Baseball

Canseco names McGwire, credits steroids for career in interview

Jose Canseco says he and fellow slugger Mark McGwire were never "buddy buddies" as teammates on the Athletics, but they had at least one thing in common they talked about regularly: using steroids.

Canseco also said in an interview with 60 Minutes that he would never have been a major-league-caliber player without using the drugs.

"I don't recommend steroids for everyone and I don't recommend growth hormones for everyone," Canseco told Mike Wallace. "But for certain individuals, I truly believe, because I've experimented with it for so many years, that it can make an average athlete a super athlete. It can make a super athlete incredible. Just legendary."

The interview was broadcast Sunday on CBS, one day before the release of Canseco's book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big .

Canseco said he and McGwire weren't close but often injected together and treated the subject of steroids as casual shop talk.

"Mark and I weren't really in a sense of buddy buddies," Canseco said. "But there are certain subjects that we could talk about, like, obviously, steroids and so forth."

McGwire, who has repeatedly denied steroid use, said in a statement to the television news magazine: "Once and for all I did not use steroids nor any illegal substance. The relationship that these allegations portray couldn't be further from the truth."

Canseco also told Wallace that steroids give athletes an edge besides increased size and strength. "A lot of it is psychological," he said. "I mean, you really believe you have an edge. You feel the strength, and the stamina."

Canseco also says he introduced steroids to former Rangers teammates Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez and Ivan Rodriguez. All have issued public denials.

"I injected them. Absolutely," Canseco said.

[Last modified February 14, 2005, 01:20:17]