Jose Canseco Tells All; Teammates Not Happy

Posted on February 15, 2005

The Associated Press reports that Jose Conseco's new tell-all book is a runaway hit: Amazon.com listed Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big (ReganBooks) as the third book in its bestseller lists Monday.

In case you've been under a rock for the past week, Jose has infuriated baseball stars such as Mark McGwire with his revelations of rampant steroid use in the game (steroids were not illegal nor banned in baseball at the time Canseco used them). And while his former teammates may be unhappy, his publisher is quite pleased.

The book had an initial printing of 150,000 copies and it looks like another printing might be on the way. "I don't think it's a good thing, obviously, because it's bringing a bad light to the game," New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter said Monday. "This is a time, obviously, baseball is in a negative light and Jose is not helping out. In terms of his accusations, the only people that know are him and whoever he is accusing. The unfortunate thing is, if it's not true, you're looking at guys having to defend themselves over something they haven't done."

Mark McGwire has issued a written denial that he used steroids. Canseco calls himself the "godfather of steroids in baseball," saying "I single-handedly changed the game of baseball by introducing them into the game."