‘Three Days Later I Found Steroids’- Jose Canseco Once Recalled How Obsession to Become Best MLB Player Led To Heartbreaking Deathbed Promise He Made to His Mother

Published 08/01/2022, 11:15 AM EDT

Once known as the MLB’s most feared home run hitter, Jose Canseco recalled what led to his obsession to become the best MLB player. He also looked back on how and when he found steroids.

Canseco was assured that he could have played for another five years if it wasn’t for using the performance-enhancing drugs.

Article continues below this ad

A switch went off in Jose Canseco

Canseco, in his initial years in the minor league, struggled in the initial years from 1982 to 1984. In 84, he went to Modesto California, and in the mid-season, his mother passed away from a brain aneurysm. His mother never watched him play professional baseball, and that was a huge turning point in his life.

Whatever the age may be, losing a parent is never easy for anyone. It wasn’t easy on Jose, either. Watching his mother on her deathbed changed something in him.

pic.twitter.com/aQ20B3wFjD
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) July 5, 2022

On her deathbed, he said to his mother, “Mom, for you, I’m gonna become the best player in the world, and right then and there literally two or three days later, I found steroids. I started using PEDs, and I was obsessed, literally obsessed with becoming the best player in the world.”

‘the Devil Won Out’- Disputed MLB Legend Breaks Down How Being ‘Financially Devastated’ Forced Him to Name Players Who Took Steroids in His Book

He started taking steroids in 1984 while he was still a minor league player. And then, in 1985, he became the Minor League Player of the year.

Canseco became ‘The Chemist’

Something changed in him, and he got obsessed with becoming the best player in the world. But, in his obsession, he forgot what was right and what was wrong. In the year 2005, Major League Baseball blacklisted him after testing positive for steroid use.

Article continues below this ad

His knowledge of PEDs and how he used them was so much that he got nicknamed, ‘The Chemist.’ In 2005, he wrote a book called, ‘Juiced’, which became the reason for opening and spreading the Major League Baseball’s steroid scandal.

The book had dozens of big names in it, and one of them included Canseco’s best friend, Mark McGwire. Years after the book came out, Canseco revealed he regretted writing it and betraying his friends.

Article continues below this ad

Watch This Story: From Black Betsy to Wonder Boy – Baseball’s most iconic bats

Even though Canseco regrets writing the book, he became the reason for cleaning up the sport by putting a stop to the steroid era.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Rakshita Madan is an MLB author at EssentiallySports. She is an engineering graduate and is currently pursuing her MBA from NMIMS, Mumbai. Rakshita has experience in writing for more than four years now, with one of her writings even getting published in an anthology.

‘Three Days Later I Found Steroids’- Jose Canseco Once Recalled How Obsession to Become Best MLB Player Led To Heartbreaking Deathbed Promise He Made to His Mother

A switch went off in Jose Canseco

Trending

MLB Reports: $500 Million Price Tag Attached to Oakland Athletics’ Desire to Leave California for Las Vegas

“A-Rod Did That Too”: Alex Rodriguez’s ‘Hip-Block’ Comes to Light As MLB Insiders Debate Aaron Judge’s Interference

Alex Verdugo a Dad Again Soon: Everything to Know about His Girlfriend Yamille Alcala

“Ruins My Day”: Panic Sets In For Houston Astros Fans As Angel Hernandez Returns for Justin Verlander’s Start

Wendelstedt Umpire School: Umpire Who ‘Wrongly’ Ejected Aaron Boone Runs His Own Professional Umpiring Course

Canseco became ‘The Chemist’