MVP Profile: Jose Canseco, 1988

Outfielder, Oakland Athletics

Age:  24 (July 2)

3^rd season with Athletics

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’4”    Weight: 240 

Prior to 1988:

A native of Cuba, Canseco and his family resettled in Opa-Locka, Florida, near Miami. He played baseball at the junior-varsity level until he was a senior in high school, at which point he was chosen by the Athletics in the fifteenth round of the 1982 amateur draft. Playing for teams in two leagues at the Rookie and Class A levels in ’82 he batted a combined .242 with 2 home runs and 7 RBIs in 34 games. In 1983 he started the season with Medford of the short-season Class A Northwest League where he was an All-Star selection after hitting .269 with 11 home runs and 40 RBIs. Canseco moved on to Madison of the Class A Midwest League to finish out the year and hit a measly .159 with 3 home runs and 10 RBIs over the course of 34 games. Playing for Modesto of the Class A California League in 1984, he batted .276 with 15 home runs and 73 RBIs. In the offseason he had his first admitted use of steroids as part of a weight training regimen in which he added several pounds of muscle. What followed in 1985 was a big performance with the Huntsville Stars of the Class AA Southern League in which he belted 25 home runs in only 58 games, along with a .318 average and 80 RBIs. Moving up to Tacoma of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League he hit another 11 home runs along with 47 RBIs and a .348 average in 60 games. Receiving a September call-up to the A’s, Canseco appeared in 29 games and hit .302 with 5 home runs and 13 RBIs. He was inserted into left field for Oakland in 1986. The result was an AL Rookie of the Year season in which he slugged 33 home runs with 117 RBIs, while striking out 175 times and batting .240 with a .318 on-base percentage. Canseco followed up with another strong season in 1987 as he hit .257 with 31 home runs and 113 RBIs. He was overshadowed by rookie first baseman Mark McGwire’s 49-home run performance as the two together came to be known as “the Bash Brothers”. Canseco was shifted to right field in 1988.

1988 Season Summary

Appeared in 158 games

RF – 144, DH – 13, PH – 1

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 705 [2]

At Bats – 610 [9]

Runs – 120 [2]

Hits – 187 [6]

Doubles – 34 [16, tied with Paul Molitor]

Triples – 0

Home Runs – 42 [1]

RBI – 124 [1]

Bases on Balls – 78 [11]

Int. BB – 10 [12, tied with Dave Winfield, Robin Yount & Ruben Sierra]

Strikeouts – 128 [7]

Stolen Bases – 40 [4]

Caught Stealing – 16 [2]

Average - .307 [9]

OBP - .391 [6]

Slugging Pct. - .569 [1]

Total Bases – 347 [2]

GDP – 15 [18, tied with five others]

Hit by Pitches – 10 [5]

Sac Hits – 1

Sac Flies – 6

League-leading home runs were +8 ahead of runner-up Fred McGriff

League-leading RBIs were +3 ahead of runner-up Kirby Puckett

League-leading slugging percentage was +.017 ahead of runner-up Fred McGriff

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 12, HR – 24, RBI – 67, SB – 22, AVG - .290, SLG PCT - .533, OBP – .383

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 4 AB) vs. California 8/12

Longest hitting streak – 11 games

Most HR, game – 3 (in 7 AB) at Toronto 7/3 – 16 innings

HR at home – 16

HR on road – 26

Multi-HR games – 2

Most RBIs, game – 6 at Toronto 7/3 – 16 innings

Pinch-hitting – 0 for 1 (.000)

Fielding

Chances – 322

Put Outs – 304

Assists – 11

Errors – 7

DP - 3

Pct. - .978

Postseason Batting: 9 G (ALCS vs. Boston – 4 G, World Series vs. LA Dodgers – 5 G)

PA – 39, AB – 35, R – 5, H – 6, 2B – 1,3B – 0, HR – 4, RBI – 9, BB – 3, IBB – 0, SO – 7, SB – 2, CS – 1, AVG - .171, OBP - .256, SLG - .543, TB – 19, GDP – 1, HBP – 1, SH – 0, SF – 0

Awards & Honors:

AL MVP: BBWAA

Silver Slugger

All-Star (Started for AL in LF)

Top 5 in AL MVP Voting:

Jose Canseco, Oak.: 392 points - 28 of 28 first place votes, 100% share

Mike Greenwell, Bos.: 242 points – 62% share

Kirby Puckett, Min.: 219 points – 56% share

Dave Winfield, NYY: 164 points – 42% share

Dennis Eckersley, Oak.: 156 points – 40% share

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Athletics went 104-58 to finish first in the AL Western Division by 13 games over the Minnesota Twins. A youthful team supplemented by veteran acquisitions the A’s took command of the AL West thanks to a 14-game winning streak from April into May.  The lead held up the rest of the way despite a brief June slump. Canseco made good on his stated objective of becoming the first player to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a season. Won ALCS over the Boston Red Sox, 4 games to 0. Lost World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4 games to 1.

Aftermath of 1988:

Heading into 1989, off-field issues began to tarnish Canseco’s image in addition to his being sidelined by a stress fracture in his left wrist that required surgery. When he finally took to the field for the A’s, he played well, batting .269 in 65 games with 17 home runs and 57 RBIs. The team again won its division and the AL pennant, as well as the World Series, in which Canseco batted .357 with a home run. He had a solid season in 1990 in which he batted .274 with 37 home runs and 101 RBIs. Oakland won a third straight pennant and was swept by Cincinnati in the World Series, where Canseco’s hitting was negligible. He topped the AL with 44 home runs in 1991, in addition to batting .266 with 122 RBIs for the fourth place A’s. Having run afoul of the Oakland front office and manager Tony LaRussa, Canseco was traded to the Texas Rangers on August 31, 1992 for outfielder Ruben Sierra, RHP Jeff Russell, RHP Bobby Witt, and cash. For the year he ended up with 26 home runs, 87 RBIs, and a .244 batting average. In 1993 Canseco was embarrassed in the outfield by having a fly ball hit him on the head and bounce over the wall for a home run. More seriously, a few days later in a runaway loss to the Red Sox in Boston, he was used as a pitcher and injured his arm to the extent that he required surgery. Appearing in only 60 games, he batted .255 with 10 home runs and 46 RBIs. Coming back to the Rangers during the strike-shortened 1994 season, he was utilized as a Designated Hitter and batted .282 with 31 home runs and 90 RBIs. In the offseason Canseco was dealt to the Boston Red Sox where he DH’d and hit .306 with 24 home runs and 81 RBIs in 1995. He was again productive at bat in 1996 where he batted .289 with 28 home runs and 82 RBIs. Traded back to Oakland in 1997, Canseco appeared in 108 games and hit .235 with 23 home runs and 73 RBIs. He signed with the Toronto Blue Jays as a free agent in 1998 and had a big year with 46 home runs, 107 RBIs, and a .237 batting average. With the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1999 he was an All-Star for the last time in his career, hitting 34 home runs with 95 RBIs and a .279 average. Waived by Tampa Bay during the 2000 season, he bounced around among a few major and minor league clubs in 2001 and ’02 to finish out his career. Overall, Canseco batted .266 in the major leagues with 1877 hits that included 340 doubles, 14 triples, and 462 home runs. He also accumulated 1407 RBIs and 200 stolen bases. With Oakland he batted .264 with 1048 hits, including 186 doubles, 8 triples, and 254 home runs as well as 793 RBIs and 135 stolen bases. He was a six-time All-Star (5 with the A’s), won four Silver Slugger awards, and twice led the AL in home runs. In 30 postseason games he hit .184 with 7 home runs and 18 RBIs. Canseco’s twin brother Ozzie also briefly played major league baseball. His life post baseball continued to be filled with controversy, particularly after the publishing of his tell-all book Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big, that discussed the alleged extent of steroid use in the major leagues during Canseco’s playing career and fueled the investigation of performance enhancing drugs in baseball.

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MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.