When Jose Canseco claimed that the MLB had 'blackballed' him to send a message to other players

Jose Canseco's autobiography, which charges that baseball has long disregarded performance-enhancing drugs and accuses several top players of using steroids, seemed to be a success on its debut day in bookshops.

In his book Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big, Canseco accused the league of blackballing him. He said the MLB had blackballed him to send a message to other players.

"The owners realized that they needed to put the kibosh on steroid use, or at least pretend to," he wrote. "So they decided to send a loud message to all players, by getting rid of the player most closely identified with steroids: Jose Canseco."

Canseco, who won the 1988 MVP and the 1986 AL Rookie of the Year awards, played in the major leagues for 17 seasons and hit 462 home runs during his career, which ended in 2001 at the age of 37.

Baltimore Orioles v Oakland Athletics

He obviously thinks highly of his performance.

"I was hands down the best player in the world. No one even came close," he wrote in his book. "I was created by the media. Back in the 1980s, I was like a rock star. Everywhere I went, I had to have bodyguards. I had it all: the body, the personality, everything. I was Hollywood."

Canseco made his debut in 1985. After confessing to using steroids during his MLB career, he was forced to retire early in 2001.

"All the players that are in the hall of fame who used Steroids should somehow get together and try to get the other players in who used steroids into the hall of fame..ofcourse that takes courage" – Jose Canseco

He played for a few different American League teams throughout his career (Rangers, Devil Rays, Red Sox, Yankees, White Sox, and the Blue Jays).

"I knew right then and there I was being colluded against" - Jose Canseco

Canseco recalled when he believed he was being forced out of the MLB in a 2021 interview with Vlad TV. The now-58-year-old thought that his background with steroids was a significant factor in why teams turned elsewhere. He said:

"Gord Ash [former Toronto Blue Jays GM] calls me. He says, ‘Jose, we want to tender you an offer. We want to pay you a million dollars, and you better take it because nobody else is going to offer you a penny more.' The phone fell out of my hand. I knew right then and there I was being colluded against."

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In 2002, Canseco formally announced his retirement from the MLB.