Jose Canseco isn’t the most credible man in the world but, love him or hate him you have to admit he’s a necessary evil of the steroid era. He might not have done it with the right intentions in mind but Jose’s book “Juiced” helped get the anti-steroid ball rolling. Canseco’s new book, Vindicated, spills more dirt although the information seems less reliable this time around.

Jose writes about people that he unsuccessfully tried to blackmail, and reminisces about the good ole days of being a washed up 38-year-old ballplayer that’s trying to catch on with the Los Angeles Dodgers.. At an open tryout. Jose remembers the day well..

“I was so desperate to get back in the game, in fact, that I did an open tryout for the L.A. Dodgers, a team that was in miserable shape back then. I ran well, I threw well, and I hit well, but they still didn’t want me.”

Newspaper reports from that fateful day paint a different picture.From the L.A. Daily News:

We retrieved the Daily News account of what happened that day at Vero Beach, Fla. Staff writer Rich Hammond wrote that Canseco “flubbed groundballs and flailed at offspeed pitches.” He documented that “in a timed sprint at the start of the workout, Canseco started a half-second early, then refused a request to run again. As his colleagues lined up to field grounders at shortstop, Canseco walked to the dugout and didn’t participate in the drill. In 18 batting-practice swings, Canseco hit one home run and four balls to the warning track, then went 2 for 5 with two singles, a walk and two strikeouts in a game among the tryout participants. He played an awkward first base during the game.”

I don’t know what it is but for some reason the newspaper’s account seems more like what happened.. Could it be because it’s the truth? Do PEDs affect the memory? That would explain Jose mistaking the play described above for hitting, running, and throwing well. It would also explain why Andy Pettitte misremembers details about Roger Clemens.

WALL: Canseco squeezing out more juice. Courtesy of the Daily News

Tags: Jose Canseco, baseball, steroids, book