The Oakland Athletics embraced its steroid past when it celebrated Jose Canseco with a commemorative bobblehead doll at a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox on September 3, 2016. The Oakland A’s could have used some of Canseco’s steroids as it suffered from a lack of power hitting in a devastating 11-2 loss. Oakland fans had little else to celebrate other than Jose Canseco!
Even though we're losing, we still got the bobbleheads a foul ball and the best seats in the house @timreyes18 pic.twitter.com/WmEQwAGage
— Chris Navarrete (@cnavvy1998) September 4, 2016
It’s yet another sign that Major League Baseball (MLB) is moving past the stigma of steroids and starting to welcome the poster boys of the baseball steroid use back into the fold. Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Jason Giambi and even Alex Rodriguez have all been hired by MLB teams in coaching and other positions. By most accounts, they have been welcomed with open arms and are doing quite well.
The Athletics management apparently felt it was time to welcome back Canseco now that the hysteria over steroids in baseball has died down a little bit. And what better way to do it than to ask Canseco to throw out the opening pitch and by giving out a genuine commemorative Jose Canseco bobblehead doll to lucky fans.
Canseco was pretty happy with the arrangement although he couldn’t resisting bringing up the steroid issue. Canseco complained that his bobblehead was too skinny and obviously didn’t benefit from steroids.
“It’s pretty good, it’s pretty accurate. It looks like the pre-Steroid-era bobblehead, though,” Canseco told Janie McCauley of the Associated Press. “It’s got me kind of skinny. If it would have been the Steroid-era it would have me more beefed up. It looks more like the ‘86 bobblehead.”
Canseco of bobblehead: "It looks like the pre-Steroid-era bobblehead. It's got me kind of skinny. Steroid-era would have me more beefed up."
— Janie McCauley (@JanieMcCAP) September 4, 2016
Canseco, the self-proclaimed “godfather of the steroid era” in Major League Baseball, had essentially been blackballed from Major League Baseball since the publication of his autobiographical steroid tell-all “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big” in 2005.
Canseco not only discussed his own steroid use in great detail but also named names in calling out other MLB players that he knew or suspected were using the muscle-building drugs. Canseco identified Mark McGwire and Jason Giambi as steroid users in “Juiced”. He implicated Alex Rodriguez and Roger Clemens as steroid users in a sequel to Juiced called “Vindicated”.
Canseco has also maintained that everything he wrote was the absolute truth. However, he has since expressed serious regrets about writing the book(s). If he had it to do all over again, he would not have done it.
“I got dumped on by Major League Baseball, the players association and the public in general. All the time, my family got death threats,” Canseco said at the 2014 Regina Red Sox Annual Sports Dinner. “I’m still ousted from any affiliated ball and, until a year or two ago, I was not allowed to go into any Major League ball parks. And that’s all because I told the truth.
“I made the mistake of writing the book Juiced. Even though the book, word for word, was exactly what happened. But you dont go against one of the most powerful entities in the world, and thats Major League Baseball. I would not write the book because my family suffered tremendouslyits been pretty devastating.”
But now that the Oakland Athletics have welcomed him back to the Oakland Coliseum, it may be a sign that things are turning around with regard to Canseco’s opportunities in baseball.
?? @JoseCanseco autographing bobbleheads for Season Ticket Members. #RenewNow #GreenCollar pic.twitter.com/JP0LiYoT6c
— Oakland Athletics (@Athletics) September 3, 2016
Jose Canseco bobblehead night! #atthecoliseum #oakland #Athletics #josecanseco pic.twitter.com/9CjqDiQR9t
— Mykle (@supmykle) September 3, 2016