And the Witch Hunt Begins in Earnest . . .

According to a report earlier tonight on Boston Dirt Dogs, Jose Canseco's must-anticipated book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Big, was expected to claim that Nomar Garciaparra used steroids to gain weight and muscle during the late 1990s. An updated report on Boston Dirt Dogs, however, now states that while Garciaparra will not be among those "named", the book--which will become available on Monday, February 21--will claim that many other prominent players used steroids. And according to CBS News, the book will even claim that then Texas Rangers' Managing Partner George W. Bush must have been aware that players on the Rangers were using steroids in the early 1990s.

Hopefully, fans and media-types will take these iffy allegations with a LARGE grain of salt. Aside from his obvious desire for profits--which often grow with sensationalism--Canseco is hardly a credible source.

And given Canseco's reputation, I was fairly confident that Juiced would be largely ignored. But apparently that's not the case. According to USA Today, the book ranks No. 33 on the best-selling list at Amazon.com, and has fluctuated between No. 28 and No. 39 on the hourly rankings at Barnes & Noble. To give these rankings some meaning, consider that there are millions of books available on Amazon and thus, as noted by Amazon spokeswoman Kristin Mariani, "if you're in the top 100, that's good." Also consider that Juiced wasn't even ranked among the top 1000 books at Barnes & Noble last week, but now, according to Bill Tipper, the editor for Barnes & Noble's best sellers, benefits from a clear "buzz."

It will be interesting to see whether litigation arises from Canseco's book. It would seem that there are going to be quite a few players who will have their professional reputations in question, or will at least perceive that their reputations are under fire.

Update: For an interesting analysis of the likely statistical effect of steroid use among baseball players in the 1990s, check out The Sports Economist.

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