Jose Canseco

[The Punkyova]

I freely admit to having been living under a rock, and that everyone else probably noticed this years ago.

Jose Canseco is a very handsome man. The pictures of him that are flashed on the news when discussing his recent book show him to have been a real cutie when young, maturing into someone very, very attractive.

Jose Canseco has deplorable fashion sense. His outfits are so gaudy that they actually detract from his good looks. He seriously should think about hiring a "dresser" to send him out each day in tasteful, presentable clothing.

Jose Canseco is a fruitcake. I have no idea about the veracity of his steroid claims, but I've seen him interviewed twice now, and he is clearly on a different wavelength than the rest of us. I don't get the impression that he is stupid. I have wondered if English is his second language.

That's all. Totally mundane, totally pointless. I just wanted to share.

[Martin Hyde]

He was a Cuban defector, born and raised in Fidel-land, defected to the United States because he was such a great baseball player he saw where the money was to be made.

He speaks pretty good English I think but Spanish is definitely his native language.

Put aside Canseco's personality completely and I think he was one of the best players of the late 80s/mid 90s. I think he gets overshadowed a lot, and while it's petulent of him to bitch about it like he does he DID get ignored by the baseball establishment. If Canseco was a nice guy he'd probably make it into the Hall of Fame.

[AwSnappity]

My BFSnappity and PaSnappity love telling me about how a ball bounced off Jose Canseco's head, out of the park for a homerun.

My BFSnappity has an old cheesy instructional hitting tape starring Jose Canseco. Jose Canseco's coming to a local bookstore to sign books. BFSnappity is hoping to get JoseCanseco to sign the tape. And then maybe go out to a bar afterwards.

[CynicalGabe]

C'mon guys, first member of the 40/40 club! Am I the only one that remembers that?

[The Big Cheese]

Originally Posted by CynicalGabe

C'mon guys, first member of the 40/40 club! Am I the only one that remembers that?

Yea, it's amazing what some steroids can allow you to do.

He came over as a baby, grew up in Miami so it's little surprise his English is that good. He has a twin, Ozzie who played minor league baseball here in Madison for 3 years and never made it, bouncing around from pitcher to outfielder to..who knows what else. Ozzie was never as big as Jose.

[astorian]

Jose Canseco is clearly a jerk, a screwed up individual.

Then again, so were Whittaker Chambers and Joe Valachi, and I don't doubt the essential truth of the things they testified to.

I'm sure Canseco has exaggerated or distorted a few things, but sadly, I find most of his charges pretty credible.

[The Punkyova]

You would have to look long and hard to find someone more sports illiterate than I am, so I really have no idea about the steroid allegations. Keith Olbermann finds them credible, and that's good enough for me. (Saving everyone else the trouble by posting the appropriate smiley. See how thoughtful I am?)

The Big Cheee, we lived in Madison for a while, and I have a vague memory that Jose played minor league ball there as well. Someone was trying to save the ballpark on East Washington, and made a big deal out of the famous players who had been there. Does that sound right to you? If so, both twins were there, I wonder if they were there at the same time?

Someone off-line (yes, I annoy RL people with this minutia as well) reminded me that Jose had a 900 number for a while, where you could call and listen to him talk about whatever. Sort of a pre-internet blog, I think. He says that every sportscaster in the country called in and made a show out of it, because it was absolutely surreal and filled out the telecast nicely. He confirms that Jose is a fruitcake.

But a good-looking fruitcake, if we could just find someone competent to put in charge of his wardrobe.

[AwSnappity]

Originally Posted by AwSnappity

Jose Canseco's coming to a local bookstore to sign books. BFSnappity is hoping to get JoseCanseco to sign the tape. And then maybe go out to a bar afterwards.

Scratch that. Jose Canseco cancelled the last part of his tour, due to death threats. Disappointing.

[BarnOwl]

Originally Posted by CynicalGabe

C'mon guys, first member of the 40/40 club! Am I the only one that remembers that?

And surely, I'm not the only one who remembers how Jose, fielding a fly ball, let it bounce off his head, into the stands for a home run.

[AwSnappity]

Antiochus: No, you're not. Post #3

[BarnOwl]

Originally Posted by AwSnappity

Antiochus: No, you're not. Post #3

Almost always, I read every post before submitting my own. But this time I missed one —yours — and for some weird reason, it's more humorous this way. I'm not at all embarrassed.

[beckwall]

I have a few fond memories of baseball games in Madison. The lightning strikes sent us dashing away from the metal bleachers, while all the locals sat still. We did see Ozzie there, he was in a cast so couldn't play. We have a Muskies yearbook with Terry Steinbach in it. "Go fish go, in the shadow of the state capitol"!

Anyway, Jose is a complex and troubled guy. I'm sure he's very unpopular with a lot of people right now. But that 40/40 season was something to behold.

[Mister Rik]

My baby sister was a huge Jose Canseco fan when he was in Oakland. She would aggressively correct people who pronounced his name "Ho-zay". "It's 'Ho-say!'"

Anyway, the Oakland Athletics happened to be playing in Seattle, against the Mariners, on my sister's 15th birthday, so my Dad bought three tickets to that game so that my sister could see her hero in action. He bought the tickets well in advance. Jose was traded to Texas, for Ruben Sierra and cash, two weeks before my sister's birthday We went to the game anyway. It was my first Major League game, and the Mariners won, 6-3. I just learned a couple years ago that that win ended a 14-game losing streak. (This was 1992, and I wasn't really a baseball fan before the game, though I've become a big Mariners fan since.)

But let me say this: I never liked that Canseco anyway! Boo! Hiss!

[The Punkyova]

Originally Posted by AwSnappity

Scratch that. Jose Canseco cancelled the last part of his tour, due to death threats. Disappointing.

See, this is the kind of thing that leads me to believe that Jose Canseco is a fruitcake. Death threats are just a little, um, attention-whorish, if I can say that in MPSIMS.

Or am I just living in a bubble, and there really are people out there who would want to kill him?

[movingfinger]

If someone does do him in, Mark McGwire better have a good alibi.

[The Big Cheese]

Originally Posted by The Punkyova

The Big Cheee, we lived in Madison for a while, and I have a vague memory that Jose played minor league ball there as well. Someone was trying to save the ballpark on East Washington, and made a big deal out of the famous players who had been there. Does that sound right to you? If so, both twins were there, I wonder if they were there at the same time?

It was the class A minor league team for Oakland at the time. Jose may have, i don't remember him as much. Jose was famous by the time Ozzie got there so he was more memorable, and they kept trying to find him a position based on his potential. I wish he had, i have some memorablia with him from then.
The 'Fish Pond' was on the north side (Warner park) actually where they played. There is a stadium on EWash, where soccer is played very infrequently that is being saved because its old.

Originally Posted by beckwall

I have a few fond memories of baseball games in Madison. The lightning strikes sent us dashing away from the metal bleachers, while all the locals sat still.

C'mon, they aren't going to leave with a full beer, they might spill it.

Here's about the death threat.......
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/ESPNSports/story?id=534193
The Chicago Tribune reported Saturday than an e-mail death threat submitted through Canseco's Web site forced Canseco to halt his book-signing tour.

"We are not taking the threat lightly," Saunooke told the paper. "It's not that I believe Jose is in immediate danger. He's a black belt in three different kinds of karate, so he can take care of himself. We are more concerned about the people who come to the book signing."

[The Punkyova]

Originally Posted by The Big Cheese

The 'Fish Pond' was on the north side (Warner park) actually where they played. There is a stadium on EWash, where soccer is played very infrequently that is being saved because its old.

The EWash one is the one they were trying to save. As I said above, I am utterly oblivious when it comes to sports, so I may be remembering something incorrectly.

Originally Posted by The Big Cheese

Here's about the death threat.......
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/ESPNSports/story?id=534193
The Chicago Tribune reported Saturday than an e-mail death threat submitted through Canseco's Web site forced Canseco to halt his book-signing tour.

"We are not taking the threat lightly," Saunooke told the paper. "It's not that I believe Jose is in immediate danger. He's a black belt in three different kinds of karate, so he can take care of himself. We are more concerned about the people who come to the book signing."

This goes back to my fruitcake observation. A black belt in three different kinds of karate? I know a couple of people into martial arts, and getting a black belt in one style takes years, tremendous discipline and great political skill. All the different schools seem to be at odds, so having a black belt in one might actually count against you in others. Again, I might just be clueless, but when someone says he/she has a black belt in more than one kind of martial art, I presume a disconnect from reality.

[lieu]

I've never been a fan of Canseco's, ever since the early reports of domestic violence. Later events like the steroid allegations, cranial HR assist and comments both stupid and selfish further strengthened my dislike.

But for the love of God, what in the hell was he wearing during Olberman's interview? First I stared, then I laughed, then I moved the hell away from the TV.

The man is an absolute idiot.

[lieu]

Link to Jose's puffy shirt.


[size=1]But I don't want to be a Pittsburgh Pirate![/url]

[Munch]

Originally Posted by astorian

I'm sure Canseco has exaggerated or distorted a few things, but sadly, I find most of his charges pretty credible.

I would as well, if he didn't manage to lie or distort some of the most mundane aspects of the book. For instance, when accusing Bret Boone (Seattle's secondbaseman) of using steroids, he used the anecdote of how enormous he looked when he saw him after reaching 2nd base in a spring training game against Seattle.

Except, Canseco never once reached 2nd base in any game against Seattle that Spring Training. Why the complete fabrication? I mean, other than the enormous opportunity to make a quick buck by slinging copious amounts of mud at any easy target?

[The Punkyova]

Originally Posted by lieu

I've never been a fan of Canseco's, ever since the early reports of domestic violence.

This I didn't know about. ::Revises oppinion from "Attractive Fruitcake" to "Pond Scum Who Should Spend Significant Amounts of His Future in Prison"::

Originally Posted by lieu

But for the love of God, what in the hell was he wearing during Olberman's interview? First I stared, then I laughed, then I moved the hell away from the TV.

The man is an absolute idiot.

Exactly!! That's it exactly! That's the reaction that led me to start this thread!

[astorian]

Many years ago, when Canseco was still playing for the Oakland A's, he was in the outfield of Fenway Park. The Red Sox fans were chanting,
STE-roid! STE-roids! STE-roids!" from the stands.

And, rather than let the crowd antagonize him, Canseco held up his arm, and starting flexing his bicep to the rhythm of the chant!

Even the Sox fans seemed to get a huge kick out of that!