When it comes to the subject of steroids in baseball there isn’t a more credible source than Jose Canseco. The dude was practically the godfather of roids in baseball, the way he tells it. Players, owners, agents, the union — they all lie, but Canseco tells the truth. And when he was asked about the 2003 positive test that supposedly includes Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, Canseco offered something extra:
“When you tell me something I didn’t already know, I’ll be surprised. And I’ll tell you this, Major League Baseball is going to have a big, big problem on their hands when they find out they have a Hall of Famer who’s used.”
Canseco goes on to say he’s not into naming names (I guess he forgets about his books) because he wants to get the union for propagating this whole mess. OK, so now that we have the info, who’s the player? We can’t be sure until we hear from Canseco, but I’m sure many of us have a damn good idea who it is. Let’s see:
85% Rickey Henderson – The two played together in the early 90s when many of the A’s were juicing. Rickey played until he was 44 and was always in premium physcial condition and had a game based on power and speed. Canseco would have excellent knowledge of his potential usage and the timing of the remark (Henderson was inducted on Sunday) is quite telling.
5% Wade Boggs – They were on the ’99 Devil Rays together. Boggs was on his last legs and just trying to get his 3,000th hit. End of his career, trying to scratch out a couple of hits, there’s reason to believe he could have been desparate.
5% Dennis Eckersley – Played with Canseco on the A’s from ’87-’92 making him guilty by association. As a reliever he pitched frequently and supplements could have been helpful for day-to-day recovery.
5% Field – Everyone else in the Hall who played during Canseco’s time including the likes of Paul Molitor, George Brett, Nolan Ryan, Robin Yount, Dave Winfield, Ozzie Smith, Gary Carter, Eddie Murray, Ryne Sandberg, Tony Gwynn, or Cal Ripken Jr. Canseco never played on the same team as one of these players in the majors as far as I know but you never know what could have been the case.
