He’s back. According to Joe Stiglich of NBC Bay Area, six-time All-Star and all-time controversial baseball personality Jose Canseco will be coming back to baseball. This time, as an on-air analyst for A’s Pregame Live and A’s Postgame Live.
“I’ve got quite a bit of experience. I’ve pretty much been there, done all of that whether it’s on or off the field,” Canseco said to Stiglich. “I think the fans can expect the truth — an honest opinion, honest analysis — and hopefully in some shape or form we expand the fan base.”
Beyond his 17 years experience, winning an MVP award, two World Series Championships and a Rookie of the Year award, Canseco, 52, was one of the few who admitted using performance-enhancing drugs during his playing career.
That caused some controversy.
Following his official retirement in 2002, he scribed a tell-all book in 2005 entitled ‘Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big.’ In the book, he mentions many names who used steroids, which ultimately turned out to be a majority of big-name players from that era. Most of the players Canseco named in the book denied the allegations, including Rafael Palmeiro, Jason Giambi, Ivan Rodriguez, and his former teammate, Mark McGwire.
“It’s kind of a double-edged sword,” he said of writing ‘Juiced.’ “It made the game better because it made the game look at what was going on internally. On the other end, because I wrote the book and went up against Major League Baseball, I got excommunicated.”
Canseco made many “celebrity appearances” beyond his stints playing in the Independent League including televised fights and being a cast member on the VH1 reality show The Surreal Life.
He holds 462 career home runs to his name and a .266/.366/.477 career line across seven major league teams.
Canseco explains to Stiglich he’s looking forward to the experience and is hoping fans would like to hear his thoughts and “how things can be fixed or made better for the Oakland A’s.”