Jose Canseco, in an attempt to help "clean up baseball", decided to write a tell-all book detailing steroid use in baseball.  His book, Juiced (released in 2005),
details his steroid use, the steroid use of other players and his influence over them. 

He claimed to be the "Godfather of Steroids" and said that the spread of steroid use is a result of his influence.  In his book, Canseco said that he injected Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez, and Ivan Rodriguez with steroids.  He also said that he believed that well-known players, such as Jason Giambi, used steroids.

Canseco was originally thought of as an source that had no credibility by the media. Many people believed that he was upset with Major League Baseball and was doing something to get back at them.

However, as Major League Baseball and Congress began to look into the alleged drug use spreading throughout baseball, they found out that many of the players that Canseco named had in fact used steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs.  The media now praised Canseco and claimed that he was in fact a credible source, who was actually trying to save baseball.

Canseco should have stopped there.  He was beginning to change the public perception of himself.  He was not thought of as a liar who was trying to make a quick buck.  Instead, he was thought of as a genuine person that was trying to clean up baseball.  When he announced that he was going to write a second book, many people were skeptical but, gave him the benefit of the doubt because he had told the truth in the past.  Well, Canseco released Vindicated earlier this year, and it has actually hurt his credibility.

In Vindicated, Canseco basically writes over and over that he is a credible witness and that people need to trust him more.  In the book, Canseco barely mentions names, which he said he would do with the release of the book.  However, he does release a couple of big names.  (Those of you who haven't read the book should probably skip the next couple of paragraphs.)

The first person that Canseco reveals is Roger Clemens.  Canseco claims that Clemens was included in the first book but, the editors mysteriously made all of the Clemens information disappear.  He also claimed that he mentioned Clemens in a 60 Minutes interview but, that section was mysteriously cut out.  Canseco never claims to have seen Clemens use steroids but, he believes that Clemens was a steroid user, based on his appearance, statistics, and mound demeanor.  Canseco sows no hard evidence that shows that he knows Clemens used steroids, which he did in his other book.

The second person that Canseco names is Magglio Ordonez, an outfielder for the Detroit Tigers.  Canseco claims that he personally injected Ordonez with steroids while they were teammates with the Chicago White Sox.  Canseco tells readers that he left Ordonez out of the first book because, he considered them to be friends. 

If that was the case, then why is Ordonez mentioned in the second book?  Rumors have also circulated that Canseco offered to keep Ordonez's name out of the book, if Ordonez paid him to do so.  Ordonez is the only player in this book who Canseco supports with evidence that he gathered as an eyewitness.

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