Written by:
CHRISTIAN RED
April 2, 2008
Former major leaguer Jose Canseco has written two books - 'Juiced' and his new one, 'Vindicated' - that blow the whistle on rampant steroid use in baseball.
All it took was three years and two tell-all books - "Juiced" and the just-released "Vindicated" - to get Major League Baseball to take some interest in what former Bash Brother Jose Canseco has to say about steroids in America's pastime.
At Canseco's book signing in midtown today, the power hitter-turned-author had some unexpected guests, who weren't present to collect the slugger's autograph. Victor Burgos and Eduardo Dominguez, two members of MLB's newly formed Department of Investigations, visited the Barnes & Noble at 46th and Fifth Ave. to introduce themselves to Canseco and to try to set up a meeting.
"We had no clue. They just showed up, out of the blue," Robert Saunooke, Canseco's attorney, told the Daily News. "They said, 'We would like Jose to come help us.' We're like, 'Sure.'" Saunooke said no meeting date was decided and that he would hold off making any arrangements until after the "Vindicated" book tour concludes April 10th in San Francisco. He then added that he and Canseco were puzzled as to what took baseball so long to seek help from the self-admitted Godfather of steroids.
"We asked them, 'Why now? Why not two years ago? Why so long?'" said Saunooke. "They said, 'Those are valid questions.'"
Canseco told the Daily News in an exclusive interview Monday that he has long felt that baseball "blackballed" him and "slowly, but surely choked (him) out of the game."
Even though "Juiced" blew the lid off baseball's steroid problems after its release three years ago, Canseco was largely vilified for his candid nature. Apparently the claims in "Vindicated" - that Canseco introduced three-time MVP Alex Rodriguez to a steroids dealer in the late '90s and that Canseco injected Tigers outfielder Magglio Ordoñez with steroids in 2001 - were enough to have MLB extend an olive branch.
"Jose's statements (today) were, 'This is great, excellent. Finally, baseball is taking it seriously.' He wished they had contacted him sooner. Whatever he can do, he'll be happy to do," said Saunooke.
Following the release of the Mitchell Report last December, one of former Sen. George Mitchell's recommendations to commissioner Bud Selig was to establish an investigative unit. That department, now in place, reports to MLB president and COO Bob DuPuy. Although MLB would not comment on the investigators' meeting with Canseco today, there may be interest from MLB finding out more about "Max," the unidentified steroids dealer Canseco writes about in his current book.
When the investigative unit was formed in January, MLB said it "will have broad authority to conduct investigations."
"Now, Jose will no longer be saying, 'Why, why, why hasn't (MLB) called me?' He'll be saying, 'Guess what happened today?'" said Saunooke. "It does raise a lot of questions. Why now? Is it the A-Rod allegations? Do they want to know who "Max" is? Who knows? What if they want to know who Max is, so they can get to Max and go after A-Rod, because they believe Jose over A-Rod? I don't know. Who knows what will happen. I don't know what this will translate into. No clue."
Saunooke said he was just pleased - not vindicated - that something other than disdain was being directed toward his client.
"I would love to see it translate into something where Jose was working with baseball again, where they brought him back in and there was some kind of fence mending. But that's not for me to decide," he said.
