When Jose Canseco called attention to Cuban players' uphill battle in the league in contrast to US-born

Jose Canseco was born in Havana and emigrated to the United States when he was just a year old in 1965. At Miami Coral Park High School, Jose played baseball and was recognized as the team's most valuable player on the junior varsity team in his junior year and the varsity team the following year.

The Oakland Athletics selected him in the 1982 MLB draft. In 1985, Canseco made his major league debut with the Athletics. He made a name for himself as one of the game's top power hitters while playing with Oakland. He was a six-time All-Star and won the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards in 1986 and 1988, respectively.

Jose Canseco discussed the difficulty faced by Cuban players in the league compared to those born in the US. Jose is a native of Cuba. Unlike his American colleagues, his ascent to stardom in the MLB needed to be more straightforward. Before, there wasn't much racial diversity. Contrary to now, Latino athletes were given little attention.

"In his book, he wrote, 'There was such a pervasive double-standard for Latinos, especially compared with All-American Mark McGwire.'"

An excerpt from the book

Jose Canseco's book, "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Big," was published in 2005. In the book, Canseco claimed that he used performance-enhancing drugs alongside Jason Giambi, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez, and Mark McGwire.

Jose Canseco's MLB journey

Jose Canseco is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and designated hitter. He made a name for himself as one of the best power hitters in the game while playing with the Oakland Athletics. He was a six-time All-Star and won the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards in 1986 and 1988, respectively.

With the Oakland A's (1989) and the New York Yankees (2000), Canseco won two World Series. Canseco made baseball history in 1988 when he became the first player to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a single season. He received four Silver Slugger awards: three in 1988, 1990, and 1991 as an AL outfielder and one in 1998 as a designated hitter. He is one of 14 players in MLB history with 400 home runs and 200 stolen bases.

He ranks fourth all-time in A's history with 254 home runs. Canseco played 1,887 games in 17 seasons with seven different clubs, averaging 40 home runs, 120 RBIs, and 102 runs scored every 162 games despite suffering from numerous injuries in the latter portion of his career. The 11th-highest total in American League history is his 462 career home runs.