Jose Canseco Helped Clean up MLB’s Steroids Problem, but Could He Help Save America?

Jose Canseco, one half of the Oakland Athletics‘ Bash Brothers in the late 1980s, has been wanting to get into politics. It seems like he is aiming high these days as he has been sending out a series of tweets saying he wants to make a run at the President of the United States. The former American League MVP can take credit for helping Major League Baseball clean up its widespread steroid problem of the 80s, so can he help clean up America?

Jose Canseco’s Major League Baseball career

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Jose Canseco had a very good, but very tainted, Major League Baseball career. Canseco spent 17 seasons in the big leagues and was a six-time MLB All-Star. He teamed with Mark McGwire to form the Bash Brothers who were as potent a home-run duo as there was at the time.

Canseco spent the first seven-plus seasons of his big-league career with the A’s, the team that drafted him in the 15th round of the 1982 MLB draft. During that time in Oakland, Canseco became the first member of the 40-40 Club, smacking 42 home runs and stealing 40 bases, during the 1988 season. Canseco was voted the league’s MVP that year.

Canseco, who was also the American League Rookie of the Year in 1986, admitted he used steroids during his career. Despite smacking 462 home runs for his career, Canseco’s numbers, like many during that era, are looked upon as tainted. Canseco was also a two-time World Series champion. He was the first player to hit 30 or more home runs with four different teams.

Canseco’s involvement with steroids

In 2005, well after his playing days were over, Jose Canseco penned a book titled Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big. The book called out several MLB stars, including his former teammate Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, and Ivan Rodriguez, for their use of steroids when they were playing.

Canseco said 85 percent of Major League Baseball players were using steroids. Many of those called out by Canseco denied ever using steroids. Palmeiro, however, tested positive for steroids in August of 2005. In 2007, Canseco wrote Vindicated, a sequel to his book. In that one, he mentioned Albert Belle and Alex Rodriguez.

Canseco, in 2010, told ESPN that steroids were vastly overrated when it came to his success in the sport. “Let me give you a perfect example,” he said. “I have an identical twin brother, Ozzie. He is the closest thing to me genetically. And in my prime, I was a super athlete. I was the fastest guy in the game. I was 240 pounds and I could hit a baseball 600 feet. The best arm in the game. My twin brother used the same chemicals, same workouts, the same nutrition. Why didn’t he make it in the big leagues?”

Canseco says he wants to run for president

Although he didn’t make a whole lot of friends in doing so, Jose Canseco helped Major League Baseball clean up its image regarding steroids. Now the former Oakland Athletics slugger is hoping to clean up America. In a series of tweets, Canseco said he wants to run for president and wants to end the racism that has erupted over the last week.

Saying he would “systematically end racism if I were president,” Canseco has been on a Twitter tear recently. He said “the volcano has erupted” and said both the political and criminal justice systems are complete failures. He has even asked for donations to help fund his run.

Jose Canseco has already helped fix one system. Can he help fix another that appears to be in much worse shape?