Late Night With Dave & Jose

• Dan Graziano offers his thoughts on Jose Canseco following his appearance on David Letterman last night.

• Tyler Kepner rode shotgun with Joe Girardi yesterday, discussing the manager's distaste for packing, traveling and his fondness for Yogi.

• Kevin Kernan echoes what I said yesterday about the MLB schedule makers.

• Melky Cabrera is honored to man centerfield on Opening Day.

• Why Hank Steinbrenner's glad Opening Day was posponed.

• Today's exhibition between the Trenton Thunder and Scranton Yankees is also in doubt due to rain. Phil Coke goes for Trenton and faces Jeff Marquez of SWB.

• Kat O'Brien offers her 2008 predictions and no one's listening.

Introducing Mr. Disingenuous Canseco

The real reason behind Jose Canseco's contempt for Alex Rodriguez is not related to steroids or any pass made at the former Mrs. Canseco. Shockingly, the real reason is money, or so says Sports Illustrated:

Canseco claims in his new book, Vindicated, that the reason he "hates [Alex Rodriguez's] guts'' is because A-Rod hit on Canseco's then-wife Jessica. However, people who were close confidants of Canseco insist the actual reason the ex-ballplayer despises A-Rod has nothing to do with Canseco's former wife but regards Canseco's true passion, which, of course, is money.

Those former confidants told SI.com the rift between the two Miami-raised superstars actually occurred when Rodriguez chose not to let Canseco and his brother, Ozzie, be his agents. Those former confidants say Canseco was bitterly disappointed in A-Rod's business rejection.

"I know Jose, and I know Jose very well. He would be madder at A-Rod for not signing with the agency than for going after Jessica,'' said Juan Iglesias, a well-respected Miami-based player agent and former business associate of Canseco's.

Canseco writes that he introduced Rodriguez to a known dealer of steroids (his italics, not mine), and that he isn't sure what happened after that. Of course, it isn't a crime to shake someone's hand, and Canseco offers no proof that this happened. Yet without that tidbit, there is no book. Even with it, there's barely a book.

"Alex was a gentleman with the guy. If he says that about [Rodriguez], I hate to think what he says about me,'' Iglesias said. "I never heard one word about him going after Jose's wife. Never. Not one word. And I would have heard that. We were personal friends.''

"The whole thing with A-Rod is absolutely false,'' said Iglesias, who recalled that the Cansecos and A-Rod doubled dated at the 1995 Super Bowl in Miami. "Jose didn't write it in his first book, and Jessica didn't write it in her book. And she talked about everybody she [had a relationship with]. If A-Rod had anything to do with her, that's [a] headline and that would have been in the book.''

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Hank Blasts Canseco For A-Rod Claims

Hank Steinbrenner does not like Jose Canseco disrespecting his #1 man [Alex Rodriguez] and he told the Bergen Record as much:

In his spirited defense of A-Rod on Wednesday, Steinbrenner told The Record that “if [Sandy] Koufax, [Mickey] Mantle, [Babe] Ruth, [Willie] Mays or [Hank] Aaron were playing today, they all would be suspected of doing something — and of course, they didn’t do it. There was no such thing in their day. “This is the age of paranoia.”

..."Consider the source, that’s No. 1,” Steinbrenner said of Canseco. “He wouldn’t have been able to hit the ball out of the infield without steroids.

“And No. 2, if Mantle or Ruth were playing today, with the 550-foot home runs they hit, everybody’d be saying they were on something. They didn’t even lift weights in those days. They played on alcohol and hot dogs.

“There are certain naturals. There are guys who can just do it, and Alex is one of those guys,” Steinbrenner said. “He’s just friggin’ great.”

Wouldn't it have been nice for these words to come out of the mouth of Alex's teammates and not the blowhard owner?

Canseco: Behind The Musak

How about some Winstrol with your Wheaties?

If you haven't already read it - I sped through it yesterday evening - you must read Pat Jordan's piece on Jose Canseco. Absolutely great writing discussing absolutely horrible writing. It's an exercise in literary criticism - on steroids. That one was too easy, wasn't it.

Here is Jordan's excerpt on Canseco's current "significant other" - a phrase which could not have less meaning in this case:

Heidi, Rob told me, is Jose's girlfriend/publicist. She's a "cute, little, junior college graduate, who lives with Jose," said Rob. "She likes to let Jose think she's working hard for him when really all she is doing is ****ing things up for him." Rob said Heidi lives with Jose without paying anything, which may be literally true, but not figuratively. The price women pay for living with Jose is actually quite high. All those boring days and nights during which Jose rarely speaks, except to say, "Where's the Iguana?" because of Jose's fervent belief that when "women talk only bad things can happen." All those needles and vials of performance enhancing drugs around the house which his woman of the moment must learn to differentiate, winstrol from deca-durabolin from HGH, and then draw the proper amount of fluid into each syringe and inject that needle and its fluid into Jose's buttocks. All those variations of his moods from steroid-fueled anger to steroid-withdrawal depression. All those startling changes in his genitalia...swelling with steroid use at the same time his testicles are shrinking from steroid use. All those strange women's messages on Jose's cell phone. All those trips to the gynecologist to cure the STDs Jose brought back with him from one of his road trips. And, finally, most depressing of all, all those perfunctory sex acts with Jose, doggy style in front of a mirror so Jose can watch himself perform, his chest muscles and biceps twitching as he works. Which is why Jose's first two wives, Miss Miami, and Miss Fitness America, divorced him.

Helluva guy.

A-Rod Responds To Canseco

Jose Canseco says in his new book that he hates "[A-Rod's] ****ing guts" because the Bronx Bomber tried to bed Canseco's then spouse and current ex-wife. The self-proclaimed Godfather of Steroids then explains how he introduced Alex Rodriguez to a prominent steroid source. Canseco never says that Rodriguez took steroids, or witnessed him inject them as he did with Mark McGwire, but he needs to sell books somehow doesn't he?

Rodriguez has already responded to Canseco's allegations via Newsday:

"I really have absolutely no reaction."

Regarding Canseco accusing A-Rod of pursuing his wife at the time:

"He said that in his book?", then said, "I have absolutely no comment."

There's no doubt that Canseco's previous book and statements panned out as enlightening when it came to Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and others. However, his comments on A-Rod and Magglio Ordonez [whom Canseco attempted to extort] appear to be opportunism without any foundation.

McGwire and Barry Bonds saw their numbers spike into the stratosphere, taking their offensive production into levels never before seen in professional baseball. Rodriguez's production - beginning with his first full season in which he hit .358 with 36 homers and 123 RBI - has remained consistently extraordinary and without any outlandish statistical aberrations.

Then there's this:

Canseco also wrote that Mitchell favored the Red Sox (the team that employs him) in his investigation, according to Lavin, and he detailed the interest that legendary "60 Minutes" reporter Mike Wallace expressed in steroids and human growth hormone.

"When the cameras stopped rolling, Wallace asked me if we could talk, off-camera. He kept me there for another hour, clearly curious about steroids. ... He wondered how the steroids and human growth hormones (HGH) might help him, a man in his eighties, live a longer, healthier life. He wanted to know everything. ... When Wallace was done interrogating me, I could see I had piqued his interest. Whether I'd made a convert of him, I can't say. Still, I know, I was pretty convincing."

On HGH Mike Wallace could have cut that show down to 40, 45 minutes tops. Sounds more like The Onion than reporting.

Can't Keep A Good Canseco Down

Jose Canseco is more than an amazing steroid-barbecue host, he's also an exceptional extortionist author. His new book Indicted Vindicated is due out on April 1st, one day after the Yankees open up against the Blue Jays. The book promises to enlighten baseball fans, including “revelations about Alex Rodriguez,... Mike Piazza and other members of the New York Yankees.”

This title is embargoed, and Simon Spotlight is not giving out information until Canseco appears on Nightline on Friday, March 28. Like Canseco’s career and reputation, the book has taken a beating on its way to publication. It was shopped extensively before finally being picked up by Penguin/Berkley in late December 2007. Shortly thereafter, former SI sportswriter Don Yaeger, who had been hired to co-write the book, dropped out of the project, saying, “There’s no meat on the bones.” He was referring specifically, he says, to the allegations about steroid use by Yankee Alex Rodriguez. “I don’t think there’s a book there,” Yaeger told the New York Daily News. “I don’t think he’s got what he claims to have, certainly doesn’t have what he claims to have on A-Rod.”

Less than a month later, Berkley dropped the project, and it was picked up by Simon Spotlight. PW asked Jen Bergstrom, v-p/publisher of Simon Spotlight Entertainment, why she decided to publish Vindicated. “The same reason I decide to publish any book,” she says. “I started reading it, and I couldn’t put it down. I devoured it in one sitting.” Asked if she was troubled that Berkley had dropped the project so quickly, Bergstrom says, “Not at all. They’re a fantastic publisher. Obviously, I wasn’t privy to their reasons for not wanting to move forward, but publishing is a very subjective business.” Yaeger’s comment about there being “no meat on the bones” didn’t bother her either. “Don Yaeger didn’t read what I read,” Bergstrom says.

Yaeger's reaction, along with Canseco's failed efforts to blackmail Magglio Ordonez are all sane people need when pondering whether the Juiced sequel was written for content or cache. [Or in this case, a desperate need for attention and cash]

Hilarious Canseco "Story" From The Onion.

Maybe this is how it all went down before the infamous BBQ hosted by Jose Canseco:

"Hey guys, big steroid bash at my place," Canseco said while handing out flyers at a Toronto Blue Jays spring training intrasquad game. "Nothing too fancy, just a bunch of guys, hanging out, taking steroids. Tell your friends."

"Let me break it down for you: food, babes, steroids," said Canseco, leaning over the outfield fence of Dunedin Stadium, to Blue Jays centerfielder Vernon Wells. "Any steroid you want. Winstrol-Stanozolol, Deca-Durabolin, Sustanon, Anadrol, you name it. I even got some exotic steroids from South America, and I might bust out my own special homemade steroid blend. Oh, and if everyone chips in $5, I might get a steroid fountain. It's gonna be sweet."

Photo Shows Clemens Attended Canseco Party. According to the Daily News report, a young man who attended the now infamous Jose Canseco barbecue - 11 years old at the time - may have photographic evidence showing Roger Clemens was there as well. Though the debate as to whether or not Clemens appeared at such a BBQ seems to be trivial at best, the Republicans and the Rocket's defense team spent an awful lot of Congressional hearing time attempting to prove he was never at Canseco's house. Just as was the case with Clemens' former nanny, it appears new evidence will emerge, proving him to be inaccurate. According to the photographer, he took several pictures of his baseball heroes, one of which was Roger Clemens. The article states Richard Emery and his client Brian McNamee were aware the photo had been circulating as evidence for over a week. Just another lie from a couple of liars. Can we put a fork in this, now?

Jose Canseco is one honorable juicer. Via Rotoworld, the New York Times reports Canseco told Magglio Ordonez he would be excluded from Jose's new book if the Tigers outfielder offered a substantial investment in an upcoming Canseco roid binge film project.

"Four people in baseball confirmed that referrals were made from Major League Baseball to the FBI regarding Canseco’s actions. The FBI did not open a formal investigation because Ordonez said he did not want to pursue the complaint. Canseco, who is expected to publish his book in March, denied the claims."

So much for that whole credibility factor.

Torre Sleeps As Girardi Meets

The Los Angeles Times has an interesting article describing Joe Torre's smooth transition into the Dodger managerial job. According to the piece, with Spring Training only a month away "Torre said he has spoken to only a few of his players." Sounds a little too smooth.

On the other hand, New Yankees manager Joe Girardi spent his offseason traveling to the General Manager meetings in Nashville and to the Yankees youth academy in the Dominican Republic. Shockingly, these trips were never made during Torre's tenure as Yankee skipper.

These examples are not to condemn Torre as a baseball manager - he has won four world series and made the playoffs every year he headed up the Bombers - it is more of a promotion of Girardi as the new manager. I believe Torre will be successful in LA, but examples from the article are a bit damning and possibly offer insights into why the last three and a half postseasons have been such disappointments for Yankee fans:

The new Dodgers manager has talked to Pierre and Garciaparra and is at a mini-camp for prospects, but there are many he hasn't spoken to. He has made few decisions on the lineup.

He said he doesn't know what most of them look like or how they think. He said he has few ideas about who will hit in what spot.

About the only certainty in Torre's mind that he was willing to share with reporters Thursday at Dodger Stadium is that Andruw Jones will be his starting center fielder -- "Obviously," he said.

Everything else, Torre said, will be decided at spring training, which begins in Vero Beach, Fla., on Feb. 14, when pitchers and catchers report.

Torre said his conversation with Pierre was similar to one he had with Bernie Williams as manager of the New York Yankees.

"I just basically said to him what I said to Bernie Williams when we signed Kenny Lofton: 'We're going to do what's best for the team and when we leave spring training, it's going to be with the three guys playing the outfield that we all agree will give us the best shot,' " Torre said.

This is not to say Torre's 2008 club will fall apart under his watch, because it won't. The Dodgers have one of the top three farm systems in Major League Baseball and a bevy of talented youngsters at or knocking on the big league's door.

However, a new voice was necessary in the Bronx, and the hands-on, no excuses persona which Girardi carries with him may be just the perfect change of scenery.


Canseco Hires Enquirer Writer,
Report Says Santana Is Overpriced

· After being dumped by a writer from Sports Illustrated, Jose Canseco has a new ghost writer for his book. The writer comes from the National Enquirer and is the same author who helped O.J. Simpson pen a book which searches for Nicole Brown's "real killers."

· Finally, Vince Gennaro of Yahoo! Sports offered a piece explaining why Johan Santana isn't worth the expenditure.