The New York Daily News is reporting that an upcoming book by former Oakland A's outfielder Jose Canseco will allege widespread steroid abuse in Major League Baseball involving a number of current and former players. The book, titled Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big, doesn't hit the stands until February 21, but it already has a lot of people nervous:

Players, agents, union officials and Major League Baseball executives have been burning up the phone lines over the past several days trying to find information about the book's contents.

"Hoo boy," one top major league executive said. "This is going to be bad."

Canseco reportedly attempts to present steroid use in a positive light: while conceding that children shouldn't use them, he says that all players should use steroids and "practically offers a how-to guide to steroids and human growth hormone" in his book. Among his more incendiary allegations, he claims to have personally introduced steroids to Major League Baseball and administered them several times to teammate Mark McGwire, who once held the MLB single-season home run record.

Canseco also says that both owners and the MLB Players Association were deeply involved in the spread of steroids during the 1990s. He claims to have introduced former Texas Rangers Pudge Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro and Juan Gonzalez to steroids during a brief stint with the team in the early 1990's and alleges that President Bush, who at the time was the team's managing general partner, knew about steroid use on the team and did nothing to address it. When asked about the allegations, White House spokesman Ken Lisaius declined to comment.

The book and its author have both already been angrily condemned by St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa (see here and here), who had Canseco on his team when he was with the Oakland A's and also managed McGwire during the slugger's stints with the A's and Cards:

"I just hope that the paper that made a big deal of Jose's accusations gives the same attention to those of us who know Mark," La Russa said. "I couldn't disagree more. I categorically refuse to accept anything that Jose says about Mark."

[...] "The biggest key for McGwire is that all of his strength and size gains came from five or six days a week of hitting the gym with a very disciplined workout, his protein intake and careful dieting," La Russa said. "He was probably in the gym 10 times more than Jose, and Jose was bigger."

LaRussa questioned the motivations of Canseco, who has been in legal and financial trouble on and off since he left the game in 2001:

"He's hurting for money and he needs to make a score," La Russa said. "What's a more sensational thing to say, and who's a more sensational target to pick than Mark?"

"The more sensational the actions, obviously the better chance he has to recover some of his money. My guess is that he's in dire straits for finances," La Russa said. "And it's almost a human condition that he's probably jealous as hell of Mark--that Mark's kept his life together instead of what Jose did to himself. I think it's a matter of needing money and being jealous."

True or not, the implications in Canseco's book are sure to generate a great deal of controversy as they become public, coming as they do in the wake of the BALCO scandal. And Canseco's remarks about Bush could be politically damaging, especially in light of Bush's remarks during the 2004 State of the Union address when he called on MLB players and owners to rid the sport of steroids.

stockula

Anchorage, AK

May 2003

FEB 07, 2005 03:01 PM

"I did steroids, and it's Bush's fault!"

Sometimes I think about becoming a Bush-bashing hack, just to make money.

jake_lex

Lexington, KY

February 2003

FEB 07, 2005 03:05 PM

stockula said:
"I did steroids, and it's Bush's fault!"

Sometimes I think about becoming a Bush-bashing hack, just to make money.

I think you see these posts, and your knee jerks, and what's on the screen after it hits the keyboard is what you post.

I don't see it being that damaging for Dubya, because he hasn't really done more about this issue than tossing out a throwaway line in the 2004 State of the Union address. But the larger problem is for MLB. Anyone who watched baseball in the '90s knew that they were basing their resurgence on the longball, on home runs. This threatens to cheapen and ruin the season that really put MLB back on the map, the 1998 race between McGwire and Sosa. If what got people back into baseball turns out to be a couple of 'roid heads juiced out of their minds, that's not good.

SomethingStupid

North Hollywood, CA

March 2004

FEB 07, 2005 03:15 PM

stockula said:
"I did steroids, and it's Bush's fault!"

Sometimes I think about becoming a Bush-bashing hack, just to make money.

Jesus Christ. This has nothing to do with the president and everything to do with baseball. The only reason to even bring him up is because it's sensational, but I seriously doubt that Bush will deal with any sort of fallout about this. All that was said was that he knew that players were doing steroids. The main point is that people on all levels of management were/are aware of the steroid abuse.

monkeybutt

I'm lost

May 2004

FEB 07, 2005 03:25 PM

i told a friend here once that i was juicing every day and he was like "really, you didn't seem like the type" and i said "Oh, yeah, beets and carrots and celery and apples and shit every single day" and he was like "dude, juicing is slang for using steroids" and i said "like, pssfhaw, man, no fucking WAY!"

contrast

Minneapolis, MN

January 2004

FEB 07, 2005 03:37 PM

well, if you consider how much interest, entertainment, excitement, business, etc. were generated by the mcguire/sosa/bonds home run seasons... then steriods are obviously a good thing for the game.

Cash

I'm lost

OLD SKOOL

FEB 07, 2005 03:48 PM

If any of you ever followed baseball...you'd know that Jose Canseco has just about zero credibility. While I haven't read the book, and probably won't...I think you have to question the motives of a guy releasing a book about steroids in baseball right when steroids in baseball is a hot issue.

Cash

I'm lost

OLD SKOOL

FEB 07, 2005 03:51 PM

just as a post-script...Jose isn't naming anybody who wasn't already widely rumored to be using steroids.

You want to shock people, Jose? Accuse Mark Lemke and Otis Nixon of taking steroids.

[Edited on Feb 07, 2005 by Cash]