Posted on 02/15/2005 11:45:23 PM PST by BurbankKarl
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Former baseball slugger Jose Canseco claimed that both Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire took steroids during their famed home-run chase in 1998 during an exclusive interview with Kevin Kennedy, who managed Canseco while he was a Texas Ranger, on the first day of broadcasting for XM Satellite Radio's MLB Home Plate channel (XM Channel 175).
In a separate interview on MLB Home Plate, baseball veteran Pete Rose criticized Canseco for his accusations of steroid use among former teammates, saying, "No one needs the money that bad to capitalize on your teammates."
An encore broadcast of the Canseco interview will be aired on XM Channel 175 tonight at 9 pm ET and again at 12 midnight ET. The interview originally aired live on XM at 4:30 pm ET during the program "The Show," hosted by Kennedy and former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Rob Dibble.
Canseco, the author of the controversial new book "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big," claimed that he was forced out of baseball by league executives who had previously "turned a blind eye" to steroid use, then decided to make him an example to other players.
Canseco told XM: "Everybody wants to blame the players. You know what? The owners knew. They didn't care, as long as they were making money. The players' association knew. They just turned a blind eye to it and said, 'Hey, the game's developing again. It's growing.' You know, the Sammy Sosa-Mark McGwire show. They were both juiced. No 'ifs,' 'ands,' [or] 'buts' about it."
"I introduced steroids to Major League Baseball," Canseco said. "I changed the face of baseball as we know it today ... . The owners in Major League Baseball lost control of the steroids issue. Eight out of ten players were taking it. Records were being demolished, broken left and right. Owners said, 'Listen we have a problem. And the individual that changed this game ... and educated these players was Jose Canseco. Let's blackball him. Let's make it look like he's injured all the time. And little by little, let's suffocate his career. We know [Canseco] is the godfather of steroids. We know he's known as a chemist. He helped make the game as powerful as possible. Let's send a signal to the other players: You better stop the steroid taking, or we're going to get rid of you, too.'"
Canseco said concern among players about punishment for steroid use is the reason "home run percentages are coming down," but he said league management will not fully address the problem "until Congress comes and steps in."
Following Canseco's in-person interview at a Los Angeles studio, Pete Rose phoned into the program and said Canseco was ousted from baseball simply because he "couldn't play anymore," not because of a conspiracy. Rose criticized Canseco's decision to identify and accuse former teammates of using steroids, asserting that the decision was driven by money.
"No one needs the money that bad to capitalize on your teammates," Rose said. "I just don't understand, now he's talking about doing a movie, and being a producer of a movie, so you know, Jose makes it sound more and more like a money deal."
"The Show," hosted by Kennedy and former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Rob Dibble, is a fast-paced afternoon program airing weekdays on XM's MLB Home Plate from 3-6 PM ET, with high-profile guests, previews of upcoming games and listener call-ins.
Today marked the inaugural broadcast of MLB Home Plate, the nation's first 24-hour radio channel devoted solely to Major League Baseball. In March XM will add a suite of 15 channels devoted to live play-by-play coverage of games for every Major League Baseball team. Game programming on XM runs from Spring Training through the World Series. The channels are part of XM's 11-year broadcasting and marketing agreement with Major League Baseball
I believe it. Ever see pictures of Mcguire before he bulked up? What a difference, no amount of weight training by itself can do that.
I don't pay attention to baseball, but this could pass for Al Gore talking.
I'm shocked. Shocked, I tell you!
That's how bad that guy is.
Say it ain't freekin' SO. Dang it. I figured something was up - but I really hate to take just Conseco's word for it. But he's probably right...
They need to take back the record, or at least asterisk it forever.
Andro and creatine would have had the same effect. Was legal. He was still a huge guy even in his rookie season when he hit 49 homers. Which according to you he was small.
You do have a point there.
The record does not exist...Barry "Steroids" Bonds broke that "record."
Nooooo, take it all the way back to Maris if we have to - I don't care anymore. The Babe did it without steroids, and so can they...
Didn't Dibble exhibit 'roid rage when he was a Red?
Why didn't Kennedy and Dibble discuss their own knowledge of the enhancement game, and make it more personal?
This whole carny show is just too self-serving for me. I am already tired of it.
I think that "Canseco" needs a little psychiatric evaluation.
Gotta agree with ya, Dandie. But I got this hinky feeling that it's sour grapes for Jose' the Expose' and new hero of the "Let's Bash Baseball" crowd.
Oh, and do ya think those might be dancing dollar signs that Hoser counts at night so he can sleep.
Will wonders never cease?
IMO, it would be better to consider what Jose C. is saying rather than attack him for being a buffoon with an axe to grind.
" it would be better to consider what Jose C. is saying rather than attack him for being a buffoon with an axe to grind."
Steroid use is obvious, but let's don't condemn players based on the money-desparate drug user named Jose Can se co.
We have to consider the source as well and they guy has zero credibility. Conservatives used to laugh at the dupes who believed the Pravda line.
Do you mean he is a liar?
I mean you should consider the source. Steroids are rampant in sports.
But don't ruin the reputation and careers of guys based on a non credible desperate drug addict seeking money from book sales.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.