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Vindicated? Not quite.
Photo credit: Game Face
Let’s first get one thing straight: There’s no denying at least some of what Jose Canseco wrote in his first book, “Juiced,” was true. But I’ve always found it laughable that just because he got some of it right, he’s now considered an entirely credible source.
People seem to forget some of the outrageous allegations levied in “Juiced” that didn’t include steroids (or more realistically, they never read it). So when you read that in Canseco’s latest installment, “Vindicated,” the one-time Bash Brother hooked up Alex Rodriguez with his steroid supplier and that A-Rod was trying to move in on Canseco’s ex-wife, consider this is coming from the same guy who also wrote he:
- Threw the 1990 World Series against the Reds to help Pete Rose “win a little cash”
- Gave Sammy Sosa his corked bat
- Wrote computer programs that helped Red Sox GM Theo Epstein evaluate players en route to winning the 2004 World Series
- Single-handedly brought down the Yankees dynasty by stealing Derek Jeter’s girlfriend.
Personally, I think it’s just a matter of time before he takes credit for the Black Sox scandal, the Kennedy assassination and aerosol cheese.
Judge for yourself. If you think all of Canseco’s stories are true, go right on believing him. But count me in the number who views Canseco as an attention-starved egomaniac, who yeah, knows and saw some damaging things during his career. But he’s still far from believable 100 percent of the time.
And as long as that’s the case, A-Rod doesn’t deserve to be convicted in the court of public opinion just based on Canseco’s words.
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