By Reynaldo Cruz
During Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Weekend in Cooperstown, the Full Swing team was a permanent presence. Among the many personalities and the many friends that we had the opportunity to see and meet, there was a highly unique and controversial character, who even dedicated a few words to all Cubans: Jose Canseco Layers Jr.
As he was signing copies of his books to the many fans, we were talking precisely about how despite how much his figure has been demonized due to the link to steroids and then his revealing autobiography in which he pointed the finger at many of those who joined in the use of performance-enhancing substances. He called our attention to the fact that he was greeted with admiration and respect by all the fans, and that he was one of the non-Hall of Fame members present in the city that caused the most attention.
In the conversation, Daniel de Malas said a phrase that, despite the fact that he first thought of it in English, sounds just as strong in Spanish: “What happens is that Jose Canseco He is the type of athlete who is bigger than baseball, because his character, his personality and his impact transcend beyond the field of play.” And it’s true, the swimmer in Regla, Havana, takes advantage of his fame to even hold home run derbys with the aim of donating to charitable organizations.
Canseco is, in my opinion, the man who saved baseball. If it weren’t for his revelations — criticized by many players for breaking the unwritten rule of silence regarding what happens inside the club house—the problem of the steroids would not have had for when to end. And in this regard, it should be noted that he did not betray others without first confessing his own sins, and add that none of those accused by him have yet filed a formal defamation lawsuit, not even Mark McGwire, the main target of his complaints.
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It is, however, his perennial presence on Twitter and his controversial messages, both on political and legal issues, such as his repeated attacks on and challenges to Alex Rodríguez, that make Canseco an individual who continues to bring entertainment to baseball. . In recent times, he has used Aaron Judge as the recipient of his Tweets, and has even thrown challenges at him.
One of the first was sent out on September 13, and in it, the first Cuban with 40 home runs in a major league season said, “There’s a simple reason Judge will hit exactly 60 home runs this year.”
With this message, we didn’t know exactly if Canseco was implying that the Judge was going to “run out of gas” and fall short in his quest to reach the 62 he would eventually reach, or if pitchers were simply going to have so much Tempor towards him that they were not going to throw him knowing that they could be associated with the record. By the way, that day Judge hit two home runs but was intentionally transferred.
On November 1, José’s tune changed (the Yankee juggernaut had already broken the single-season home run record in the American League) and began encouraging him to leave the Big Apple, mostly because of how during After the Yankees were eliminated in the postseason, the New York fans did not show their star the same love they showed him while he was chasing Roger Maris’ record. In the first of the tweets, alluding to a similar message from Jake Arrieta, he said:
«Aaron Judge, Arrieta was right, run, run, don’t walk towards the nearest entrance. Get out of New York, the place is a dump and the fans are horrible.”
In the other he returned to praise the Judge and attack the New York fans:
“Aaron Judge, you are the God of baseball and the New York fans would have easily crucified you on occasion. Get out of there as soon as possible.”
There was another Tweet pro Judge and anti Yankee fan on the date, but the Cuban was sending his tweets by voice message, and it almost doesn’t make sense. What is clear is that there is no love between José and the fans of the Bronx Mules. It was on that same date that he decided to challenge the American League home run record holder (to later start it again with the club):
“By the way, Aaron Judge, I can still hit a softball farther than you can hit a baseball. When you want to find out, contact me.»
Regardless, Canseco continued to send praise to Aaron:
“Aaron Judge, you are an anomaly, the face of baseball should be protected by MLB. You should be considered for your talent, entertainment value, and moral qualities.”
It is very clear that Canseco does not want to create a bad image by disrespecting who is today one of the main icons of baseball. However, he could not then remain silent again and challenged the Judge again:
“By the way, Aaron Judge, I’m your biggest fan but I could still hit a softball farther than you can hit a baseball.”
Clearly, Jose wants to have a home run derby with Judge, which if it were to come to fruition, if Judge agreed to (we can’t guarantee he’s aware of Canseco’s messages) would be a sight to behold, precisely because of all the entertainment and publicity (something Canseco LOVES) that all this could bring.
Not limiting himself to his own profile, José retweeted a Tweet from the station 95.7 The Gamewho posted a snippet of his speech in which he responded to questions about Judge ending up leaving the Big Apple due to booing by fans:
“…This man almost won the Triple Crown. He set the American League record for home runs … and his home crowd is booing him.”
Later, on November 29, he dared to predict that Judge would sign for 10 years and 380 million dollars:
In the end, Judge signed again with the Yankees for $360 million and nine seasons (the Cuban was not that far off in his projection, although those terms had previously been handled by a blog post written by Lincoln Mitchell), and although just a few days ago, he has not touched the subject again or launched the same challenge or a new one. However, José Canseco’s page on Twitter is itself a source of entertainment. Between his challenges to A-Rod, even to fight, and his comments on technology, alien life, and even the possibility of time travel, one can find a series of posts very funny, to the point that a story could be written about it. each topic that is encouraged to talk about.
