José Canseco Capas

He was born in Havana, Cuba and is a former baseball player. He played as an outfielder and designated hitter in Major League Baseball and is the twin brother of player Ozzie Canseco.

Canseco and his family emigrated from Cuba when he was a child. They relocated to the United States, with José and Ozzie growing up in the Miami, Florida area, attending Miami Coral Park High School.

Canseco did not attend any university as he was selected in the 15th round by the Oakland Athletics in 1982. He was highly respected for his batting power in minor league teams such as the Idaho Falls A's of Idaho Falls, Idaho and the Modesto A's of Modesto, California, as it was common for him to hit home runs of more than 500 feet.

Canseco began the 1985 season with the AA team, the Huntsville Stars, and became known as "José's Parking Lot" for his long home runs (25 in just half a season), which almost reached one of the parking areas of Joe Davis Stadium.

Professional Career
Oakland A's
In late 1985, he was called up by the Oakland A's, playing in 29 games. His arrival had an immediate impact in 1986, his first full season, being named American League Rookie of the Year after hitting 33 home runs and driving in 117 RBIs.

In 1987, Mark McGwire joined Canseco with the Athletics; McGwire hit 49 home runs that year and was also named American League Rookie of the Year. Together they formed a terrible offensive tandem, which became known as the "Bash Brothers."

In 1988, Canseco became the first player in Major League history to hit at least 40 home runs and steal at least 40 bases in the same year, hitting 42 home runs and stealing 40 bases. After this, the street of the school where he studied in Miami was named in his honor.

That same year he helped the Athletics reach the World Series but they lost to the Dodgers in five games. Canseco was unanimously named American League Most Valuable Player in 1988, with a batting average of .307, 120 runs scored, 124 RBIs, 42 home runs, and 40 stolen bases.

In 1989, Canseco played in only 65 regular season games due to a broken wrist, but still managed to hit 17 home runs to help the Athletics win their first World Series since 1974, defeating the San Francisco Giants in four games. The World Series was interrupted before the third game due to a major earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Canseco returned in 1990, hitting 37 home runs despite suffering at the end of the season from what would become a recurring back problem. The A's returned to the World Series, but this time were swept by the Cincinnati Reds in four games. Canseco continued to be productive, hitting 44 home runs in 1991, but his career reached a standstill, primarily due to injuries.

Texas Rangers
On August 31, 1992, the A's traded Canseco to the Texas Rangers in the middle of a game while Canseco was at bat, in exchange for players Rubén Sierra, Jeff Russell, and Bobby Witt.

On May 26, 1993, during a game against the Cleveland Indians, Carlos Martínez hit a very deep fly ball. Canseco ran toward the "warning track" but lost sight of the ball. It hit him on the head and bounced over the home run barrier and was ruled as such. The cap Canseco wore that day he signed and gave away. This play has been considered one of the funniest errors in baseball history.

After this incident, the Harrisburg Heat team offered him a contract to play soccer. Three days later, Canseco asked the team manager, Kevin Kennedy, to allow him to be the pitcher in the eighth inning of a game that was already being lost against the Boston Red Sox; he hurt his arm and had to undergo elbow surgery, causing him to miss the rest of the season.

Final Seasons
After an unfortunate return to Oakland in 1997, in 1998 Canseco had another productive season with the Toronto Blue Jays, hitting 46 home runs and stealing 29 bases, the most since the 40 he achieved in 1988.

His return made him deserving of the AL Silver Slugger award, but this fact was not widely known due to the home run race in the National League between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.

Canseco went to play with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1999, and was having a great season (34 home runs in 114 games; was selected to the All-Star Game) when he hurt his back and missed the remainder of the season. He was transferred to the New York Yankees near the end of the 2000 season; he won his second World Series, but did not have a great impact as he played in only one game in the World Series that the Yankees won against the New York Mets.

Canseco played with the Chicago White Sox in 2001. After being cut by the Anaheim Angels in spring training, he spent half the season with the Newark Bears of the Atlantic League.

In 2002, Canseco was signed by the Montreal Expos but was released before the start of the regular season. Canseco retired in May 2002.

He tried to return in 2004, but was not offered any contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. His 462 home runs place him in 26th place among the greatest home run hitters in history. Canseco was the all-time leader in home runs among players of Latin American ancestry; but he has since been surpassed by Manny Ramírez, Carlos Delgado, Rafael Palmeiro, Alex Rodríguez, and Sammy Sosa.

Career in Independent Leagues
On June 29, 2006, the independent league Golden Baseball League announced that Canseco had reached an agreement to play one year with the San Diego Surf Dawgs. The league stated that Canseco's contract included a clause about the standard drug testing policy in other contracts which specified that "any player will be immediately expelled if found positive in tests for steroids or illegal drugs."

On July 5, 2006, Canseco was traded to the Long Beach Armada after playing only one game. He requested the trade himself due to "family obligations."

Steroids
In 2005, Canseco admitted to using anabolic steroids along with Jorge Delgado, Damaso Moreno, and Manuel Collado in the book Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big. Canseco also claimed that more than 85% of Major League players were taking steroids, a figure that is rejected by many in the U.S. baseball community. In the book, Canseco specifically identified his former teammates Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi, Rafael Palmeiro, Iván Rodríguez, and Juan González as users, claiming he himself helped inject them. Most of the players named in this book have denied steroid use, although Giambi admitted to using steroids in testimony before a grand jury that investigated the BALCO case.

In a U.S. Congress hearing focused on steroid use in sports, Palmeiro categorically denied using performance-enhancing drugs, while McGwire repeatedly refused to answer questions regarding his case. Canseco's book became a bestseller. On August 1, 2005, Palmeiro was suspended by Major League Baseball for ten days for testing positive on a doping control test.

On December 13, 2007, José Canseco and Jorge Delgado were cited in the Mitchell Report. In December 2007, Canseco was also named in Jason Grimsley's affidavit in which he is mentioned as a habitual steroid user. Canseco and Grimsley were teammates in 2000 with the New York Yankees.

On December 30, 2007, it was announced that the sequel to Canseco's first book titled Vindicated would be published. This book was said to mention details about Alex Rodríguez and Albert Belle. It would be a clarification of names not mentioned in the Mitchell Report.

On January 5, 2008, a potential publisher of this book, Don Yaeger, a former associate editor of Sports Illustrated, said he would not publish the book, telling the New York Daily News that he saw no book in the material Canseco gave him.

However, on February 7, 2009, Sports Illustrated reported that Alex Rodríguez tested positive during the 2003 season, something that could make the book seem more real than initially believed. Finally, on February 9, 2009, Alex Rodríguez confirmed Canseco's previous allegations about steroid use in an exclusive interview; Rodríguez admitted he used steroids from 2001 to 2003.

Activities Outside of Baseball
While still an active player, he participated in several television programs in the United States such as The Simpsons and Nash Bridges, but since his retirement has appeared on programs such as Late Show with David Letterman, 60 Minutes, The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, "Boomer and Carton," Howard Stern, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, CMI: The Chris Myers Interview, and Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List. In 2003, he was featured in the special program Stripper's Ball: Jenna Jameson with Dennis Rodman and Magic Johnson. He participated in the 5th season of The Surreal Life.

In May 2008, former football player Vai Sikahema accepted Canseco's challenge to fight for $30,000.

Canseco claimed to have won black belts in Kung Fu, Taekwondo, and Muay Thai, while Sikahema fought in the Golden Gloves tournament (which was won by boxers such as Sugar Ray Leonard, Michael Spinks, Evander Holyfield, Óscar de la Hoya, and Floyd Mayweather, Jr.). The fight took place on July 12 in Atlantic City at the Bernie Robbins Stadium. Sikahema knocked out Canseco in the first round.

On January 24, 2009, Canseco had a boxing match against Danny Bonaduce in Aston Township, Pennsylvania; the three-round fight ended in a draw.

Family Life
In 1989, his first wife, Esther Haddad, whom he had married in 1988, accused him of domestic violence after he apparently tried to run her over. They divorced in 1991.

In August 1996 he married Jessica Sekely. He was arrested in November 1997 for hitting her. They divorced in 1999. They have a daughter, Josiphene Marie.

In October 2001, Canseco and his brother got into a fight at a nightclub in Miami Beach with two other people, leaving one of them with a broken nose and the other with 20 stitches in the lip; Canseco was charged with aggravated assault.

In May 2008, Canseco stated that he had lost his house in Encino, California due to mortgage non-payment, mentioning that each of his two divorces had cost him between 7 and 8 million dollars.

In October 2008, Canseco was detained by U.S. immigration officers at the San Diego border attempting to illegally cross (from Tijuana, Mexico) gonadotropin, a fertility drug. He stated that this drug was to help him with his hormone replacement therapy, which he needed due to steroid abuse.

In 2008, A&E Network aired a documentary called José Canseco: Last Shot in which Canseco's attempts to end his steroid use are recounted.