Jose Canseco returned to the O.co Coliseum for the first time since his playing career ended in 2001 – and since publication of his 2005 book “Juiced” alleging widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs in major-league baseball. Wearing a white Athletics jersey, Canseco admitted he was nervous seeing his old teammates and drumming up old memories and bad feelings brought up from his book.
via The Sacramento Bee:
“I’m still very nervous. I don’t know what to think or how the fans will react. I’m kind of putting myself out there in the most vulnerable state possible.”
There was a conspicuous absence from the 1989 group milling around Canseco on Friday – Mark McGwire, Canseco’s former “Bash Brother,” and one of the players Canseco named in his book as having used steroids during their playing days. McGwire, who has since admitted using PEDs, is in St. Louis this weekend as the hitting coach of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“One of the gentlemen I would’ve liked to see is Mark McGwire,” Canseco said. “I looked up to him. I idolized him for a lot of reasons.
“It haunts me to today that I actually said those things about him, even though they were true. But I could’ve gone about it in a different way and got my point across.”
Nearly a decade removed from the publishing of “Juiced,” Canseco said he regrets writing the book. Its publication helped spur congressional hearings on PED use in major-league baseball at which several prominent players – including McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa – testified.
“I regret putting my friends in it, even though it was a true account,” Canseco said. “The reason I did it was not a good reason. I was angry at the time.”
Canseco said while he believes MLB would have “come to the same place” eventually, “If anything positive came out of the book, it’s that hopefully it helped clean up (MLB).”
Still, he said publishing the book was costly, to himself and the players named in it – particularly Hall of Fame candidates.
“I’m very worried and depressed about the way they’re trying to not vote these players into the Hall of Fame,” Canseco said. “It’s almost saying that an individual who used a PED, that the PED made them a superstar athlete.”
