Jose Canseco, Future HOFer?
by Dewey Finn on Jul 31, 2009 12:47 PM EDT
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PrintBefore the Dewey Finn Hate Club makes their presence known, hear me out for a moment. I am not referring to Jose Canseco's induction into the Hall of Fame based on his performance as a player. Its public knowledge that he used PEDs and that his stats are completely tainted from beginning to end.
However, the case that I am trying to make is that, beleive it or not, Jose Canseco has done A LOT for the game of baseball during this decade. It is because he blew the whistle on the MLB and its players for PED use that there is actions being taken to clean up the game today. Obviously Canseco did not have noble intentions by blowing the whistle, he was merely trying to make some cash for his book and appearances. Nonetheless, his decision to speak out has directly resulted in efforts to clean up baseball and move past the 'Steroid Era'.
Honestly, I dont see Jose Canseco getting in the Hall of Fame anytime soon. Well, at least not while Bud Selig is in office, or while Canseco is alive. Down the road though, it is something that might be considered, or should be considered. Yes Canseco is a jerk, a cheater, an opportunist, bla bla bla. He is also the main reason why the game of baseball will be clean.
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-1 for the Dewey Finn Hate Club
dewey i dont hate you at all in fact i like you as a person and fantasy baseball player. also you are a good LM of our league. please dont mistake my previous post for hate at all…..but if you want me to get on board w/ statements of knapp=halladay clone, cahill> webb? or that canseco should go into the HOF based on blowing the wistle on PEDS and not preformance its jsut not gonna happen…sorry
Separate Sections
I’ve always liked having this separate section of the HoF for people who contributed greatly to the game in one way or another.
Examples off the top of my head:
- someone who creates/masters an new pitch (Splitter of the 70’s 80’s)
- People involved in historic plays (WS winning walk-off homer, Mays catch, Perfect game in WS
- People who greatly added to the story of baseball (someone like Canseco, players like Curt Flood who lead to free agency, etc etc)
Now this separate section wouldnt have the same pomp and circumstance as a regular induction, but would acknowledge the history of the game.
Inventing the curveball
is the supposed reason for Candy Cummings HOF status.
Pete Rose was actually banned from baseball for teaching Jeff Francoeur how to play. He made up the gambling stuff to hide his shame.
by VivaLosBravos on Aug 6, 2009 1:57 AM EDT up reply actions
who as a much better name for the porn industry than baseball, IMO.
Pete Rose was actually banned from baseball for teaching Jeff Francoeur how to play. He made up the gambling stuff to hide his shame.
by VivaLosBravos on Aug 6, 2009 2:00 AM EDT up reply actions
like it or not
Jose Canseco has made a positive contribution to baseball.
Now raise your goblet of rock. It's a toast to those who rock!
I'm not willing to give him that much credit
When he was really making a positive contribution to Jose Canseco.
ya
I won’t dispute that. Jose was looking out for Jose. However, it benefited the game by doing so.
Now raise your goblet of rock. It's a toast to those who rock!
If Jose wasn't so obvious in looking out for Jose
It could have done a lot more for the game. As it was, he made himself pretty hard to take seriously.
not making it.
Coffee. The NEW Performance Enhancing drug for Sport's Writers. Just ask Ken Rosenthal.
There's a hall of fame museum, you know
If you think a guy is important to the history of the game, but hasn’t earned his way to the hall as a player, there’s a place for that. Maris and McGwire are all over the hall museum.
Will never happen
baseball establishment is up its own ass like that. But I hear your point
"Sometimes Joe (morgan) doesn't like facts to get in the way of his opinions."- billy beane
"That was a great pick...if this was 2002" Me, to guy who selected Barry Zito in a fantasy draft
www.27ClubPeak.blogspot.com
Caminitti
If thats all you require for induction then we should really be talking about Ken Caminitti. He came out and said that 75% of the league was on steroids a couple of years before Canseco ever said anything. Only difference is Caminitti wasn’t doing it for money.
Canseco did do it for the money...
But his voice also made a MUCH LARGER impact on baseball than Caminiti’s.
Now raise your goblet of rock. It's a toast to those who rock!
..because he was doing it for money
You know, writing a book, etc.
Basically I'm saying that Canseco's wider audience
Is do to self-promotion.
Jose Canseco vs. Marvin Miller and Curt Flood
The smartest thing that Jim Bouton has ever said:
How did these people vote, and why are their votes kept secret? And why aren’t there more players on that committee? Hank Aaron, Jim Bunning, Bob Gibson, Fergie Jenkins—they’re all on the committee for reviewing the managers and umpires. Essentially, the decision for putting a union leader in the Hall of Fame was handed over to a bunch of executives and former executives. Marvin Miller kicked their butts and took power away from the baseball establishment—do you really think those people are going to vote him in? It’s a joke… I blame the players. It’s their Hall of Fame; it’s their balls and bats that make the hall what it is. Where are the public outcries from Joe Morgan or Reggie Jackson, who was a player rep? Why don’t these guys see that some of their own get on these committees? That’s the least they owe Marvin Miller. Do they think they became millionaires because of the owners’ generosity?
Those guys deserve to be in long before Jose Canseco, as both had a positive impact on the game that went beyond mere self-interest.
Jose was the one person most responsible for introducing roids into the game
he championed there use, he taught others how to get the most out of them. He turned them from a fringe hit or miss proposition to a truly effective performance enhancer. He taught and helped people on how to inject them and were to get them. These steroid disciples of his spread this around all of baseball . This is according to Jose.
To honor him for helping clean up the mess he himself was most liable in creating seems to be iniquitous.
"Gratuitous gesticulating together sounds even better"
He hasn't even helped to clean it up
He’s just named a bunch of names.
And people only really cared about it once he made it a big deal. There was no great public outcry about steroid use in baseball until Canseco wrote his book, and ESPN created this whole nonsense or “public outrage”.
You have to be kidding
There was no public outcry until BALCO. Canseco just rode the coattails.
Canseco brought the issue to light before Balco
But nobody really believed him that much until after BALCO. Then he seemed prescient.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
Ken Caminiti
Tom Verducci’s cover story in which Ken Caminiti admitted steroid abuse during his MVP 1996 season was when the issue went from something on the margins to a full fledged bombshell. Later that summer, survey testing was included in the 2002 CBA.
This pre-dates the BALCO explosion significantly. Bonds, Giambi, and Sheff didn’t testify until December of 2003.
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1025902/index.htm (cover story)
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/special_report/news/2002/05/28/verducci_insider/
The second link closes with
"I was speaking with a NL general manager about Jose Canseco, the recently retired major leaguer who estimated that 85 percent of players are on steroids (a figure designed for shock value, I reckoned). He promises to write a tell-all book. Some players I’ve talked to were miffed, wondering how “one of their own” would hurt a game that has enriched him. The GM, however, had a very different take. All reform begins with education.
“That could be good,” the general manager said. “Maybe some good will come from it.”
He needn’t wait for the book. The secret is out. "
PS I remember thinking Bonds might be on steroids during May of his 73 HR season. Bonds was on pace for about 87HR, and his physical transformation were what got me thinking. Mind you, I was 15 years old, and I wondered why steroids weren’t being mentioned.
That summer, Bonds was on Leno and claimed he used creatine and that was it. I believed it.
Never in a million years
If Marvin Miller can’t make it into the Hall of Fame because some old-timers perceive that strengthening the union hurt the game, then I can’t imagine that the face of the biggest scandal of the past decade would get in on the basis of his whistleblowing “contributions.”
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
The problem is..
Canseco brought it to light, but HE is the guy to start it.
He doesn’t deserve any credit here.
http://milbprospects.blogspot.com/
strawman
this is exactly what those bad sports radio hosts do when they have nothing to talk about. they create an argument when there is none there. i hear it all the time in the local radio here, and honestly, i wish this website would be above it.
example:
“i keep hearing that deron williams is the best player in basketball. well i’m here to tell you folks that that just isn’t true…. "
it’s really just lazy
on the HOF thing
was driving and listening to the mike wise show in the dc area today … had howard bryant on … they brought up the Canseco comment on a HOF on roids … Bryant emphatically said he knew who it was, and Wise said so as well, and that it was not Rickey Henderson … Bryant hinted that it was a guy who played on the East Coast, but that no one basically was ballsy enough to make any comments on who it was without strong evidence because of the stature of the player. I think they’ll put up the podcast of it later, so I’ll try to link it when I have time.
I have a feeling… dark feeling … that I know who it is, and I’d be very disappointed if that’s the person who they are referencing. Here’s hoping it’s not, but if it’s who I think it is, then that’s one of the few players that would really disappoint me (nothing would stun me).
Ripken
that 1999 season!
<3 baseless speculation.
P.S. I actually have had occasion to meet and get to know Mike Wise, and he’s a very decent fellow. The same is true of Bryant, from everything I’ve ever heard.
And I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it was Ripken.
That's the first name that crossed my mind
Because of his stature, I think people would want hard core evidence to move ahead with any claims on him. Again, nothing would stun me, but yeah, Ripken’s name was the first one that popped up, and I would disappointed, as he was a good fella to follow growing up in the DC area. It’s not fair in some respects, and then again, it is, because the consecutive games streak was just so remarkable in some respects. Here’s hoping it’s not Ripken.
Is Jose saving the name for another book? otherwise, why stop naming names now.
"Gratuitous gesticulating together sounds even better"
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