Say this about Jose Canseco: He radiates credibility when it comes to being a poster boy for steroids. An Action Hero torso will do that. In fact, the unwieldy title of his inject-and-tell book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Big , appears juiced as well.
Where Canseco’s believability atrophies, however, is when – in the process of naming names of steroid users – he fingers Wilson “Another Taco, Please” Alvarez. That’s the portly pitcher who misspent five seasons with the Devil Rays frustrating everybody but American League hitters.
Wilson Alvarez? Imagine if the Krispy Kreme poster lad hadn’t been doing steroids?
Maybe in some perverse way, this is what the steroids scandal has needed. To wit: Too many young athletes, regrettably, will look at Canseco, Jason Giambi, Mark McGwire, Ivan Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Juan Gonzalez, Barry Bonds and Bret Boone and think a growth-hormone deal with the devil may still be worth it.
But Wilson “Abs from Hell” Alvarez? Now there’s a real deterrent.
If it’s true, take one for the team, Wilson, and belly up to the veracity bar. Your legacy will include something other than overpaid underperformance.