Synopsis
In this controversial baseball memoir, Jose Canseco, who is now retired, makes serious charges while bringing to light the long-suppressed scandal of widespread steroid use in baseball. Canseco is remembered as 1988's American League MVP, and for his association with the Oakland Athletics. Canseco begins with his father's flight from Castro's Cuba, and goes on to write about his own career climb, his failed marriages, and his love for his daughter, whom he credits with rescuing him from a near-suicide attempt. He provides anecdotes about the rock-star antics of players on the road, as well as his own experiences of racism in the sport. Umpires get a whole chapter, and it is not favorable. The title JUICED refers to both the fast-paced lifestyle that he engaged in as well as the secret substance that helped Canseco and others become a new breed of performance-enhanced super-players who set new records. Canseco makes serious allegations against players who are still active, including Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Jason Giambi. He claims that owners and officials knew about the widespread use of steroids, but were pleased that tickets were sold and seats were filled, and he even endorses the use of steroids if they are properly administered. The revelations and general tone of this book may explain why baseball is no longer the national pastime. Like the classic BALL FOUR, JUICED is a headline-making insider's tale, and only the future will tell if asterisks will be added to the record books next to some players' names.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2005-02-01 |
| Size | | Length: | 290 pages | | Height: | 9.5 in | | Width: | 6.5 in | | Thickness: | 1.8 in | | Weight: | 20.0 oz |
Publisher's Note
When Jose Canseco burst into the Major Leagues in the 1980s, he changed the sport -- in more ways than one. No player before him possessed his mixture of speed and power, which allowed him to become the first man in history to belt more than forty home runs and swipe more than forty bases in the same season. He won Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, and a World Series ring. Canseco shattered the mold of the out-of-shape baseball player and ushered in a new era of superathletes who looked like bodybuilders, made outrageous salaries, and enjoyed rock-star lifestyles. And the ticket for this ride? Steroids. Behind the gaudy stats and the glamour of his public life, Canseco cultivated a secret just about everyone in MLB knew about, one that would alter the game of baseball and the way we view our heroes forever. Canseco made himself a guinea pig of the performance-enhancing drugs that were only just beginning to infiltrate the American underground. Anabolic steroids, human growth hormones -- Canseco mixed, matched, and experimented to such a degree that he became known throughout the league as "The Chemist." He passed his knowledge on to trainers and fellow players, and before long, performance-enhancing drugs were running rampant throughout Major League Baseball. Sluggers scooping up pitches at their ankles and blasting them out of the park, pitchers cranking fastballs inning after inning -- Canseco showed the players how to customize their doses to sculpt the bodies they wanted, and baseball as we know it was the result.
| See an error? Submit a change request |
All rights reserved.
