'Exiled' Canseco to write tell-all book

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Jose Canseco claims 85 percent of major league baseball players are taking steroids.

"There would be no baseball left if they drug-tested everyone today," he said Friday during an interview with Fox Sports Net.

Canseco, who announced his retirement earlier in the week, refused to say if he took steroids.

"It's completely restructured the game as we know it," he said. "That's why guys are hitting 50 or 60 or 75 home runs."

During an interview with The Associated Press on Friday, Canseco refused to answer questions about steroid use, saying he would give details in the book he is writing.

"Basically what it's going to be is the true story of my life -- good and bad, the ups and downs," Canseco said. "I'll name names and discuss basically everything and everybody involved in it. There are a million things I could talk about."

That includes fast cars, Madonna, failed marriages, and his suspicion that he was "exiled" from baseball.

Canseco announced his retirement Monday, leaving the game with 462 home runs, 1,407 RBIs and a .266 batting average in 1,887 games with seven teams. He was hitting .172 with five homers and nine RBIs in 18 games for Class AAA Charlotte when he quit.

"I've had a lot of athletes in different sports and I know a lot of people in the acting field that all told me I've been exiled, basically blackballed," Canseco said.

The 37-year-old Canseco was one of the game's most colorful figures, on and off the field. He assured co-author Bill Chastain that no aspect of his private life will be off-limits.

Chastain has started interviewing Canseco for the book and plans to meet with prospective publishers next week.

"Jose has led a very interesting life, and he has a story to tell," said Chastain, a former Tampa Tribune sports writer.

"People have always been fascinated by him."

Canseco isn't concerned about what other players might think of the way they're portrayed in the book.

"It's just going to be part of my life," Canseco said. "In a lot of ways, my life wasn't perfect, either. I made a lot of mistakes. I'm going to talk about that also."

He says he hasn't spent much time thinking about whether he deserves to make the Hall of Fame.

"That's not for me to judge," he said. "I know I was injured a lot, and I know if I would have been given the opportunity to play baseball more, I would have easily hit 500 home runs, maybe even 600."

 

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