose Canseco and Rafael Palmeiro also homer.

ť June 28, 1993: Rangers OF Jose Canseco faces ligament transplant surgery in his arm, which he injured during his brief one inning stint on the mound in relief on May 29.

ť June 13, 1994: Texas trounces Seattle, 17-9, as DH Jose Canseco drives home eight runs with five hits. Canseco counts three home runs among his safeties.

ť December 9, 1994: The Red Sox obtain OF Jose Canseco from the Rangers in exchange for OF Otis Nixon and 3B Luis Ortiz.

ť August 25, 1995: Jose Canseco hits a homer in his 5th straight game to account for Boston's only score in a 61 loss to Oakland. Canseco is the 5th Red Sox player to homer in five straight games. Scott Brosius clouts a pair of homers and Doug Jones hands Boston just its 3rd loss in 23 games.

ť December 7, 1995: The Red Sox sign free agent OF-DH Jose Canseco to a 2-year contract.

ť May 20, 1996: The Red Sox pound the A's again, racking up seven runs in the 3rd to win 164. As in yesterday's 122 win, Mo Vaughn and Jose Canseco homer: Mo's homer is his 9th in his last 12 games and ties him for the American League lead with 17. Bill Haselman adds four hits, including a homer.

ť May 23, 1996: In the Red Sox 114 sinking of the Mariners, Roger Clemens tosses a complete game win and bounces his first major league hit, and the first by a Sox pitcher since 1972. Clemens (34) gets to bat when DH Jose Canseco moves to LF in the 8th inning.

ť July 25, 1996: Mark McGwire clouts his 37th homer into the 5th deck at Toronto's Skydome, just the 2nd player to reach there. The 488-foot drive off Huck Flener lands four rows up from where Jose Canseco hit one in the 1989 playoff. The A's still lose the game to the Jays, 43 when Joe Carter hits a dramatic 2-run 2-out homer in the bottom of the 9th. McGwire will hit his 38th tomorrow in an A's win.

ť August 1, 1996: The Red Sox put Jose Canseco on the DL for back surgery. With Kevin Mitchell and Canseco gone from the outfield, the Sox defense will improve and so will their record. But they lose today, 94, to the Royals, as Roger Clemens (4-11) is tagged for seven runs in six innings.

ť September 16, 1996: Steve Finley's lead off home run in the 11th gives the Padres a 21 over the host Giants. SF's only run is Barry Bonds 40th, and he joins Hank Aaron and Jose Canseco as the only players with 40 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a season.

ť September 27, 1996: Barry Bonds steals his 40th base to become the 2nd player, after Jose Canseco, to reach 40 homers and 40 steals in a season. He has 42 homers. San Francisco tops Colorado, 93, with a 7-run 7th.

ť January 27, 1997: The Red Sox trade DH Jose Canseco and cash to the Athletics for P John Wasdin.

ť July 16, 1997: In Oakland, Mark McGwire hits his 33rd and 34th homers to lead the A's to an 113 win over the hapless Royals. Jose Canseco strikes out in all five at-bats for the Athletics, tying an Oakland record. Combined with his three strikeouts on Monday, he ties a major league record with eight whiffs in two consecutive games.

ť February 4, 1998: Free agent DHOF Jose Canseco signs a 1-year contract with the Blue Jays.

ť July 26, 1998: Boston defeats Toronto by a score of 63. Jose Canseco's 8thinning home run accounts for the Blue Jays' 1st run. It is the 380th home run of Canseco's career, making him the alltime leader among players born outside of the US. Orlando Cepeda and Tony Perez had been the coleaders with 379.

ť August 1, 1998: Paced by Jose Canseco's 7th homer in 11 games, the Blue Jays edge the Twins, 109. Walker is 3for4 to raise his average to .350. Pat Hentgen gives up four runs in six innings, but it is good enough to win his 11th in 12 decisions with Minnesota. The Twins nipped him, 21, on May 15, 1996, his only loss.

ť September 19, 1998: Mariners SS Alex Rodriguez hits his 40th home run of the season, off Jack McDowell of the Angels, to become the 3rd player in history to have 40 home runs and 40 SBs in the same season. Jose Canseco and Barry Bonds are the others. The Mariners lose the game, however, 53.

ť December 9, 1998: The Devil Rays sign free agent OF Jose Canseco.

ť April 14, 1999: Speaking of 400s. In the Devil Rays 76, 11 inning loss to Toronto, Jose Canseco hits his 400th home run. He is the 28th player to reach that mark, but the first born outside the US.

ť May 22, 1999: Mo Vaughn's single in the 8th snaps a tie and rescues Steve Sparks wild knuckler as the Angles beat the Devil Rays, 86. In the 3rd inning, Sparks hits Paul Sorrento to load the bases, then plunks the next two batters with a knuckler. He is the 4th pitcher to hit three batters in a row, joining Houston's C.J. Nitkowski (1988), White Sox Wilbur Wood (1977) and Pittsburgh's Dock Ellis (1974). He also plunks Jose Canseco in the 1st inning to tie the ML mark for HPB. Sparks only allows five hits, but walks six in addition to hitting 4.

ť July 4, 1999: The Blue Jays defeat the Devil Rays, 6-3, despite Jose Canseco's 30th home run of the season. Canseco becomes the first player in history to reach the 30 mark with four different teams, having previously done so with Oakland, Texas, and Toronto. Pat Hentgen wins his 100th career game and Shawn Green reaches the 100-HR mark with a pair of homers.

ť August 7, 2000: The Yankees obtain Jose Canseco from the Devil Rays. The move, which mystifies even manager Joe Torre, is presumably designed to keep the high priced slugger away from AL East rivals.

ť September 3, 2001: The Indians defeat the White Sox, 63, as Jose Canseco steals the 200th base of his career. He becomes just the 9th player in history to have that many steals and 400 home runs.

ť June 28, 2002: Tampa Bay whips their cross state rival Marlins 40 behind Wilson Alvarez and two relievers. Jared Sandberg homers for TB. In the 7th, Kevin Millar of the Marlins hits a towering fly that lands on one of the catwalks that hang from the stadium's dome. It never comes down and it is ruled a double. It's the second time a ball has gotten stuck in a catwalk at Tropicana Field. In 1999, Jose Canseco hit a home run drive that lodged there. Millar joins Ruppert Jones, Rickey Nelson, Dave Kingman, Alvaro Espinoza and Canseco as the only players to hit a fair ball that got stuck in a stadium obstruction. Jones and Nelson both had hits get caught in the overhead speakers at the old Kingdome. The balls hit by Kingman and Espinoza were at the Minneapolis Metrodome with Kingman's getting stuck in a drainage valve and Espinoza's lodging in an overhead speaker.