When former Oakland Athletic Jose Canseco slammed unfair treatment for PED use, contrasting it to Mark McGwire's unhindered career
In a remorseful interview with ESPN's Mike Fish in 2010, former MLB journeyman Jose Canseco opened up about how substance abuse cost him dearly in life. Canseco detailed to what extent PEDs ruined his career, and how they continue to haunt him to this day. He even linked them to his premature exit from MLB.
"I definitely regret getting involved with steroids in any way shape or form, No. 1, as a [teenager]," Canseco said.
Canseco also complained that he had been singled out for steroid use and compared his life to former Oakland Athletics teammate Mark McGwire, who in 2010, publicly admitted to using PEDs during a large portion of his career.
"People have to understand that I've been the only individual that has paid the price for the use of steroids, when other players have been given a slap on the hand, some games off, and some are still getting $100 million deals.
"They are still being protected by Major League Baseball. They are still being given a job after the fact, for example, Mark McGwire [hitting instructor for the St. Louis Cardinals]."
Canseco, who claimed he'd been labeled a snitch in the MLB after blowing the whistle on substance use, also said people were afraid to deal with him considering his storied past.
Canseco concluded by terming steroids as "vastly overrated," and encouraged kids to work hard rather than succumb to the drug.
"These kids don't need steroids to become players," Canseco said. "We overemphasize the steroids and not the athletic ability and skills of these people. We're taking away the hard work the athlete puts in and saying he became great just because of steroids."
Jose Canseco's book "Juiced" sent shockwaves around MLB after its release
"Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big" was a book authored by Jose Canseco. It was in that tell-all book that Canseco admitted to using anabolic steroids in 2005.
He also specifically identified former teammates Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Iván Rodríguez and Juan González as fellow steroid users. He even admitted to injecting them.
The autobiography also focuses on Jose Canseco's days as a major leaguer, his marriages, his daughter and off-field incidents. It also included his much-publicized bar-room brawl in 2001.