Jose Canseco: natty or not?

Confirmed 1988 AL MVP, half of the Bash Brothers, and the man who wrote the book naming names

Short answer. Verdict: confirmed. At the peak physique on this page, Jose Canseco is 6'4" (193 cm) and 240 lbs (109 kg) at roughly 12% body fat. That works out to an FFMI of 25.0, against the ~25 mark cited as the natural ceiling.

The numbers (estimated)

Note. Playing weight is the listed figure; the body-fat number is an estimate. The verdict below is not — Canseco admitted his use in print. See the methodology page for how we judge.

Jose Canseco did not get caught. He published. His 2005 memoir Juiced admitted his own performance-enhancing drug use and named other players — McGwire, Palmeiro, Giambi, Iván Rodríguez, González — while claiming up to 85% of major leaguers were using, a figure the sport disputed.

Confirmed — by the author, about the author.

The numbers

Canseco is listed at 6’4” and 240 lbs. As with every tall ballplayer on this site, the FFMI reads unremarkable: the index divides by height squared, so a 6’4” frame absorbs a great deal of muscle before the number moves. Nothing about his measurements would have flagged him. His own book did.

The twin argument

Canseco’s defence of his own record is worth recording because it is unusual. He points out that he has an identical twin, Ozzie, “the closest thing to me genetically”, who also played professional baseball and did not have his career. His point: the drugs were not what separated them.

It is a real argument and it is also convenient. Two men with the same genes and different outcomes tells you genetics were not the only variable. It does not tell you which of the other variables did the work.

Verdict

Confirmed — self-published, in detail, and later expanded on in interviews. His claims about other players are his claims, not this site’s, and each of those names is judged on its own record.