WWW- Jose Canseco's tell-all book could do more than just annoy the players he outs as steroid users: It could also jeopardize their Hall of Fame chances.
Baseball writers who vote for the Hall of Fame said yesterday that the information in Canseco's book could influence how they will vote in baseball's most prestigious election.
In "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big," Canseco names several former Oakland and Texas teammates as having used illegal steroids, including Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi, Ivan Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro and Juan Gonzalez.
As reported in yesterday's editions of the Daily News, Canseco claims in the book that he, McGwire and Giambi injected steroids together in the bathroom stalls at Oakland Coliseum and that he also injected Rodriguez, Palmeiro and Gonzalez after he was traded to Texas.
All, with the exception of Giambi, will be credible candidates for Cooperstown, although McGwire and Rodriguez are considered the most likely to be voted in.
"I would not vote for any artificially inflated player - and that includes Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire," Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Terence Moore said. "If this is true, this is worse than the Black Sox scandal and then, you were only talking about a few players on one team. This affects everybody. You're hurting guys like the Mickey Mantles and the Babe Ruths and you're hurting people in the game now that are legitimate."
The Daily News' own Bill Madden says he doesn't want to reward cheaters. "I'm inclined not to vote for anyone who is documented to have taken steroids, at least not on the first ballot, as my own silent protest," he said. "If they get in, which most of them will, so be it, but it won't be with my vote."
Players are elected by 10-year members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, and later go before a veterans committee if not inducted by the writers.
The Daily News story yesterday created a firestorm that reached all the way to the White House, where officials tried to gauge how strongly Canseco accuses President Bush of ignoring steroid abuse when he was general managing partner of the Texas Rangers. The public seems to be getting interested as well. According to Amazon.com, the book ranked around 117,000 in Web-based sales rankings before the Daily News story, and went as high as No.130 yesterday.
The book has been scheduled for release Feb. 21, but Regan Books publicist Paul Olsewski told The Associated Press that the date might be moved up. Canseco also reportedly is scheduled to appear on "60 Minutes" on Feb. 20.
Part of what voters will have to weigh is Canseco's credibility. One voter, who asked not to be identified, said he normally would dismiss much of what Canseco has to say, but "he's totally credible on steroids."
Several voters, however, including Scot Gregor of the Daily Herald in suburban Chicago, said Canseco's accusations aren't enough to change their minds.
"I haven't read the book, but I don't think it would influence my vote," Gregor said.
Columnist Bob Sansevere of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press also questions whether the book should change anyone's mind.
One problem is Canseco, Sansevere said. "But the bigger problem is baseball. It has not cracked down on steroid use. And voters should not pass moral opinions."
Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune also said he wasn't ready to condemn the accused.
"I would have trouble changing my mind because we don't have any proof yet. Just because Canseco says it doesn't make it true," Canepa says. "He could be right, but now we have no way of knowing."
BBWAA president T.R. Sullivan, a veteran writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, said he suspects the players outed by Canseco won't be the only ones to come under special scrutiny.
"I think that every player from this era, when they come up for the Hall of Fame, will probably have to face this," Sullivan said. "Hopefully whatever accusations are out there and do influence voters, it will come from reputable sources."
When asked whether Canseco, a player he covered, was credible, Sullivan said, "I remember Jose denying specifically for a long time that he used steroids. I remember specifically Canseco yelling at me that he did not use steroids and the fact that he had been accused of doing so had cost him millions of dollars in endorsements and such."
