I'm Sorry: The Story Of Jose Canseco

In a fairly jaw-dropping piece of news, Jose Canseco stated in an A&E interview that he regretted ever writing the book Juiced; the book that essentially sparked the Mitchell Report. He specifically stated that he should have never mentioned specific names because he had no idea how much of a profound impact this would have.

I’m not sure how I feel about this “apology,” and here’s why…

Jose Canseco will feel the ramifications of what he did forever, but he was dead on. And for what it’s worth, I have always respected that element of his story. He named names and so far he has been right about every single one of them. So despite the fact that it was a pretty lousy move, Canseco was spot on. Steroids are a problem that is plaguing baseball and still to this day surrounding the sport in controversy. And Canseco was the first person to name names.

But it was the names that caused the problem. The names are what made Canseco all of his money.

You see, anyone can write that a ton of people use steroids. But the names are where the dollar signs are. Even if the accusations and allegations forever remain accusations and allegations (which they didn’t/won’t); the names created media controversy, and gave publicity to a soon to be released book.

Canseco knew the names were where the money was, so he took the money and gave the names.

It is okay to regret what you did, but I think we should examine the terms which with he apologized. The Reality shows have (for the most part) stopped calling and the money has stopped coming in. So Canseco may be at a time now where the ends did not justify the means, and now he feels like a jerk. But then again, it is interesting to make an apology of this magnitude on your own one-hour special on the A&E network.

Here is my take. Jose Canseco isn’t actually sorry he mentioned names. He was totally right about everything. So he has nothing to be sorry about in that regard. His names are identical to the names in the Mitchell report.

He is sorry because of the consequences. He is sorry because he literally has no one to speak to anymore because he betrayed his brotherhood. And the most important person to look at to better understand Canseco’s apology is not Canseco at all: it’s Ken Caminiti.

Ken Caminiti was an outspoken critic of steroids in baseball long before it was fashionable. In 2002 a full three years before Canseco decided to take a paycheck, Caminiti said in a sit down with Sports Illustrated that he was pretty confident that more than 50% of MLB players abused steroids. But Caminiti only mentioned one name; his own. While there was publicity, there was not nearly as much outcry for investigation and change, because there were no names.

So we need to figure out what Canseco is sorry for. Is he sorry he said it, or is he sorry people heard it…

You be the judge.