Love him... or hate him... Jose Canseco left his mark on our hobby. As a lifelong A's fan, I've been a fan since his 40/40 days during the late 80's. I'll be honest, I got rid of most of my collection when he was traded to the Rangers. But there's always been a part of me that's been a fan of his.
I know a lot of people consider him to be a snitch... a sell-out... a cheater... and just about every other name in the book. But before any of this happened he was a hero to a lot of A's fans. Don't worry... I've learned from this mistake. I remind my students that athletes are entertainers... and parents are role models.
So today, I'm not going to discuss his mistakes. Instead, I'm going to focus his accomplishments on the diamond.
Canseco will probably never have a plaque in Cooperstown and rightfully so. However his stats and accomplishments as an Athletic are impressive nonetheless. In 1986, he won the American League ROY award. Two years later, he won the AL MVP award after leading the league in slugging percentage (.569), home runs (42) and RBI's (124). That year he also became the first major leaguer to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season.
Then in 1989, he helped the A's win the World Series against the San Francisco Giants in the Battle of the Bay. He made the all-star team five times as an Athletic (6x in all) and was also the recipient of the Silver Slugger Award three times (4x in all).
As an Athletic, he hit 254 home runs (4th all-time), 793 RBI's (6th all-time), and 1,096 strikeouts (2nd all-time).
I know that many of you are saying to yourselves, "he only accomplished this because of PED's" and you're probably right. It's sad that so many players tarnished the game, but luckily some have been caught... and hopefully justice will prevail. Although... at this point... I'm not quite sure what that means.
Anyways... this post isn't honoring Jose "the user" Canseco... it's honoring Jose "the Oakland Athletic" Canseco.
Now it's time for today's question of the day: Have you ever stopped liking one of your favorite player's, because of an "on" or "off" the field decision they made? If so... who and why?
If you look at my PC... "drama" and my "favorite players" seem to go hand in hand.
Have a great week... Sayonara!
1 comment:
Well, my Rangers were a hotbed of PED use after Canseco came over to the team. I lost a lot of respect for Juan Gonzalez and Rafael Palmeiro, although I never collected them beyond team collecting needs. Pudge Rodriguez was, and still is, a part of my player collection even though he was mixed up in that as well. It's a tough spot to be in as a fan and collector.
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