You’ve never seen Jose Canseco like this: huddled in a bathroom stall at the Oakland Coliseum, jabbing a hypodermic needle into Mark McGwire’s bare behind.
Or McGwire and a young Jason Giambi heading into the men’s room to inject each other with the anabolic steroids that would turn them from lanky lads into muscle-bound behemoths.
Bad boy Canseco alleges those and other mind-bending scenes in a soon-to-be-released book.
In “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Big,” Canseco claims he personally injected performance-enhancing drugs into some of the biggest names in the game, including All-Stars Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez and Ivan Rodriguez.
But if the book is a confessional, Canseco isn’t seeking redemption. “Juiced” is a love letter to the clear liquids that turned him from a skinny, struggling prospect into one of the biggest names in the game.
The implausibly buff slugger admitted to doping several years ago, but in the book he claims he was almost solely responsible for spreading steroids throughout baseball in the 1990s. The book, which still is being edited, is scheduled for release Feb. 21.
Canseco, who played for seven big-league teams in a 17-year career, expresses no regrets in the book. In fact, he predicts steroids and human growth hormone eventually will be decriminalized and help people lead longer, healthier lives.
Giambi’s agent, Arn Tellem, questioned Canseco’s credibility. “This book was written to make a quick buck by a guy desperate for attention, who has appeared on more police blotters than lineup cards in recent years, has no runs, no hits and is all errors,” he said.
“I am absolutely certain that Mark earned his size and strength from hard work and a disciplined lifestyle,” former A’s manager and current Cardinals manager Tony La Russa told the New York Times on Sunday. “When he was a kid in 1987, he hit 49 home runs. It’s a real shame. For some people, this is going to put a stain.”
Baseball insiders have known for months that Canseco was working on the tell-all book. Among his many bombshells, Canseco claims:
– McGwire introduced Giambi to performance-enhancing drugs, and the three of them used to shoot steroids together. Canseco says players on the A’s talked openly about injecting in the washroom stalls and that the clubhouse was an abuser’s paradise.
– During the great home run race of 1998, a reporter’s accidental discovery of androstenedione in McGwire’s locker may not have been an accident. Canseco says he believes McGwire put the bottle of the steroid “precursor” in his locker so it would be found, thus creating a smokescreen for his extensive use of illegal steroids. Andro, recently criminalized, was legal at the time.
– Some Major League Baseball owners welcomed or condoned steroid use because they believed a power surge would bring back fans after the disastrous 1994-95 work stoppage.
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– The players’ union condoned steroid use because a home run barrage would mean bigger salaries for members and union leaders.
– President Bush, who was the Rangers’ general managing partner in the early ’90s, must have known some of his players were using steroids but chose not to address the issue. White House spokesman Ken Lisaius declined to comment on Canseco’s book but noted that Bush had urged players, coaches and owners to work together to rid sports of steroids during the 2004 State of the Union address.
– Baseball and the media routinely vilified black and Latin players who misbehaved while they shielded white stars, especially McGwire, who engaged in similar conduct.
– Canseco had sex with hundreds of women–most players, he says, cheat on their wives–but clears the air about his most famous relationship: Canseco says he never had sex with Madonna, although he did spend a night making out with the Material Girl in her Manhattan apartment.
– Steroids played no role in the injuries that plagued Canseco’s career and that he would not have even become a big-league player if it weren’t for performance-enhancing drugs.
Reaction was swift from the accused. McGwire, who has long denied steroid use, said in a statement: “I have always told the truth and I am saddened that I continue to face this line of questioning. With regard to this book, I am reserving comment until I have the chance to review its contents myself.”
“We detailed Mark’s workout routine–six days a week, 12 months a year–and you could see his size and weight gain come through really hard work, a disciplined regimen and the proteins he took–all legal,” La Russa said.
“As opposed to the other guy, Jose, who would play around in the gym for 10 minutes, and all of a sudden he’s bigger than anybody.”
Added Tellem: “It only confirms what the great baseball writer Peter Gammons said when he called Jose Canseco one of the three greatest wastes of baseball talent between 1980 and 2000.”