Jose on 60 Minutes!

[bhambruiser]

I am pumped...it starts in a few minutes

[DEAD!]

You're not the only one that's "pumped"

[dfwabel]

What is going on with the eyebrows of that sportswriter?

[bhambruiser]

the dude made a good point though (the writter that is)...canseco might be a shady character, but he was in a good position to know about who was and was not using.

here is an article on CBSSportsline

Canseco: Steroids made baseball career possible

Feb. 13, 2005

SportsLine.com wire reports

Jose Canseco said he and fellow slugger Mark McGwire were never "buddy buddies" as teammates on the Oakland Athletics, but had at least one thing in common that they talked about regularly: using steroids.

Canseco also admitted in an interview with 60 Minutes that he would never have been a major league-caliber player without using the drugs

I don't recommend steroids for everyone and I don't recommend growth hormones for everyone," Canseco told Mike Wallace. "But for certain individuals, I truly believe, because I've experimented with it for so many years, that it can make an average athlete a super athlete. It can make a super athlete incredible. Just legendary."

The interview was broadcast Sunday on CBS, one day before the release of Canseco's book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big.

Canseco said he and McGwire weren't close, but often injected together and treated the subject of steroids as casual shop-talk.

"Mark and I weren't really in a sense of buddy buddies," Canseco said. "But there are certain subjects that we could talk about, like obviously steroids and so forth."

McGwire, who has repeatedly denied steroid use, said in a statement to the television news magazine: "Once and for all I did not use steroids nor any illegal substance. The relationship that these allegations portray couldn't be further from the truth."

Canseco also told Wallace that steroids give athletes and edge besides increased size and strength. "A lot of it is psychological," he said. "I mean, you really believe you have an edge. You feel the strength, and the stamina."

Canseco also says he introduced steroids to former Texas Rangers teammates Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez and Ivan Rodriguez. All have publicly denied using performance-enhancing drugs.

"I injected them. Absolutely," Canseco said.

Tony La Russa, who managed Oakland when McGwire and Canseco helped the A's win a World Series, has stood behind McGwire's denial, telling 60 Minutes that the first baseman got his strength and size from weightlifting and a careful diet.

La Russa was skeptical of Canseco's version.

First of all, I think he's in dire straits and needs money," La Russa said. "I think secondly ... I think there's a healthy case of envy and jealousy."

60 Minutes planned to air more of Canseco's interview in its Wednesday program.

Canseco hit 462 home runs in a major league career from 1985-2001. A few years ago, he claimed that 80 percent of major leaguers had taken steroids.

Baseball recently adopted a tougher steroid-testing program after the sport came under increased scrutiny about the drugs. Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield and Jason Giambi testified before a federal grand jury investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative known as BALCO.

AP NEWS

The Associated Press News Service

[DEAD!]

oooohhh. there's more to come on Wednesday....

[Swiss]

In a few years we'll see NFL players do a successful career in baseball. Period.

[Magus]

this is shocking news? in an day and age where athletes are brawlers, junkies, greedy pigs, and the model for the ghetto, this isn't shocking. sad yes, none the less i expect it.

[CC97]

Whenever I see people defend others with "He's bitter", "He's Jealous" or any other similar statement meant to mildly insult the accuser I get the sense that something was definately going on.

[NJTank]

Well its obvious something was going on, but I dont think the reason Canseco is writing this book is to save baseball from what he sees as wrong.