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Canseco's '60 Minutes' interview
February 13, 2005
Newsday.com
This is a transcript of Jose Canseco's television segment on the CBS
television show, '60 Minutes':
JOSE CANSECO, VARIOUSLY CALLED "THE BAD BOY OF BASEBALL" OR "THE
GODFATHER OF STEROIDS" HAS WRITTEN A MUCH TALKED ABOUT BOOK HE CALLS
"JUICED" THAT PURPORTS TO TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT HIS OWN USE OF
ANABOLIC STEROIDS AND HUMAN GROWTH HORMONES, AND THE SAME ABOUT
OTHER TOP PLAYERS IN THE MAJOR LEAGUES. THE BOOK IS ALREADY A
BEST-SELLER, DUE TO PRE-ORDERS ON AMAZON AND ELSEWHERE. YET ALMOST
NO ONE HAS READ IT, BECAUSE IT WON'T BE AVAILABLE UNTIL TOMORROW
MORNING.
IN THE BOOK AND IN THIS BROADCAST, CANSECO NAMES NAMES-SOME OF THEM
SUPERSTAR PLAYERS-ALL OF WHOM HAVE CATEGORICALLY DENIED HIS CHARGES.
BUT NONE OF THEM AGREED TO TALK TO US ON CAMERA ABOUT IT-THOUGH THEY
AND MANY OTHERS ARE PUBLICLY CALLING CANSECO NASTY NAMES-MAINLY A
LIAR. BUT HE'S PREPARED FOR THAT. TAKE A LOOK AND SEE WHAT YOU MAKE
OF IT.
MIKE WALLACE: Baseball is the national pastime and what you're
saying is that the national past time-- again, you-- you--
JOSE CANSECO: Is juiced.
MIKE WALLACE: Hmm?
JOSE CANSECO: National past time is juiced.
MIKE WALLACE: Is juiced. Yeah.
JOSE CANSECO: It is.
MIKE WALLACE:That's what you're saying.
JOSE CANSECO: And-and it's reality.
MIKE WALLACE: And what you're doing to baseball now-you're taking on
the whole baseball establishment.
JOSE CANSECO: I don't know if I'm directly trying to take on the
whole baseball establishment. I'm just basically telling a story of
my life.
THIS IS THE BOOK THAT HAS PUT MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL AND ITS AUTHOR
ON THE HOT SEAT. JOSE CANSECO WRITES ABOUT HIS 16 YEAR- LONG CAREER
AS A MAJOR LEAGUE BALL PLAYER, AND HE SAYS THAT FROM HIS FIRST
SEASON TO HIS LAST IN 2001, HE USED ILLEGAL ANABOLIC STEROIDS AND
HUMAN GROWTH HORMONES.
MIKE WALLACE: You essentially strengthened
your body and your performance with a cocktail of steroids and
growth hormones.
JOSE CANSECO: Yes.
MIKE WALLACE: Injecting.
MIKE WALLACE: Where do you inject it?
JOSE CANSECO: Into your gluteus maximus, which is your butt muscle.
MIKE WALLACE: Your butt muscle.
MIKE WALLACE: Isn't the use of steroids and growth hormones illegal
unless prescribed and administered?
JOSE CANSECO: Yes, it is.
MIKE WALLACE: By a licensed doctor-
JOSE CANSECO: Absolutely.
THOSE ILLEGAL DRUGS HELPED FUEL A LARGER-THAN-LIFE CAREER. MANY OF
CANSECO'S HOME RUNS WERE MONSTER SHOTS. ONE SPECTACULAR SEASON,
1988, CANSECO HIT FORTY-TWO HOME RUNS AND STOLE 40 BASES -A FEAT
NEVER SEEN BEFORE.
MIKE WALLACE: You say this, "I would never have been a major league
caliber player without steroids." Right?
JOSE CANSECO: Well it-it is a true statement. No if and buts about
it.
MIKE WALLACE: Well-how much-of your entire career's success-do you
attribute to-the use of steroids?
JOSE CANSECO: Maybe not accomplish the things I did, the freakish
things I did, being 6'4", 250, running 4-3 40s, the 40-40. Hitting
600 foot homeruns. Who knows? A lot of it is psychological. I mean,
you really believe you have an edge. You feel the strength, and the
stamina.
AS EARLY AS HIS M-V-P SEASON IN 1988, THERE WERE WHISPERS THAT JOSE
CANSECO WAS USING STEROIDS - ACCUSATIONS THAT HE DENIED THROUGHOUT
HIS ENTIRE CAREER. BUT HIS ACTIVITIES OFF THE FIELD FANNED THE
FLAMES - HE WAS ARRESTED NUMEROUS TIMES- PSYCHOLOGISTS SAY THAT
STEROID USE CAN STIMULATE AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR IN SOME
PEOPLE.-BEHAVIOR SOMETIMES CALLED 'ROID RAGE.
MIKE WALLACE: Look at your own rap sheet. It's-it's quite
instructive. 1989, arrested in California for carrying a loaded
semi-automatic pistol in his car. '92, charged with aggravated
battery for allegedly ramming his then-wife Esther's BMW with his
Porsche. 1997, November, arrested and jailed for allegedly smacking
his estranged bride of one year. November 13th, 2001, arrested with
his brother after a fight at a Miami Beach nightclub on Halloween.
Attacked two tourists, leaving one with a broken nose and the other
with 20 stitches in his lip. All of these are in the record.
JOSE CANSECO: Are we to say that any individual who's on steroids
that has an angry moment is due to steroids? What about the
individual who gets angry and kills someone who's not on steroids?
What do we blame it on now?
IN ANY CASE BY 2001, WHEN HE WAS 37, CANSECO'S BASEBALL CAREER.
WOUND DOWN... HE'D PLAYED FOR SEVEN TEAMS AND HIT 462 HOME RUNS.
MIKE WALLACE: Do you have any shame that your career was fueled by
illegal drugs?
JOSE CANSECO: That's a tough question. Because, I tried to do
everything possible to become the best player in the world. Do I
believe steroids and growth hormones helped me achieve that? Yes.
Were there a lot of other players doing it that I had to compete
against? Yes.
MIKE WALLACE: What you're say-what you're saying Jose is that you
were a living steroids experiment for your entire career.
JOSE CANSECO: Yes. That's what I was.
CANSECO CLAIMS HE KNOWS MORE ABOUT STEROIDS THAN MOST TRAINED
PHYSICIANS. WHICH IS WHY, HE SAYS, HE ACTIVELY COUNSELLED OTHER
PLAYERS ABOUT USING ANABOLIC STEROIDS AND HUMAN GROWTH HORMONES.
MIKE WALLACE: Did you give some of your steroids to other players?
JOSE CANSECO: Not mine, no. No. Did I put them in contact with the
people to acquire them? Yes. Did I educate them on how to use them
properly, and what way, shape, or form, and when, and with what
supplements? Yes. Absolutely.
MIKE WALLACE: And where did you get yours?
JOSE CANSECO: You get them-anywhere. It's-you can go right here to
the corner gym and get it. It's that simple. It's that easy.
But-obviously, I don't recommend using them or getting them without
supervision, or a prescription, because they are illegal.
ON CAMERA: CANSECO'S ADMISSION THAT HE USED STEROIDS FOR HIS ENTIRE
CAREER HAS SURPRISED ALMOST NO ONE IN BASEBALL. BUT EVERYONE IN THE
GAME IS STUNNED THAT HE HAS GONE FARTHER IN THE BOOK THAN THEY
EXPECTED. HE NAMES NAMES, FIVE IN PARTICULAR, OF PLAYERS HE CLAIMS
TO HAVE USED STEROIDS WITH. AT THE TOP OF THE LIST, MARK MCGWIRE.
JOSE CANSECO: Mark and I weren't really in a sense of buddy buddies.
We were more acquaintances than-than actually anything else. But
there are certain subjects that we could talk about like obviously
steroids and so forth.
MIKE WALLACE: And he was a user, if you will?
JOSE CANSECO: Absolutely.
MIKE WALLACE: With you?
JOSE CANSECO: Yes.
THE GARGANTUAN MCGWIRE WAS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS REMARKABLE 1998
SEASON, THE YEAR HE SHATTERED ONE OF BASEBALL'S MOST HALLOWED
RECORDS ROGER MARIS' SINGLE SEASON HOME RUN MARK OF 61 HOMERS.
CANSECO PLAYED WITH MCGWIRE AT OAKLAND FROM 1986 TO 1992 AND AGAIN
IN 1997.
MIKE WALLACE: You write repeatedly about injecting steroids and
growth hormones with and into Mark McGwire. Tell me about your first
hand experiences with McGwire and steroids.
JOSE CANSECO: Just the first time injecting them in his buttocks
(LAUGHTER) it was-but-it wasn't like you gave a lot of thought. It
was-it was something so-so common-
MIKE WALLACE: "What we did more times than I can count was go into a
bathroom stall together, shoot up steroids"-that's right. "After
batting practice or right before the game, Mark and I would duck
into a stall in the men's room, load up our syringes and inject
ourselves. I would often inject Mark."
JOSE CANSECO: I injected him probably twice. But it wasn't like-I
mean we would just walk in and-a lot of times they were pill form. A
lot of times, you know, you would just-a quick injection of whatever
and that's it. It was-
MIKE WALLACE: I'm just repeating what you say-
JOSE CANSECO: Right.
MIKE WALLACE: in the book. And if we're to believe what you say in
the book. I would often"-often. Not twice. "Inject Mark."
JOSE CANSECO: Well I think it was more inject ourselves. I think I
injected him-I mean this is a long time ago. Once or twice for sure.
I didn't keep track but
MIKE WALLACE: And this is-
JOSE CANSECO: An athlete-an athlete may prepare his needle and may
ask another athlete to inject him quickly. And that's the way it
works.
MIKE WALLACE: And these were not allowed at that time in the league?
JOSE CANSECO Absolutely no.
IN A STATEMENT TO 60 MINUTES MCGWIRE SAID, QUOTE: "ONCE AND FOR
ALL I DID NOT USE STEROIDS NOR ANY ILLEGAL SUBSTANCE. THE
RELATIONSHIP THAT THESE ALLEGATIONS PORTRAY COULDN'T BE
FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH."
BOTH MCGWIRE AND CANSECO PLAYED UNDER MANAGER TONY LARUSSA IN
OAKLAND.
MIKE WALLACE: Jose Canseco says that-- that-- he and Mark Maguire
used anabolic steroids a lot when you were managing them back at the
Oakland A's. True?
TONY LARUSSA: I don't think there's any doubt that-- it's a
fabrication. The product of our good play and the size and strength
of our players-- Mark was a great example. What we saw was a lot of
hard work. And hard work will produce strength gains and size gains.
MIKE WALLACE: Why do you think that Canseco says that Maguire was
using? Honest.
TONY LARUSSA: first of all, I think he's in dire straits and needs
money; I think secondly-- I think there's a healthy case of envy and
jealousy.
SPORTS WRITER HOWARD BRYANT COVERED BASEBALL AS A BEAT WRITER FOR 6
SEASONS. HE'S CURRENTLY WRITING A BOOK ABOUT THE PAST TEN YEARS OF
BASEBALL- A TIME SOME CALL "THE STEROID ERA."
MIKE WALLACE Here's what Tony LaRussa says about Mark McGuire: "I am
absolutely certain Mark has earned his size and strength from hard
work and a disciplined lifestyle." Reaction?
HOWARD BRYANT: Well, I think that if there's anything that we're
being taught about this story, it's that Mark McGuire has a lot more
friends than Jose Conseco.
AND FOR GOOD REASON SAYS BRYANT. FOR CANSECO'S ALLEGED CHARACTER
FLAWS ARE MANY - INCLUDING GREED, EVIDENCED BY THE FACT THAT HE
CHARGED HIS FANS $2500 A DAY TO SPEND TIME WITH HIM AT HIS HOME WHEN
HE WAS UNDER HOUSE ARREST FOR PAROLE VIOLATION. STILL, BRYANT SAYS
CANSECO'S ACCUSATIONS ON THE SUBJECT OF STEROIDS, SHOULD NOT BE
TAKEN LIGHTLY.
HOWARD BRYANT. I think the reason why Jose Conseco is going to catch
a lot of hell for his book is because people think he is full of it.
He is not credible. He was not a credible player. He is a snitch
which is the worst thing you can possibly be in the ironclad
baseball fraternity. He's done a lot of things to offend a lot of
people. On this subject however I believe he does have some
credibility.
CANSECO'S FIRST STINT IN OAKLAND ENDED IN 1992 WHEN HE WAS TRADED TO
THE TEXAS RANGERS. AMONG HIS NEW TEAM MATES, FUTURE AMERICAN LEAGUE
M-V-P'S JUAN GONZALEZ AND IVAN RODRIGUEZ, AS WELL AS RAPHAEL
PALMEIRO, WHO PLAYED AGAINST CANSECO WHEN THE TWO OF THEM WERE
YOUNGSTERS GROWING UP IN MIAMI. CANSECO WRITES IN HIS BOOK THAT HE
USED ANABOLIC STEROIDS WITH ALL THREE PLAYERS.
MIKE WALLACE: In '92 you were traded to the Texas Rangers.
JOSE CANSECO: Yes.
MIKE WALLACE:Right? You-did you teach your new teammates how to use
steroids?
JOSE CANSECO: Yes. We spoke and educated-three or four players
there.
MIKE WALLACE: Who?
JOSE CANSECO: Raphael Palmeiro.
MIKE WALLACE: Right.
JOSE CANSECO: Juan Gonzales. Ivan Rodriguez.
MIKE WALLACE: So you were an eye witness to seeing Palmero,
Gonzales, Rodriguez-
JOSE CANSECO: I injected them.
MIKE WALLACE: Ivan-
JOSE CANSECO: Absolutely.
MIKE WALLACE: Huh?
JOSE CANSECO: I injected them. Absolutely.
MIKE WALLACE: You injected them?
JOSE CANSECO: Yes.
ALL THREE PLAYERS HAVE VEHEMENTLY DENIED THE ALLEGATIONS. PALMEIRO'S
LAWYER SENT US THIS LETTER STATING THAT "MR PALMEIRO CATEGORICALLY
DENIES THAT HE HAS EVER ENGAGED IN THE ILLICIT USE OF STEROIDS OR
ANY SUBSTANCE BANNED BY MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL." CANSECO SPENT THREE
SEASONS IN TEXAS AND THEN TWO IN BOSTON, BEFORE REJOINING MCGWIRE AT
THE OAKLAND A'S IN 1997. ANOTHER YOUNG PLAYER THERE AT THE TIME:
JASON GIAMBI, WHO WON THE MVP AWARD IN 2000 AND LATER WENT TO THE
NEW YORK YANKEES FOR A BLOCKBUSTER 120 MILLION DOLLAR, SEVEN YEAR
CONTRACT. CANSECO WRITES THAT GIAMBI WAS THE MOST OBVIOUS STEROID
USER IN BASEBALL.
MIKE WALLACE: Giambi?
JOSE CANSECO: Absolutely.
MIKE WALLACE: Good guy.
JOSE CANSECO: Good guy. Yes.
MIKE WALLACE: And you educated him about-
JOSE CANSECO: We spoke about it quite in depth. And-you know when I
op-when-when I rejoined the team back in '97, we'd be working
out-talking about it. You know we'd go into clubhouses and do
steroids. Bottom line.
MIKE WALLACE: You write, "Giambi, McGwire, and I talked about
steroids all the time."
JOSE CANSECO: Especially in '97, yes. Especially when we were
working out. We talked about what-what each does and what-what-
MIKE WALLACE: So you'd shoot up steroids and growth hormones with
Jason Giambi as well?
JOSE CANSECO: Yes. Oh yeah.
MIKE WALLACE: Uh-huh. Into the bathroom. You'd shoot each other up.
JOSE CANSECO: All the time. I mean we just - it was not a - it
wasn't a big deal. It was - it was common ground.
ACCORDING TO THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, JASON GIAMBI DID ADMIT TO
A FEDERAL GRAND JURY THAT HE HAD BEEN USING STEROIDS AT LEAST SINCE
2001. THIS IS WHAT GIAMBI TOLD REPORTERS LAST THURSDAY.
Footage from Giambi presser 2/10: Reporter: What can you say about
what Jose Canseco has reportedly said?
Giambi: I think it's sad. I think's delusional.
IN HIS BOOK, CANSECO CONTENDS THAT MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL'S
ESTABLISHMENT HAD TO KNOW OF THE GROWING USE OF ILLEGAL STEROIDS. HE
ALLEGES THAT THE OWNERS, DONALD FEHR THE HEAD OF THE PLAYERS UNION,
AND BUD SELIG, THE GAME'S COMMISSIONER, WERE ALL TURNING A BLIND
EYE.
HOWARD BRYANT: To me, Bud Selig, He'll be defined by how this era is
viewed in history. I mean you are looking at a baseball
establishment that has said that it wanted to get rid of steroids
for ten years yet I don't recall baseball ever doing a public service
announcment saying to kids, "hey kids, this is bad for you." I don't
recall baseball ever doing an independent investigation. They
haven't spent a penny, at least to my knowledge to go out an
investigate what's going on with this steroid business.
BUD SELIG, DECLINED TO TALK TO US. AS FOR JOSE CANSECO, HE IS UN
REPENTANT. PERHAPS THE MOST ASTONISHING THING ABOUT HIS BOOK - IN
THE FACE OF WIDESPREAD MEDICAL EVIDENCE THAT THE ABUSE OF ANABOLIC
STEROIDS CAUSES SERIOUS HEALTH PROBLEMS -- HE STILL ENDORSES THE USE
OF STEROIDS. LISTEN TO WHAT HE TOLD US.
JOSE CANSECO: I don't recommend steroids for everyone and I don't
recommend growth hormones for everyone. But for certain individuals,
I truly believe, because I've experimented with it for so many
years, that it can make an average athlete a super athlete. It can
make a super athlete - incredible. Just legendary.
STUDIO CLOSE: MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL NOW HAS A NEW POLICY ON PLAYERS'
USE OF STEROIDS. FIRST OFFENSE- 10 DAY SUSPENSION. BY THE FOURTH
OFFENSE- ONE YEAR SUSPENSION...U.S. OLYMPIC POLICY ON STEROIDS PUTS
A 2 YEAR BAN ON FIRST OFFENDERS. WE HAVE ASKED MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
TO RESPOND TO WHAT YOU'VE SEEN TONITE. THAT, AND MORE FROM CANSECO,
ON 60 MINUTES WEDNESDAY.
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[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
