Tony La Russa once slammed Boston Red Sox fans for steroid chants at Jose Canseco

In October 1988, former Oakland Athletics star Jose Canseco was slammed by the Boston Red Sox fans at a playoff game in Fenway Park that infuriated Manager Tony La Russa.

The Oakland Athletics went on to win the game 2-1, while the Boston Red Sox fans chanted “Ster-oids, Ster-oids”. However, instead of being demotivated due to the chants, Canseco used it as motivation and flexed his right biceps in front of the fans.

The chants were in reference to the remarks that a Washington Post writer named Thomas Boswell had made. According to Boswell, Canseco had used body building drugs. Canseco sternly denied such allegations. However, Manager Tony La Russa wasn’t a fan of the incident that followed with the Red Sox fans hurling chants at A's legend.

“"I thought it was a cheap shot. I thought it was brutal." – La Russa had said.

Furthermore, Canseco hinted at pressing charges against Boswell and made sure that the fans are aware that their chants will only make him do it at the earliest.

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When did Jose Canseco open up about his Steroid usage?

Jose Canseco opened up about using steroids along with Jorge Delgado, Damaso Moreno, and Manuel Collado in his book, “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big.”

He put allegations on about 85% of MLB players for using steroids in his book. In his book, Canseco named former teammates Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Jason Giambi, Iván Rodríguez, and Juan González as people who used steroids alongside him. He even claimed to have injected them. Despite his allegations, most players denied them initially.

However, Jason Giambi eventually admitted to his use of steroid in a testimony in front of the grand jury that investigated the BALCO case.

Canseco's accusations caused serious damage to his relationship with McGwire.

“Mark McGuire I know you're mad at me, but believe me.... No one is more mad at me than myself for writing that book.” - @JoseCanseco had posted on Twitter.

Although McGwire denied the accusations initially, he later accepted to have used steroids during his MLB career. He admitted to have taken steroids intermittently since 1989.

In a Sportsnet Interview article that was published in 2012, Jose Canseco admitted that the only season when he did not use steroids was in 1998 while playing for the Toronto Blue Jays. The reason being him not wanting to use steroids as he was undergoing a divorce and dealing with the depression.