Bash Thy Bash Brother

Be sure to watch 60 Minutes tonight (CBS, 7 P.M. EST), as it will feature an interview between Mike Wallace and Jose Canseco. In the interview, Canseco will spend extensive time detailing how he and Mark McGwire used steroids while playing for the A's, and how he repeatedly injected McGwire with those steroids. Aside from airing his grievances against McGwire and others, Canseco will use the interview to hawk his soon-to-be-released book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big.

Jack Curry of the New York Times has an excellent piece today on Canseco, McGwire, Juiced, and the 60 Minutes interview.

Here are a few choice snippets:

"I'm starting to think that maybe Jose has something wrong with him," said Dave McKay, who coached Canseco and McGwire with the A's. "He'd tell you a story and you'd know he was making up, and he'd know it, too. A couple of months later, he'd tell it again and he believed it. You'd tell him it wasn't true. Maybe he believes this now. Maybe he believes he injected Mark McGwire."

. . .

La Russa emphasized that Canseco and McGwire were not close friends, saying McGwire would not have shared a syringe with someone he never shared lunch with. La Russa said doing something that intimate would be like two players deciding to "have a drink before the game or smoke a joint. Mark didn't have that kind of relationship with the guy."

. . .

Canseco adored attention as a player and still embraces it. McGwire did not enjoy the glare that his achievements brought, and he surely dislikes the scrutiny he is under now. La Russa said those stark personality differences were another reason that McGwire and Canseco never grew chummy. And those traits, one player who desires the spotlight and one player who despises it, are evidenced again.

For more on this story, check out earlier coverage on Sports Law Blog.

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